The upgrades to Yorkton's drainage system is an extensive, multi-year project, and the Planning and Engineering department's Josh Mickleborough provided city council with an update on the plans for the new year.
One of the items on the agenda is getting a unified storm water model. Mickleborough explains that the current setup has a model for each side of the city, each developed with different engineering consultancies. Also, certain areas of the city are not in any model. The northeast of the city (area east of Highway 9 and north of Broadway Ave East) is not modeled; the area north of York Road including the crossing of Highway 9 is also not modeled. The plan is to work with Associated Engineering, which did the model for the west side, and combine them into one comprehensive model.
The reason for going with Associated Engineering is to reduce the duplication of work. The cost of the effort will be $64,000, but Mickleborough says that will pay for itself when it comes to efficiently executing capital projects and predicting the most effective way to go with drainage.
While councillor Chris Wyatt objected to the plan to go to Associated Engineering without going to tender, the motion passed.
In the construction area, Mickleborough notes that more work in the Dracup storm system is planned for this year. Dracup Pond 2 will be this year's phase. The proposed pond will retain, temporarily storing the storm water for approximately 65 acres. This will increase downstream capacity as well as providing additional storage for upstream flows.
This project will cost $567,085 and be performed by Poztus Road Maintenance and Construction.
Improvements will also need to happen on Harris Ave, Mickleborough notes. The proposed ditch improvement will allow storm water to move freely through the subdivision to its outfall in the Yellowhead subdivision. It will also address nuisance ponding issues in the ditches. The work consists of minor excavation work to re-grade the ditches, several culverts will be adjusted (or replaced). The work will take place in the right-of-way (unless there is an agreement with the adjacent property owner) but will require open cuts of some driveways and roadways.
On the Mark Excavating won the tender with a construction cost of $81,950. The total budget of this project is $102,645, including $12,500 for design and a ten per cent contingency.
Cederwood Crescent will also see some drainage improvements. The street has had drainage problems, Mickle-borough says, due to the way the area drains into a storm pipe that leads to a ditch on Highway 10. The ditch is flat and has a number of low areas that do not allow for proper drainage, resulting in ponding.
Directional boring a culvert in the same location, under Highway 10, will allow the storm water to cross the highway and to drain into an existing slough and north down the highway ditch.
The total budget for this project is $130,000, and Mickle-borough says it is expected to come in under budget overall.
Mickelborough also outlined some future considerations for drainage planning, well into the future. These include continuing the work on Dracup, a Logan Green diversion, a Yellowhead storm pond and improvements at the Highway 9 crossing. Also being considered for feasibility are a Broadway diversion and work on Maple Crossing. The priority for drainage projects is determined by which gets the best "bang for the buck," Mickelborough says, with projects that will benefit the city overall and those which deal with long-standing problem areas being the biggest priorities. Mickleborough emphasizes that this is a multi-year, multi-million project which is going to significantly improve the livability of the city overall.
The city is two years into its seven-year drainage plan, which is expected to cost a total of $9 million when all is said and done.
