Flooded Forks footpath could face redesign

Constant flooding of The Forks' riverwalk and port in Winnipeg has prompted officials to look at redesigning the area.

Thedocks and footpathat the popular marketplacewere designed in the late 1980s when the area flooded less frequently mainly for a few weekswhen the rivers were swollen fromspring melt.

But now it seems to bea summer routine.The area has been submerged for most of the past six months and the water taxi, which serves seven docks alongits route through the Red and Assiniboine Rivers, has not been able to operate this year.

The Splash Dash tour buses, which are the same craft, have been on the water but the taxi service has not been operational because the water was too high to put out the docks.

In 2009, the taxi service didn't start until nearly August. It is supposed to start in May.

The Assiniboine Riverwalk winds along the riverbanks from underneath Esplanade Riel all the way to the foot of the Manitoba Legislature andfeatures interpretive plaques explainingthe area's significance as a historical fur trading location and for early railroad development.

The river levelthis year has been so high at times that no signs of the riverwalk or the port, where boaters can dock and the public can feed ducks, werevisible.

Paul Jordan, the chief operating officer at The Forks, says they can't fight the water any more.

"What's changed is the way the rivers are acting. Whether it's climate change or increased drainage or whatever, ithas changed. It's here and we've got to deal with it," he said.

He has asked the province to use the Red River Floodway to regulate the river level, but he says that doesn't appear to be an option. So now he is discussing a redesign of the port with the original architect, Steve Cohlmeyer.