Why Regina's underpasses routinely flood and how to fix the problem
Aging infrastructure and necessary upgrades among the reasons
This story was originally published on June 6, 2023.
Every time it rains in Regina a series of underpasses that bisect the city are in danger of flooding.
Attempts by commuters to cross the water-logged areas often ends with stranded vehicles and soaked drivers. Sometimes, first responders are even called in to save passengers with a boat.
The underpasses at Albert Street, Broad Street and Winnipeg Street are among the spots that frequently flood and disrupt traffic.
According to Kurtis Doney, the city's acting executive director of citizen services, the causes of flooding fall into two categories:
- A heavy downpour means the pumps that push the water into retention ponds cannot keep up.
- The drainage system of an underpass becomes plugged, which prevents water from getting into the pipes and then being pumped out.
"This recent storm event and all the recent storm events do highlight the importance of investing in underground infrastructure, and in particular our storm water system," Doney said.
Increasing the capacity of the city's retention ponds, enlarging the pipes or improving the pumps could all help alleviate flooding.
However, Doney said recognizing what needs to be done and implementing the changes are two different issues.
The latest estimates put the cost for upgrading the infrastructure of the Albert Street underpass at around $10 million.
"The Albert Street underpass, to reduce the risk of flooding there, that work is going to be planned with the [Saskatchewan Drive] work that is happening along all of [Saskatchewan Drive]," he said.
"It's important to integrate all that work to make sure it's done properly all at once."
There's no confirmed timeline for when work will begin on upgrades to Saskatchewan Drive.
The latest update from the City of Regina indicates construction on the first phase of the project could begin in 2024 if its approved.
With the Albert Street underpass lying between the areas designated for the second and third phase of the project, it could be a while before the underpass escapes a major storm without flooding.
Addressing flooding at Broad Street may take even longer, with Doney confirming the city is looking at creating a detention pond.
The idea is that rain would flow into the pond, filling it up instead of the underpass.
The city is not yet ready to provide cost estimates on the project, Doney said.
Flooding and traffic disruption
The flooding of the Albert Street underpass has been a well-known issue for more than a century.
Two years ago, after a heavy rain in June, the City of Regina told media that the underpass has been flooding since 1912.
During that same rain incident in 2021, a vehicle drove around the barriers the city had put up to dissuade drivers from entering the flooded underpass and got stuck.
Now the city's emergency response plan has a step that specifically attempts to negate the issue of vehicles entering flooded underpass.
Instead of orange wooden barricades, the city now places pieces of heavy equipment to prevent people from getting to the water.
"Barricades unfortunately are moved sometimes or ran over and so graders work very well to reduce that traffic," said Doney.
The city is working on medium-term plans to stop vehicles entering the flooded underpass at Albert Street. That will feature a partnership with SGI to help install a sensor at the lights at Saskatchewan Drive and Albert Street.
"If it's flooded, it would take control of the lights and not allow people to go into the flooded underpass, as the lights would stay red," explained Doney.
The solution could be up and running by the 2024 storm season, he said.
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