Warman City Council is hoping that advance notice of an alternative route will help alleviate a potential traffic bottleneck near Holy Trinity and Traditions Elementary Schools this fall.
Motorists are advised to use Clubhouse Boulevard West connection to Thompson Road North, and from there to Highway 305 and Highway 11.
Traffic at the intersection of 1st Avenue North and Clubhouse Boulevard becomes congested periodically due to more parents than usual dropping their children off at the schools, located in the newly-developing Traditions neighbourhood. Bottlenecks generally occur during the first few days of the school year and also on exceptionally cold winter days when school buses are not running.
Vehicles entering and leaving the school must use 1st Avenue North, which has stop signs at the intersection with Clubhouse Boulevard.
Clubhouse Boulevard, which runs east-west, is a main arterial street and does not have a stop sign. However, there are pedestrian crossing lights at the intersection.
The result is that southbound vehicles looking to make a left-hand turn east onto Clubhouse Boulevard can face wait times up to 20 minutes during peak periods in the morning.
While the bottlenecks are frustrating for drivers, they happen only on rare occasions.
At least, that’s been the experience of the past few years.
But the 2020-21 academic year could be different.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the uncertainty surrounding the opening of schools this fall could translate into increased daily traffic into and out of the schools, particularly if school bus ridership is restricted.
To alleviate the potential bottlenecks created by left-hand turns onto Clubhouse Boulevard, Warman City Council is encouraging motorists to make use of the recently-completed western extension of Clubhouse Boulevard which connects to Thompson Road North.
Motorists, after dropping off their kids at Traditions Elementary or Holy Trinity Schools, can make right-hand turns onto Settler Crescent and Clubhouse Boulevard to exit the area.
Using this route allows commuters heading into Saskatoon to proceed north on Thompson Road North directly onto Highway 305, and from there to Highway 11 via the overpass.