Some drivers are making waves on city streets where water has pooled near ice-clogged catch basins.
Greg Sikora, parks and public works manager with the city, said there are 8,004 catch basins in the city that drain water off the streets into the sewer and local creeks and rivers. City crews are working 24-7 to respond to areas of concern.
“Through the freeze/thaw cycle through winter, (catch basins) will collect water and then some freeze up and then they pose drainage issues,” Sikora said on Tuesday.
“Right now we have about 200 active requests that we’re feverishly working on.”
He said issues on high-volume roads with higher speed limits are dealt with first. But another priority is streets where water could cause property damage.
Drainage problems in Red Deer began on Saturday.
“March is that thaw month where we typically see drainage issues. It’s just widespread. Right now we’re getting calls from the four corners of the city.”
He said February also saw a mix of cold and warm weather that created a few drainage problems.
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Right now city crews are out early in the morning Tuesday with sand to provide traction after the wet roads freeze overnight. They switch to clearing catch basins as the day goes on and temperatures rise.
He said the warm forecast for this week will help melt some of the problem ice.
“We’re going to see a week of 8 C. I would anticipate our drainage issues will resolve themselves within a week, and we’ll be back to well-drained roads.”
Sikora said the best way for people to report drainage problems is on the city website at www.reddeer.ca/online-tools/report-a-problem. People can still call 403-342-8238 to report road issues, but Report A Problem will get them faster results.
“Day or night they can go on the city’s web page to report a problem. What that does is dispatch to the crews working and they can respond more efficiently and quickly to the need.”
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When it comes to another spring problem — potholes — Sikora said over the last five years the city has seen a reduction in the number of potholes needing to be fixed. So far this year, there have been fewer than 500 fixed.
“With council’s investment in our road infrastructure, we’re in the best position we’ve been in years. Our roads arguably are in great shape.”
szielinski@reddeeradvocate.com
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