Work is now able to start on plans to upgrade the drainage systems in some of Grande Prairie’s older neighbourhoods. The new storm drainage plan created to look at places in the area that need improvements was approved by city council on Monday.
City Drainage and Environmental Supervisor Richard Sali said previously that he’d like to start working right away in places like Swanavon and Hillside.
“In some of our older areas, the infrastructure that’s in place was designed for a smaller rainstorm event and there wasn’t quite the overland drainage flow to get the bigger events away from properties.”
The city looks at the current pipes in place every five years to make sure everything is up to date and see where improvements could be made. Two places Sali also wants to upgrade sooner rather than later are the Richmond Industrial park and the Mountview area. He says those upgrades could include adding new pipes and doing roadwork.
Suli says that once some of those upgrades are done, water should stay on the road instead of on peoples’ properties. Now that the plan has been approved, Sali expects work to start on the Richmond Industrial Park this summer.