Every park in Estevan has felt the impact of the heavy rains in the city over the last few weeks.
Parks manager Rod March said pathways have suffered. The pathway on Fourth Avenue South is under water, which will erode the pathway’s base works. It was closed to the public after the storm on July 10.
The Pleasantdale Valley is another area where the pathways have eroded away in certain areas due to the rain. Barricades have been put up there as well.
Five different pathways were slated to be resurfaced this year. Four of them were ready for asphalt, but the base work has eroded thanks to the rains. All will need work before they can be resurfaced.
“Royal Heights started back in early June,” said March. “It was a two-week project to get everything done. But we’ve been close to eight weeks now because of the weather. Right now, it’s so wet that we can’t even get any equipment in there.
“With clay-type soils, we’re delayed once again. You can’t put asphalt in there because it will just crumble to nothing. We need to have the right conditions.”
There is no timeline for completion of the Royal Heights work.
“All I need is a week of dry weather, but we’re not getting it,” said March.
The trees that were planted to enhance the Royal Heights Park are under about a foot of water. About 15 to 20 trees were planted in Royal Heights this spring, and that represents a significant portion of the 70 trees planted in Estevan this year.
The new trees in other parks are doing better.
March noted the drainage in Royal Heights isn’t as good as other parks, with its clay soil, so it is slower to drain and dry.
But all the parks have been hard hit. Many of them were under water due to the July 10 thunderstorm. Kensington Greens remained partially under water the following day because there was so much water going through the detention system across from Walmart.
“It’s not doing any structural damage right now, but certainly the amount of water right now will hinder our ability to go in and maintain those grounds,” said March. “It’s so wet we can’t even go in and mow it.”
