The federal government has announced $3.21 million in funding for projects in Prince Albert National Park.
The funding will be used for slope stabilization at the nature centre, as well as flood damage repairs along two highways in the park.
In 2013, higher-than-average precipitation led park officials to notice the need for these infrastructure repairs as the highways were flooding and the slope near the nature centre was threatening the integrity of the building.
“The rain did cause problems for us and highlighted ongoing issues with draining and infrastructure, particularly on some of our roads,” said park external relations manager Pat Dunn. “Although it was a rain event instead of flooding, it did result in a lot of infrastructure damage in areas in the park.”
Dunn says they are grateful to receive the federal funding. She says the park itself only has a finite amount of yearly funding to fix infrastructure issues, so one-time cash injections are welcome.
“We have a lot of aging infrastructure, so we tend to defer the work until we get the funding,” said Dunn. “This time, we were able to get additional federal funding to make these projects happen.”
The two highways to receive repairs are the Crookson Road Highway and Highway 263.
Since 2013, both highways have experienced chronic flooding at low points along the road.