Mayor Don Atchison says province now backs two bridges

Mayor Don Atchison says the province is now onboard with Saskatoon's two bridge projects.

He's basing that on yesterday's provincial budget.The province said it supports the north commuter bridge, which would handle about 40,000 vehicles perday. It didn't commit any money to the project in this budget, but said it would be coming in the future.

Atchisonsaidsupporting one bridge means supporting both bridges.

It's one project with two bridges inside it. So you can certainly understand sometimes perhaps where there may be a misunderstanding.- Mayor Don Atchison

The city applied for federal funding for its two projects.

In that application, it bundled the the North Commuter and Traffic Bridge as one proposal with a total price tag of $250 million.

Atchison saidthat may be why the province is a tad confused over what it's supporting.

"It's one project with two bridges inside it. So you can certainly understand sometimes perhaps where there may be a misunderstanding," Atchisonsaid.

"The people in Regina, including the Finance minister, I'm sure they don't get into all the details of wondering what the projects are. They're put before them."

The province has maintained that the proposed Traffic Bridge is a municipal project because it doesn't link to the highway system.