Quote:
Originally Posted by Spocket
I completely don't understand the logic with this freeway. Putting aside whether or not somebody thinks it's a waste of money, is unnecessary or whatever, why doesn't it directly connect highways 11 and 16? The entire southwest section of the freeway doesn't seem to be in the plans but wouldn't that be just about the busiest section? Am I wrong about that?
Given that I'm not a Saskatoon native and haven't been there in decades, I'm completely out of touch with the rationale here but that just seems so counterintuitive. I would have thought the busiest highways would have been 11 and 16. Is that not the case? I mean, outside of the Saskatoon metro region of course. Considering that the idea is that ring roads are supposed to funnel traffic around a city rather than through it, wouldn't it be the most logical route from 11 northwest to 16 as the shortest route? I know the land through this area isn't good for residential construction and was pegged for industrial but that can't be the main reason this section isn't being considered...or is it?
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I thought this was simply a nod to our historic ass-backwards method of freeway development in these parts. For approximately 20 years Circle Drive was just 3/4 of a circle, as it was missing that same S-E quadrant of the circle. At that time, I believe the argument was that there is little traffic coming from the south of Saskatoon on Highway 11 and then heading west along Highways 7 & 14 (and vice versa) and that was probably true. Any traffic headed that direction from Regina would have likely turned west on Highway 15 at Kenaston. For traffic along the Regina-Edmonton route (hwys 11 & 16), the key connection was the intersection of Circle Drive and Idylwyld Drive so a south bridge and completion of the circle wouldn't really change that as there was no plan to run the western part of Circle Drive all the way up to Highway 16.
Now that we're looking at a Perimeter Highway situation, I agree that a roadway crossing the river and skirting the south and west sides of Saskatoon would be far more efficient for movement of commercial traffic along that corridor. My guess for the once-again missing part of the circle is that there is likely a great deal of traffic (but not heavy truck traffic) travelling from south/east Saskatoon to Martensviille, Warman and Prince Albert and the southeast part of a Perimeter highway does nothing to aid that traffic flow. That's my only guess as to why that key portion would be omitted.
I would have hoped that we would have learned from our decades-delayed completion of Circle Drive, but apparently not.