Memorial Drive reopens to traffic, Sunnyside residents await permanent flood barrier

Drivers can once again access one of Calgary's busiest roadways after construction crews divided the massive berm along Memorial Drive.

One lane is open in both directions for the first time since Monday night, but city officials say the berm can be quickly reconstructed if necessary.

The project's initial construction cost the city $115,000, and the flood barrier is expected to remain in place until at least Sunday or Monday.

There is a weather system to the west that the city is keeping a close eye on that could potentially bring up to 100 millimetres of rain to the area by early next week.

"The forecast at this point in time is between 50 and 100 millimetres of rain, and if we take a look at a midpoint at this point in time just as an indicator of 70 millimetres of rain, that will result in an event that would see flows within the Bow River peaking at around 1200 cubic meters per second," said Francois Bouchart, director of water resources with the City of Calgary.

"I do want to stress that the risk is there, and therefore we're taking every precaution possible to ensure that we remain prepared and responsive to the events that we're seeing. That means that you will see many of our measures remain in place, including the pumps, and we'll be ready to close outfalls if the event starts to materialize."

Bouchart added that, according to some modelling done by the city, there is a chance the upcoming weather system could move further north before making its way east toward Calgary.

In that case, the brunt of the rain would skip the city altogether.

For some people living in Sunnyside, the construction of a temporary berm is a frustrating reminder that the city has yet to build a permanent solution.

The city had planned to begin constructing a permanent flood barrier in the spring of 2021, and it was initially scheduled to be completed by 2023.

But now, the project's start date is set for the spring of 2023, and the plan is to have it wrapped up in 2025.

"It's outrageous and ridiculous, and there's no guarantee, the way this gong-show works, that they will even start in 2023," said Michael Bradfield, a regular member of the Hillhurst-Sunnyside Community Association's flood taskforce.

"In a word, this is a failure."

Bradfield said the community flood task force has been regularly asking city council to construct a permanent solution, to no avail.

He added that the lack of communication from the city is concerning.

"We're the flood taskforce for this community, and they didn't tell us that they were building this berm. We had to come out and see it for ourselves," said Bradfield.

"The other issue is that it's been almost ten years since the 2013 flood, so there are two points to be made. Either they didn't think about it until the last minute, or worse, they thought about it for the past ten years and did nothing about it. "

When asked why a permanent berm has been delayed by more than two years, Frank Frigo, manager of watershed planning for the City of Calgary, said a lot of extra consideration has gone into the project because of the overall importance of Memorial Drive to the city and its residents.

"It is very much at the recognition of additional stakeholder and citizen involvement that Memorial Drive and the placemaking aspect of any infrastructure along this area would be so important that we want to make sure that we're doing it right," he said.

"That is really the core message. This will be long-term infrastructure, and it certainly is key in terms of flood resilience, but it also impacts many other components of what's really a signature area of Calgary."

Frigo pointed to the memorial commemoration honouring fallen soldiers in the area, the potential environmental impacts, the ideal functionality of the barrier, and where it should be placed.

He said after meeting with stakeholders, the city realized that more work was needed to ensure the proper investment was being made.

Outside of the delays to the Sunnyside flood barrier project, Frigo pointed to the range of other flood mitigation investments made by the city.

"In 2014, we changed our land-use bylaw to alter the way that we're handling the regulation of new development within zones of flood risk," he said.

"Since 2013, our flood damage estimates demonstrate that we've eliminated about 55 per cent of the risk. With the Springbank off-stream reservoir coming online in 2024, and then reaching its full capacity in 2025, that statistic will move up to 70 per cent of the risk eliminated."

Frigo added that the city has also invested in advanced weather tracking technology, which allows for better preparedness through the rollout of temporary, preventative measures like the berm on Memorial Drive.

"We still have work to do on those communities where there is an outstanding residual risk, and we're continuing to do that," said Frigo.

"The temporary berm is evidence that the City of Calgary takes very serious flood risks, has learned lessons from 2013, and is acting proactively and conservatively that safety is as optimal as it can be under the duress of flood conditions."

Frigo said that in extreme cases when overland flooding is expected, the city would construct multiple other temporary berms along the Bow and the Elbow Rivers.

 

Calgarians can visit the City of Calgary - Floods for all local flood-related updates and to sign up for emergency notifications.