Circle Drive Bridge (Saskatoon)

Infobox_Bridge
bridge_name = Circle Drive Bridge


caption = Circle Drive Bridge
official_name = Circle Drive Bridge
carries = 6 lanes of Circle Drive
crosses = South Saskatchewan River
locale = Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
maint = City of Saskatoon
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material = Reinforced concrete
spans = 4
pierswater = 3
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open = Jul 1, 1983 (widening completed September 28, 2007)
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Circle Drive Bridge spans the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Canada. It was built in 1983 as part of the Circle Drive freeway system in northeast Saskatoon. It is presently the northernmost bridge in the city, and the most recent to be built.

As with other bridges in the city, locals use several different names for this bridge. During construction there was an unsuccessful campaign to have it named after recently-deceased former Prime Minister John Diefenbaker. Longtime Saskatonians also refer to it as the 42nd Street Bridge, a reference to a former name of the northern east-west leg of Circle Drive dating back to the 1960s.

The Circle Drive Bridge is a twin span bridge; was designed so that more lanes could be added by filling in the centre. Early published plans for the bridge called for the addition of an observation deck/interpretive centre to the underside of the bridge at that point. However, rather than widening the bridge by filling in the centre gap, it was deemed to be more cost effective to convert the outside pedestrian walkways into driving lanes. In 2006, construction started on adding a third outside lane in both directions to increase capacity and ease congestion during peak traffic times. The lane additions were completed in 2007. A new pedestrian walkway was built below and between the two bridge structures, and opened in July 2007.

ee also

* List of bridges in Canada
* List of bridges
* South Circle Drive Bridge

External links

* [http://www.saskatoon100.ca/main.php?p=2037 Webpage about the bridge]
* [http://www.saskatoon.ca/org/municipal_engineering/construction/Circle_widening/index.asp Circle Drive Widening] - City of Saskatoon Infrastructure Services