The City of Calgary is committing to keeping river water out of communities, this time with the new sunnyside flood barrier not a faulty water main.

On July 18, 2024 the city held a groundbreaking event for the new $50 million Sunnyside flood barrier project. The barrier will span 2.4 kilometers along Memorial Drive, protecting the Sunnyside and Hillhurst communities. Plans for the project were done with recommendation from the Hillhurst Sunnyside Community Association (HSCA) and their Emergency Planning and Response Committee (EPARC).

“We have taken decisive action to protect people’s homes, businesses and beloved community spaces,” said Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek.

“While we know that Calgarians are quick to act when challenges arise, this barrier will minimize the need for individual response and provide security in a way that is proactive and protects us long into the future.”

The 2013 flood was disastrous for Calgary communities with it being the largest flood event since 1897. The Bow River saw eight times its normal flow volume, and the Elbow River saw 12 times its normal flow causing $6 billion of financial losses to the city. Twenty-six communities were evacuated with 110,000 affected.

“2013 ignited a determination within us to build a safer and more resilient city together,” said Mayor Gondek.

Plans for the flood barrier project started in 2018. Amy Stansky, project manager for the flood barrier, said that the project has taken 11 years because of the focus on flood mitigation solutions by the city.

“We went through a couple of different rounds of product evolution to ensure that this could meet the community’s needs, including determining the final level of service and also ensuring that this was a barrier that could integrate in an environmentally friendly way and protect as many trees and environmental features as possible,” said Stansky.

The project will cause considerable changes to the area and will require the removal and repurposing of several trees. The poplar trees along Memorial Drive each represent one soldier from Southern Alberta who gave their life in the Great War. There will be 337 trees removed for this project.

“We will continue to honour that once the project is completed,” said Ward 7 Coun. Terry Wong.

The project aims to provide a 1:100 level flood barrier. The 1:100 is a statistical designation given to flood events based on their likelihood to happen, which in this case would be a one per cent chance in any given year.

“It is similar to rolling a 100 sided dice each year where the number “1” means the area will flood. Further, some areas have experienced more than one 1:100 year flood in the same year,” according to the Alberta Society Water Portal.

The flood barrier will consist of a combination of permanent flood walls made of concrete and metal sheet pile, as well as temporary deployable systems like sandbags, depending on what was decided to be best for the area.

“In the project area, they have had to do different things for different reasons. It’s a complicated site with a lot of constraints,” said Charlie Lund, chair of the Hillhurst Sunnyside Community Association emergency planning and response committee infrastructure group.

Involvement of the Hillhurst Sunnyside community

The HSCA formed the EPARC within a month of the 2013 flood. Roughly 62 per cent of residents in the area experienced flooding, according to a survey conducted by the HSCA after the event.

“We’re really excited about the investment in our community. We feel like the river and the park space by it is Calgary’s biggest asset,” said Christie Page of the HSCA mobility committee.

Involvement in flood prevention and solutions has been the main focus of the EPARC, and the City has been working with them to make sure the community’s concerns are heard.

“We aren’t able to incorporate every single piece of feedback or necessarily walk through detailed design plans in very regular intervals, but we do try and strive to work through associations as much as we can,” said Stansky.

Although the city has been working with the HSCA there are still concerns from the community association about designs.

“We did have some things that we were a little concerned about, and we’re not sure if they were ever addressed such as; when there is a wall on the south side of the pathway will there be ice build up?” said Page.

Stanksy said that any area designed by the city must include plans for snow removal and snow storage. Cross fall is also incorporated into city paths, which is a sloped design to prevent ice build up.

“That is something we’re looking at with our design and looking to address to ensure that these new construction pathways do have proper drainage proper snow storage, and that they don’t ice over in the winter,” said Stansky.

The HSCA can provide recommendations and are consulted about designs for the new flood barrier but do not contribute to the design or decisions made by the city.

“In terms of this project, it has been a little rocky at times because we haven’t seen eye to eye on every aspect of this project. We have had meetings and we do have opportunities for input from time to time. I guess it’s one of these tense things where we think we’d like more opportunity for input, but the city doesn’t always agree with that,” said Lund.

Roadmap for the project

With the groundbreaking happening today construction on the barrier will start immediately with multiple closures in the construction area that will be as follows:

Location	Closure Details	Status and Anticipated Schedule	Impact
Walking trail between 10 St and 14 St	Trail closed. Use regional pathway.	Anticipated to begin July 5 for one month.	Noise and dust from culvert installation.
Right lane of EB Memorial Drive N.W. between 10 St and 14 St	Daily lane closures (9am to 3pm).	Anticipated to begin July 22 for two weeks.	Noise and vibration from sheet pile installation.
Centre St to 9 St N.W.	Two EB lanes of Memorial Drive N.W. closed. Two-way traffic on WB Memorial Drive N.W.	Anticipated to begin late July for three months.	Noise, vibration and dust from pressure relief pipe installation.
Regional pathway along Memorial Drive N.W. between 10 St and 14 St	Pathway closed.	Anticipated to begin in August for five weeks.	Noise and vibration from sheet pile installation.
Around Prince’s Island Pedestrian Bridge	Pathway width reduced.	Anticipated to begin late July until the end of October.	Cyclists must dismount. Noise from concrete pile drilling.

The first phase of the project aims to wrap up any existing construction and is expected to be finished in the Fall. Sequencing for the project will be done over the winter, with further details being shared after this step.

“One of the reasons why we construct in sequence is to ensure that we can maintain as much traffic and pathway availability as possible,” said Stanksy.

The project is scheduled to be complete in the spring of 2026.