Partial opening of Martensville overpass coming in September

Commuters living in Martensville are about to experience short-term pain for long-term gain as construction of the Highway 12 overpass project continues.

Officials are planning to close Main Street in Martensville for all of August, in order to prepare for opening the westbound lane of the bridge and southbound on-ramp in September.

The partial opening of the overpass will allow drivers to travel over the bridge and merge onto the highway towards Saskatoon, rather than attempting to cross traffic heading northbound on the busy road.

“I have young drivers, so getting them to access the highway safely is important,” Martensville Mayor Kent Muench said.

The overpass is expected to be fully open in all directions in December 2019, along with another similar overpass on Highway 11 serving Warman.

Muench said the overpass will be crucial as his city continues to grow.

“It helps in the future, because the land to the west (of the highway) is now part of Martensville as well. It allows those neighbourhoods to also come to fruition,” he said.

“It’s a big piece.”

Out at the Martensville overpass, where they’re 60% complete over Highway 12. Plan is to open a southbound on-ramp soon, making it easier to get to Saskatoon. However, Main St. will close through Aug. Full opening planned for 2019. #yxe #sask pic.twitter.com/yoMnOvbOez

— Chris Vandenbreekel (@Vandecision) July 17, 2018

He noted there will be “some impact” from the temporary closure of Main St., but it will help in the end.

“It provides that timeline efficiency that you could have (the overpass) partially open this year, as opposed to spring 2019,” he said, adding residents understand the tradeoff.

The $60.6 million project to build the overpasses in Martensville and Warman is being overseen by Peter Kiewit Sons ULC.

Project lead Andrew Schumacher said taking the cross-traffic off  Highway 12 was a priority.

“The concept this year is to open up the bridge and the southbound loop ramp to make sure motorists getting to Saskatoon don’t have to cross the highway.”