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Saskatoon city council has picked a builder for a pair of long-awaited interchanges.
In a vote Monday, councillors approved a bid from PCL Construction Management Inc. to build an interchange at the intersection of McOrmond Drive and College Drive and another at Boychuk Drive and Highway 16.
The proposed interchange at Boychuk and Highway 16 was first presented at an open house back in 2009. Plans for the interchange at McOrmond Drive and College Drive have been working their way through city hall since 2013.
The city approved the idea of bundling the two projects together back in February, and put the contract up for bids in March. PCL’s bid was selected from among three submissions.
The total cost of the interchanges sits around $56.75 million.
The Boychuk and Highway 16 interchange comes with a price tag of $27.25 million. The federal and provincial governments announced they’d contribute one-third of the costs each back in May. The remainder is being funded with money from property developers.
The interchange is set to be completed by July 31, 2019. The extended timeline is due to the need for PCL to relocate power lines, and because of geo-technical issues in the area.
The $29.5 million interchange at McOrmond and College is also being covered with developer levies. the project is expected to be complete by October 31, 2018.
Neither project’s costs will have any impact on the property tax rate.
While the interchanges are expected to improve traffic flow at the junctions once completed, traffic flow may be an issue during construction.
Lineups along College Drive EB to turn on to McOrmond Drive NB can reach over 1 km during peak hours, even with two left turn lanes. Interchange construction will only allow for one left turn lane to be open at a time.
The increased bottleneck is expected to lead to increased traffic on Attridge Drive and other routes to north-eastern neighbourhoods.
–With files from Chris Vandenbreekel and Bryn Levy
