The project comes after ‘fierce’ advocacy from community residents, who were some of the most affected during the floods
The City of Calgary broke ground on a flood mitigation project Thursday, which envisions a barrier along Memorial Drive that would protect Sunnyside residents from a one-in-100-year flood event — more than 10 years after a devastating deluge that brought the city to a grinding halt and cost billions of dollars.
The barrier — which will be comprised of a mix of permanent flood walls, sheet piles and temporary installations, such as sandbags, water-filled tubes and demountable flood walls — will run approximately 2.4 kilometres along Memorial Drive. The project will take two years to complete.
Its first stage will begin on the west and east ends of the strip. As a result, trees might get trimmed, but that would be a last resort. A city official also said traffic disruptions would be announced in advance of the work.
“Please avoid the area if possible,” the website says. “Expect major delays.”
A city news release on Thursday added, “Commuters are advised to allow extra travel time and use alternate routes and modes of transportation or carpool when possible.”
This first stage of work will continue into the fall, after which the next steps will be announced by the city.
‘They’ve got it right’: community association
The project comes after “fierce” advocacy from community residents, who were some of the most affected during the floods, said Kate Stenson, executive director of the Hillhurst Sunnyside Community Association.
“I’m sure that there are many community members that would have liked to see something sooner,” Stenson said.
“I think the perspective that we’ve taken as the community association is that it took a longer amount of time to know what was needed and then to get it right.”
The city had approached the community association more than five years ago with a plan to build a smaller wall that would protect residents from a one-in-20-year flood. However, members advocated for a stronger barrier — a proposal the city accepted, said Charlie Lund, a volunteer on the Hillhurst Sunnyside Community Association’s flood committee.
The barrier will make people more comfortable to play different kinds of sports or host events, Lund said. The project will also improve the pathways for pedestrians and cyclists along Memorial Drive.
“I think they’ve got it right or pretty close to right,” he added.
Sunnyside residents advocated for permanent flood barrier
Community members have been eagerly waiting for the project whose price tag comes at $50 million. Two years ago, a flood scare led the city to build a temporary 88-metre flood berm made of clay and dirt along Memorial Drive.
Two years later, when asked why it took so long for the city to begin the project, Amy Stansky, project manager for the barrier, said studying the best options to prevent flooding consumed a lot of the city’s time. After the project was launched in 2018, the city made several modifications to meet the community’s needs, Stansky added.
“This barrier is more than a piece of infrastructure,” the city’s general manager of infrastructure services, Michael Thompson, said at a news conference.
“It represents the community’s unified voice advocating for safety, longevity and well-being of the neighbourhood.”
The barrier will be constructed along the north side of the Bow River, from 14th Street N.W. to the west side of the Field of Crosses.