By Shaun Penner

Pooling Water

County responding to pooling water on area roads

Mar 21, 2019 | 5:33 AM

Drivers in the County of Grande Prairie have been dealing with water logged roads over the past few days, as warm daytime temperatures and sunshine continue to melt snow and ice.

County crews have been busy steaming culverts and clearing storm drains of snow and ice to help alleviate the problem. Tuesday, some roadways in Clairmont saw some major pooling, which can cause unsafe driving conditions for motorists.

“I wouldn’t call it flooding, but there was some frozen culverts and catch basins in Clairmont that actually raised some havoc,” said County Director of Public Works Dale van Volkingburgh. “Crews went out and steamed them and got everything flowing, so it’s already subsided from that day, and (Wednesday) it was 90% better in that region.”

Noting Van Volkingburgh did not refer to the pooling as flooding, he further added that spring runoff conditions are not at the level that they have been the last few years. The County is not expecting things to get much worse, but they will be monitoring the situation closely.

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“We’re probably just in the thick of it right now,” said Van Volkingburgh. “The snow that we did get was at a cold temperature, so there isn’t as much moisture in that type of snow.”

Pooled water can cause significant road damage and motorists should avoid driving through large puddles. If the public does come across washed out or frozen culverts, flooding or significant road damage, they should report the issue to the Public Works department’s 24-hour emergency line at 780-532-7393.