Construction season is well underway in Saskatoon, and this year’s window of opportunity to complete roadwork is an especially busy one. “The volume of work keeps increasing every year, but our summers don’t tend to increase by too many weeks every year,” said Mark Jurkiewicz, director of construction and design for the city. “This year was a little bit of a unique year where I don’t think we really got out there until mid-May, and we had some late snowfalls in late April and early May.” Jurkiewicz added that this delayed start added some pressure to the timelines that were planned for various projects throughout the city. “All of a sudden there was a lot of construction. So it wasn’t maybe as gradual as we typically see it, but everybody was needing to get out there and do the work to maintain the schedule,” he said. “So it all started kind of all at once ... we have a lot of work in a short construction season, so we’re pretty much everywhere throughout the entire city.” Jurkiewicz shared that while there are many projects throughout the city, three main ones have been the source of traffic delays and significant infrastructure repairs. Overnight road resurfacing One of the biggest causes for traffic delays is the overnight road resurfacing project. “Completing the work overnight allows crews to improve some of Saskatoon’s busiest roadways while trying to minimize the impact on traffic during the daytime,” Jurkiewicz said. The construction and design director added that the overnight road resurfacing project remains on schedule and is making good progress. Five out of the nine planned locations for the project have been completed, with the McOrmond Drive section scheduled to begin on Wednesday evening. Downtown water main lining project This week, crews will start the next phase of the downtown water main lining project. Jurkiewicz said it’s meant to renew critical underground infrastructure and improve the city’s water and sewer system. “This work includes excavating the existing water main, before it’s rehabilitated through the water main lining program,” he added. During this phase of the project, construction will start at First Avenue North working towards Spadina Crescent East. The project is expected to continue through mid-to late October. “There will be momentary traffic restrictions on 25th Street. But we are always aiming to maintain two-way traffic wherever possible on that project. Throughout all of those phases,” Jurkiewicz said. Nutana sanitary sewer project Crews are installing a new sanitary sewer infrastructure along a residential corridor to service all the houses and replace an aging sewer system. “That’s happening right now from 14th Street and Saskatchewan Crescent, and we’re continuing all the way to at to Lansdowne [Avenue] and Eighth Street, and there’s two crews working on that simultaneously to try to speed up the construction and improve the schedule,” Jurkiewicz said. In addition to these three updates, Jurkiewicz provided some information regarding the University Bridge project. While the work was described to be going well, a recent announcement from the city shared that the timeline will be longer than expected as additional work was identified during the project. Additionally, the bridge will remain closed to traffic for longer than anticipated to allow for emergency vehicles to have better access to Royal University Hospital and Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital. The bridge will remain closed to non-emergency vehicles until multiple lanes are available for cars going in each direction. “Until such time as we have more lanes available to reopen, we’re going to keep the bridge closed to maintain for the emergency access to the hospital,” Jurkiewicz said. “We’ve been working quite closely with the health authority and our internal infrastructure partners to make that decision.” Medavie Health Services, a local ambulance provider shared a statement to CTV News: “We remain in regular contact with city officials to receive updates and coordinate with partners on alternative access plans, as needed,” the statement read. “Our zone-based deployment model allows us to adapt to changing circumstances, and we continue to operate safely and effectively with no impact to patient care.” While construction season can often cause frustration among motorists, Jurkiewicz emphasized that patience is appreciated as crews work to get projects done safely. “These are our workers. These are people that have families back home. When you see the construction zones, just please slow down. Respect the work zones. And just be really cautious around everything that’s going on because it is everywhere,” Jurkiewicz said.
