Circle Drive

Circle Drive approaching the Circle Drive North Bridge

For close to 15 years, the two sections of Circle Drive sat apart, with discussions regarding the third phase continuing through the 1970s. The next portion of the roadway completed was the northeast quadrant, from College Drive to Warman Road, connecting the two extant sections. This included the construction of the Circle Drive Bridge (aka the North Bridge and initially referred to as the 42nd Street Bridge) across the South Saskatchewan River and was completed in 1983 after several years of construction.

The original project involved interchanges at Warman Road and 108th Street; over the next 20 years additional interchanges were constructed at Attridge Drive/Preston Avenue North and College Drive. Also during the 1980s, the northwest leg of Circle Drive added an interchange at 33rd Street, while the 8th Street traffic circle in the southeast was removed after years of complaints and accidents, and in the late 1990s an interchange was constructed as a replacement. Also in 1996 an interchange was added at Taylor Street's junction with Circle Drive. Some infrastructure work planned to go with the northeast leg of Circle Drive, including the closure of Central Avenue's connection to College Drive, removal of the Circle Drive/14th Street interchange and a proposed interchange at Preston Avenue and College Drive, was never undertaken.

A few years after its completion, the northeast extension was designated the through route for the Yellowhead Highway, replacing the previous route through downtown along Idylwyld Drive.

In 2002, a major interchange was added where Circle Drive intersected several major roads: 22nd Street West, Fairlight Drive and Confederation Drive, replacing a complex series of traffic lights. Also, partially in preparation for the extension of the freeway (as well as residential and commercial development), an interchange at Clarence Avenue South was added in the late 2000s.

The last remaining southwest section of Circle Drive, between 11th Street West and Lorne Avenue, including the Gordie Howe Bridge (originally called the Circle Drive South Bridge) and running parallel to the Grand Trunk Bridge, opened to traffic on July 31, 2013, after several years of construction and a rain- and water table-induced delay of nearly a year. Approximately 7 km in length, it connects the C.N. Industrial area to the Holiday Park neighbourhood, travelling through property annexed from the Saskatoon Golf and Country Club.[7][8]

The bridge has six traffic lanes and a pedestrian walkway suspended underneath, similar to the north bridge. National and provincial funding each amounted to $172 million and the City of Saskatoon committed $70.5 million towards the project.[9] The total cost of the project is estimated at $272.5 million.[10]

The City of Saskatoon hired a private contractor to build the bridge. Three companies submitted proposals: PCL Construction, Peter Kiewet Sons and Graham Construction/Flatiron.[11] The Graham/Flatiron bid was selected on March 29, 2010. Construction of the bridge and associated roadways was expected to be complete by September 30, 2012.[10] However, record rainfall, high water tables and an early snowfall made that deadline unfeasible, and the roadway ultimately did not open until July 31, 2013.

Environment Canada and Fisheries and Ocean oversaw environmental impacts on the river. The project included four new interchanges: at 11th Street West (which utilizes some of the land area given up by the Maple Leaf Foods building demolition in 2010),[11] and at Secondary Highway 762 (Valley Road) on the west side of the river, and interchanges at Highway 219 (Lorne Avenue) and the Idylwyld Freeway. In the later stages of construction, construction began on an interchange along the older southeast section of Circle Drive at its intersection with Preston Avenue South; this was completed several months after the southwest extension and technically marked the completion of the Circle Drive project.

The Holiday Park golf course needed to re-landscape two holes on the golf course, as holes 6 and 7 were affected. The southwest and southern periphery of Diefenbaker Park was also impacted as that portion of the park was taken over by the freeway. Some roadways in Montgomery Place and Holiday Park Industrial were also realigned and the at-grade intersection at Circle and Clancy Drive was also revised. Another impact of the project is a new rail switching yard near 11th Street and Dundonald Avenue. In 2010, the City of Saskatoon signed a non-binding agreement in principle with the Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway to move railcar switching out of the downtown Central Industrial neighbourhood.[12]

Additional road revisions were required as part of the project: 11th Street West, westbound from the new interchange with Circle, was replaced with the 11th Street West Bypass, aligned further north from the original road, which was converted into a cul-de-sac; this, in turn, opened up space for new multi-family residential development in the mature Montgomery Place community. Several streets within the South West Industrial and C.N. Industrial subdivisions were also realigned or shortened. The portion of Dundonald Avenue between Mountbatten Street and Valley Road was designated for closure; this required the construction of a new access road off Valley Road connecting to the city landfill while Valley Road itself was realigned to connect directly with Circle Drive (previously it had linked with Dundonald Avenue). Development of the Circle Drive/Valley Ridge interchange also required the permanent closure of the Fletcher Road access point into South West Industrial via Dundonald, leading to city planners adding a new roadway, Dawes Avenue, to provide an extra access to 11th Street and, in turn, Circle Drive.

The first portion of the southwest extension to open was 11th Street to Valley Road, which was open by late spring of 2013.

Although the circle is now "closed", the City of Saskatoon is investigating future improvements to older parts of the freeway, including revisions to the aged Idylwyld Drive North/Circle Drive interchange and finding ways to deal with traffic congestion along the non-freeway "42nd Street" (Warman Road to Avenue C) section of the road. As of October 2013 the City's Projected Growth Concept Plan map shows a proposed interchange at Airport Drive. There remain two further seagull intersections along the western freeway portion of Circle Drive at Laurier Drive and Clancy Drive that the city is looking to redevelop in the future in order to create "freeflow" conditions along the non-42nd Street portion of the road; the same long-term plan also calls for revision to the complicated interchange at 22nd Street and Circle Drive (and adjacent roadways).[13]

In February 2018, the City of Saskatoon announced preliminary plans to replace the aging cloverleaf interchange where Circle Drive intersects Highway 11 and 16 in the southeast corner of the city. With an estimated cost of $280 million, work on the upgrade is not expected to begin until the late 2020s or early 2030s.[14]

A new Saskatoon Freeway is (as of 2022) in the planning phase. Located on the current development periphery of Saskatoon (much as Circle Drive initially was when construction on it began in the 1960s), it is expected to relive pressure on Circle by allowing a city bypass. However, planning documents for the freeway show there are no plans for a southwest section of the road (between Highway 7 and Highway 11), as the new southwest portion of Circle Drive is expected to handle this traffic for the foreseeable future.[15]