(1) The Upper Plateau Separation (UPS) Project is moving forward
The UPS project will divert stormwater from the North Hill directly to the river, removing the connection with storm sewers in Sunnyside. This will eliminate water from the upper plateau as a cause of flooding in Sunnyside.
The City plans to proceed with a new tunnel from 10th St (near Aurora) to the Bow River more-or-less underneath 7th St. Unfortunately, all the less expensive options, such as lining the existing stormwater ducts, have proven infeasible.
The geotechnical drilling conducted earlier this year showed that the tunneling cost will be much lower than previously thought (all bedrock is easier than mixed gravel/clay/bedrock). The project cost is now expected to be much lower than the original, preliminary estimate of $37M and less than half the revised estimate from last year. This project should be going ahead!
Some of the funding for this project is to come from the provincial Alberta Community Resilience Program (ACRP). This program has been suspended for review by the new provincial government but we anticipate that this funding will be reinstated after the review.
The City has an aggressive project schedule for UPS. They anticipate awarding a contract early next year with construction starting later in 2020 with construction taking more than a year to complete.
(2) Public Information Sessions about new Flood Mitigation Infrastructure on the Bow River Upstream of Calgary
For effective long term flood protection of Hillhurst and Sunnyside new flood mitigation infrastructure will be required on the Bow River upstream of Calgary. The province has a study underway to look at options. All options identified will be expensive and will take many years to deliver. All involve overcoming challenges. Nevertheless work must be started if it is ever to be finished. We support new flood mitigation infrastructure upstream of Calgary.
The province will be hosting two more public information sessions to describe the options under consideration. These should be very informative for those who are interested.
(1) Thursday, October 3 2019 4:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Rockpointe Church Bearspaw, 255024 Lochend Rd, Calgary, AB T3L 2R2
(2) Tuesday, October 15 2019 4:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Rockpointe Church Bearspaw, 255024 Lochend Rd, Calgary, AB T3L 2R2
More information can be found at these websites: