By Thia James

City seeks resolution to MacArthur Drive flooding

Nov 5, 2014 | 5:43 AM

It happens every spring – when the snow melts, water flows over the railroad tracks behind MacArthur Drive and into an adjacent laneway.

From there, the water pools in the some of the backyards of residents who live in along the street. One woman who spoke to paNOW on Tuesday, has lived in her house on MacArthur Drive for 40 years. She said she runs a pump when the water floods her yard in the spring. The pump takes the water that builds up – several inches of it – and redirects it down her driveway and into the street.

She said the flooding has only been a problem for the last eight or nine years. The flood waters wash the seeds of weeds from the area near the railroad tracks into her backyard and that leads to extra work later on when the weeds start to grow.

After repeat flooding incidents, the City of Prince Albert’s public works staff went out to evaluate the site. They also cleared trees, graded the alleyway, did surface gravelling and some drainage maintenance in the alleyway.

In a report, Jeff Da Silva, engineering services manager, wrote that a preliminary investigation found that it may be possible to install a storm sewer in the alley, but it suggests that council agrees to allow the department to go ahead with continuous monitoring of the situation.

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The report provided four options for resolving the flooding issue, but administration is recommending that the department manages snow accumulation and surface drainage in the area.

At Monday evening’s executive committee meeting, Mayor Greg Dionne said he has been out to the affected area and has met with residents. He said he doesn’t understand why the City would allow the water to go over the tracks.

“I want to stop it before it comes over the tracks. That’s when it spills into the neighbourhood,” he said.

He said that it was his understanding that the department would be creating a ditch that would drain water away. But he added that he was “amazed” that Carlton Trail Railway, which uses the tracks, hasn’t stepped up.

Acting public works director Wes Hicks said that department staff did the clean-up work because the railway didn’t want to participate. “And yes, I can’t understand why they don’t wish to participate. It’s their railway tracks that are at risk first.

When contacted by paNOW, a representative with Carlton Trail Railway in Prince Albert said they don’t do public interviews. He said that as a private company, they “don’t do that.”

He forwarded the inquiry to OmniTRAX, which operates Carlton Trail. The company did not provide a comment in time for publication.

tjames@panow.com

On Twitter: @thiajames