Neighbourhood drainage fix by 2029 not acceptable: resident

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This article was published 30/04/2025 (183 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After mounds of ice and snow made his road impassable this spring, aggravating long-term drainage woes, a Wildwood Park resident is urging the city to speed up a major repair.

“This spring was the worst. When we had a warm spell, it flooded into the land and then it got cold and all of that morphed into a giant lake of ice and slush. Cars were getting stuck and hung up on the ice,” said Dennis Burman, who lives on the street.

“I got hung up (in my car). Neighbours had to call tow trucks and a city grader finally came, pulled one of the cars out… and then they broke the ice up with a grader and with a huge front-end loader hauled it away.”

Burman said it took about a week and a half to address the issue earlier this year, while flooding due to lack of drainage has plagued the area every spring for decades.

“If we have a huge summer rain event that will happen again… These pipes were put in when this area was developed in 1948 and they’re obviously not functioning correctly,” he said.

Burman plans to meet with neighbours about the issue Thursday, in hopes of convincing the city to take action soon.

“What we’re looking for is a permanent solution. Not this Band-aid stuff where we have to chase the city every year (for a response),” he said.

Burman said he has repeatedly filed complaints with the city each spring, while drainage repairs have recently taken place in other sections of Wildwood Park. The area has no front streets, relying instead on narrow back lanes that form bays around a shared park area.

He expected his bay would be fixed by now and was frustrated to learn the city doesn’t plan to complete the work until 2029.

“We moved in 1988 and it’s almost an annual event in early spring. When we get the first thaw, the water all floods into the lane… After we yell and complain, they send out the guy with the steamer truck,” said Burman.

He said because basement flooding is a constant risk, he uses multiple sump pits at his home, after water cascaded in to its basement one spring.

In 2020, one neighbour was able to kayak down the lane, said Burman.

In a series of emails, city spokespeople said the area is a “reconstruction priority” but it’s not likely to be completed before 2029.

“The reconstruction would include the renewal of the catch basin land drainage lead. Until then, the streets maintenance division will continue to assist with snow removal and thawing of catch basins as conditions warrant,” said spokesman Kalen Qually, in an email.

In another statement, spokeswoman Julie Horbal Dooley said the 2029 target date is based on the city’s internal prioritization system.

Coun. Sherri Rollins (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry) said the flooding remains significant.

“It’s not unlike many of the streets in the City of Winnipeg and many neighbours, come spring, saying there is a land drainage problem on this street… except it’s a lot more dramatic,” said Rollins.

The councillor said basement flooding has also been reported but the city can only afford to complete so much construction each year.

“As a councillor, I want to make sure that there is more done… I have been working on it but I don’t get to take the whole of the local streets budget for myself,” she said.

Coun. Ross Eadie, chairman of council’s water and waste committee, said the low-lying area’s catch basin freezes each winter, creating a need for city crews to help thaw it out each spring.

Eadie (Mynarski) said he hopes staff can begin that work earlier in the future, before residents complain about the problem.

“We should be way more proactive getting out there (to) make sure the catch basin system there is not freezing up… until the money’s there in 2029 (for the construction),” he said.

In addition to funding challenges, Eadie said many local contractors are tied up with work to reduce combined sewer overflows, so it could be difficult to find enough crews to ramp up other drainage repairs.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

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