In the fourth season of ‘The Simpsons’, there’s an episode called, ‘Marge and the Monorail’.  At the end of the show, Marge narrates, “And that was the only folly the people of Springfield ever embarked upon. Except for the popsicle stick skyscraper. And the 50-foot magnifying glass. And that escalator to nowhere.”  Each one of these ‘follies’ are shown as she mentions them and as the end credits begin to roll, you can still hear people scream as they fall off the ‘escalator to nowhere’.  This is what always pops into my mind when I see or even hear anything about Saskatoon’s Traffic Bridge or as I prefer to call it, the Bridge to Nowhere.

The Traffic Bridge, aka the Victoria Bridge or the 19th St Bridge, was the first bridge built in Saskatoon.  It  connected Victoria Ave. with 3rd Ave and Spadina.  Built in 1907, it replaced the apparently unreliable ferry service in what was becoming a bustling town.  There are places in the world where something this old is still reliable, in use, and well maintained.  Alas, this is no such place.  Despite spending $500,000 in 2005 to keep it up for pedestrians and bikes and another $462,000 in 2007 to ‘spruce’ it up with lights (which I honestly would have had no issue with if it looked nice and had only costed what the original estimate said), the lack of any real maintenance took it’s toll.  The bridge was closed to all traffic of any kind in 2010.  Estimates to repair the bridge ran between $20 – 45 million although, those of us who live here know that that figure would likely have been doubled if they went through with repairs.  So, what happened to it?  Well here it is:

It’s an old bridge as I said but kind of pretty and it’s cool to have that kind of old style truss bridge spanning the river; a neat piece of Saskatoon history still alive.  Those of us who learned to drive in this city will remember their first drive down this narrow bridge!  It’s awful that it’s now closed but…take a closer look. No, I said a closer look!  See something a little…odd?   Yes, folks, the bridge actually ends.  It’s just…ends!  In the middle of nowhere!  A couple of years ago, as a way to deter people from walking across it because apparently, the inspectors said that it could fall at any time, a section of the bridge was removed.  Now do you see why I call it ‘the bridge to nowhere’?

When you now walk down the famous Meewasin trail on the east bank, this is the site you see.  So dangerous is the bridge that you are now forced to walk around it although, apparently, you are still allowed to boat on the river under it.  Strange considering those warnings about how it could fall at any minute.  I suppose that in a speed boat, you could get your butt out of there fast enough but what about the canoers and kayakers?  But, I digress.

With the completion of a new south bridge and plans for a new north bridge in the works, I suppose that it kind of makes sense that the money to pull this bridge down isn’t really there.  But, there are still a lot of questions to be asked.  A lot of this reminds me of my first year of university back in 1997.  Just days before classes were to start, inspectors shut down part of the Phys Ed building saying that it could collapse at any moment.  A corner of the old Throvaldson building was also said to be sinking into the ground and there was apparently a third building with structural problems although, I honestly can’t remember which one it was.   I joke about that and about this bridge to nowhere but…it really isn’t that funny, is it?  How do things like this happen anywhere?  Is this level of short sightedness and neglect unique to Saskatchewan (and a supposedly booming city like Saskatoon) or does it just seem that way to those who live here?  And, perhaps more fundamentally, how does the average citizen fight politicians (and their private career interests) to ensure that things like this don’t happen again?  This is our money and our safety, isn’t it? I can’t find any more info about full demolition right now.  It some ways, I’m kind of glad.  It’s a cute little bridge with an interesting history and let’s face it, it’s hard to be called , ‘the city of bridges’ if you don’t have a lot of bridges.  It’s definitely a conversation starter here too since everyone has an opinion on it!  (When you’re tired of talking about the weather, this is the next best thing over here!)  But at the same time, it really is an embarrassment.  I’m fed up with trying to explain this to people outside of Saskatoon and if we’re seriously going to keep up this growth, it’s time to start acting like a bigger city and just do what needs to be done.