On Cook Road, Wright Road and Ellice Street: Town moving forward with flood alleviation

October 15, 2014, 1:57 am
Kara Kinna

The town of Moosomin is moving forward with plans for flood alleviation on Cook Road, Wright Road and Ellice Street with hopes of much of that work being done this fall yet.

After spending a day with WSP Canada Engineering to discuss flooding problems on Cook Road and Wright Road this spring, the town has applied for funding from the Emergency Flood Damage Reduction Program put forth by the provincial government.

Under the program, the provincial government will pay 75 per cent of the costs incurred to divert flood waters, while municipalities pick up the other 25 per cent of the cost. The program was brought in this year after municipalities were hammered by flood waters due to a wet spring and summer.

Moosomin town council reviewed a report from WSP Engineering at their council meeting last Wednesday. The report outlined a number of suggestions to alleviate flooding on Cook Road and Wright Road.

The report suggested diverting water along Cook Road north under the train tracks, then east behind Sharpe’s Soil Services and Park Avenue, where a drainage ditch already exists to take water where it can run out of town.

Council also discussed the problem of flood waters running from farmland west of Cook Road, noting that there are natural swales in the land that lead flood waters to run down Broadway Avenue to Cook Road. Problems with flooding west of Cook Road increased after an existing slough there was filled with clay.

WSP Engineering estimated the cost to relieve flooding west of Cook Road would be $133,000.

Mayor Larry Tomlinson says the town wants to proceed with action on the flooding as soon as possible.

“We’ll go with whatever they suggest would be the most economical and affordable to do,” he said after the meeting last week. “We just want it solved. We can’t have this flooding again. What we had for a big slough there (west of Cook Road) was a buffer and it’s gone, there’s clay there now and the water just runs over.”

Council also decided to proceed with a suggestion from WSP for a berm on private land south of Wright Road to restrict water flow from the south of town. The estimated cost would be $130,000.

The town has already spoken to the landowner, and is hoping to come to an agreement on the berm.

Last Thursday, Tomlinson also said the town is looking at installing a liner in the sewer line in Ellice Street, where sections of line have collapsed, causing chronic flooding in homes along that street this spring.

“We can’t have flooding like that in the spring again,” said Tomlinson.

He said cameraing of those lines would likely begin this week. Although lining the sewer lines will cost the town between $50,000 and $60,000 per block, Tomlinson points out that it costs that much to pave the street each time a street is dug up to repair a broken line.

He says installing the liner is “a good fix” that has been used in other towns with some success.

Tomlinson says he wants as much of the work as possible on Cook Road, Wright Road and Ellice Street done this fall.

“We want to do it this fall, especially Cook Road,” he said. “We are not as concerned about Wright Road because we can leave the (temporary) berm up and control that, but we can’t control Cook Road, and in the spring I’m afraid there will be water coming there again and flooding again.

“Between that and lining some of those sewer lines on Ellice Street, we should be able to alleviate some of that.”