Within about 10 days, Hwy 2 north of Prince Albert should be open to traffic and a locally flooded road in the Rural Municipality of Buckland will also be drained.
It is part of a new plan that involves drainage ditches and the construction of a culvert under Hwy 2 to divert floodwaters.
RM of Buckland Reeve Don Fyrk says the solution has been a long time coming.
“This has been going on for the last three years and with the extra snowfall we had this winter, it’s just compounded everything,” he says. “So, something had to be done. I feel for everybody out there, they’ve been extremely patient but they’re patience is really starting to wear thin.”
For his part, the minister responsible for the Water Security Agency is optimistic that this will be the last year the area will have to deal with this type of flooding.
Ken Cheveldayoff says the work being done right now is a temporary fix but the department is committed to working with the local RM on a long-term solution.
He also says the Water security Agency had to make sure the drainage culvert would not create new problems before allowing it to go ahead.
“The Water Security Agency has to do that work and the RM certainly understood that and has been working with us and now we have a solution in place for the short term and we’ll be looking at some long term solutions as well,” he says.
The local council declared a state of emergency last week fast tracking the project.
Fyrk says the Water Security Agency has been a tremendous help in getting the project approved and started.
The council has also hired a consulting firm which will come up with a long-term solution to the annual flooding problem.