Construction of a ring road in Saskatoon was first proposed in 1913 by city commissioner
Christopher J. Yorath. He conceived the first comprehensive town plan, which included inner and outer "encircling boulevards". Parts of the present-day roadway follow the course Yorath laid out, though some route proposals were rejected, such as one for the southern leg that would have taken the roadway over an island south of present-day Saskatoon that, years later, was named in honour of Yorath.), and most of Dundonald Avenue, a street that followed the western edge of the city, was removed to make way for the freeway. The southeast segment, from Lorne Avenue to College Drive, was constructed concurrently with the Idylwyld Freeway, a connector from Circle Drive into the downtown core. Not including the Idylwyld Freeway, only two interchanges were initially built on the southeast leg: a limited-access one at 14th Street, and a large
cloverleaf interchange at the junction of the realigned Highways 16 and 11. The first portion of the southeast leg to be built was from 8th Street south to the city limits where it met a realigned Highway 11. In lieu of an interchange at 8th Street, a large
traffic circle or roundabout was constructed.
1983 extension and 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.
2013 extension and south bridge 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. 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. The total cost of the project is estimated at
$272.5 million. 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. 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. 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), 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.{{cite news 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. == Future development ==