Last Wednesday, Saskatoon and area saw its seventh overpass strike this year. A semi truck hauling a trailer became stuck underneath the Lorne Avenue and Ruth Street overpass. That marks the ninth recorded overpass collision in the province in 2026. Minister of Highways Kim Gartner said the province has taken action to prevent further incidents from happening. “We’ve done a number of things. We’ve gone out and physically measured every bridge that we have, to make sure that the signs are correct,” Gartner told CTV News in an interview last month. “We’ve gone through our permitting process and we’re looking at some legislation, see what is in our legislation, see if there’s things that we can place in there that’ll help make things safer.” Gartner went on to say that the ministry is now requiring the standard height of bridges across the province to be 5.3 metres. Saskatchewan Trucking Association Executive Director Susan Ewart, who was also speaking at an event in Moose Jaw last month, is on board with that decision. “It should be a huge improvement over what we’re seeing today. One of the things that I just actually learned at this event was how the diamond interchange is built,” she said. “If you are over those dimensions, your permit is going to tell you go up the ramp and kind of go down the other side.” Ewart said that while higher bridges will help bring down collisions, the onus is on semi drivers to take the proper precautions when it comes to preventing these overpass strikes. “One of the things we’ve been talking about at our office is measure, just measure. You are required to know the height of your load and the permits are going to help you with that,” Ewart said. “So, making sure that you are going to the appropriate place, the Government of Saskatchewan, whether it’s the municipality or the City of Moose Jaw. Where do you need the permits from? Going to SGI, those types of things.” When asked about how many bridges still need to be brought up to the new standard for height requirements in Saskatchewan, Gartner said the work is ongoing. “We’ve got over 700 bridges that the ministry looks after. So that’s an ongoing assessment process that we do. And where the overpasses fit into that, I think we’ve only got one left that is not (up) to the new 5.3 metre requirement.” According to Gartner, the latest overpass project, passing Highway 2 over Highway 1 near Moose Jaw, is expected to be completed this month.
