Flooding on a particularly flood-prone stretch of Sooke River Road may soon be a thing of the past.
The section of road, located on the route approaching the Sooke Potholes has long been the focus of concerns by area residents who find themselves navigating tire-deep sections of roadways when heavy rains fall.
“It never really bothered me much since a car, driven slowly, could always pass through, but it was always there after any sort of heavy rain,” said Gail Hall, who lives in the area.
“My understanding was that it was the result of the placement of the water line along Sooke River Road. The chlorine treatment centre is located at Charter’s Creek and it’s all part of the same problem.”
The problem prompted the Sooke council last year to dedicate $250,000 to repair the section of road. That work was underway when last week’s heavy rainsstopped the work and caused some residents to complain that the flooding was worse than before the work started.
Some residents, unaware that the work had not yet been completed, called Municipal Hall to complain.
Rob Howat, Sooke’s director of development services, said it was a simple matter of the work not finished when Sooke was hit with what he described as “truly biblical rains” on Nov. 2 and 3.
“What they (the contractors) had started wasn’t completed when the rains started and we had to wait until they stopped for the work to continue,” Howat.
“We met with the contractors yesterday morning (Nov. 5) and were told that the work would be completed in the next few days. After that, we shouldn’t have any problems.”
The construction firm charged with the repairs, Western Watershed Design, declined to either comment on the contract or provide any information on an anticipated completion date for the project.
“We don’t provide that information to the media. You’ll have to talk to the District of Sooke,” said Eric Hagen, a company spokesperson.
editor@sookenewsmirror.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
