Backyard flooding fix now has to wait until spring

Winter weather has put the brakes on an effort by the City of Charlottetown to deal with a flooding problem in a residential area in the north end of the city.

It's being caused bystorm sewer water passing under the Confederation Trail and flowing into the backyards of homes on TrailviewDrive.

"It's killed some of the bushes in the garden and it killed some of the trees because of the amount of water," said resident John Bennett."But the city's promised to fix it so let's hope that's what happens."

The low-lying yards have had water in them for years, but residents say the problem has been getting worse.

New housing on the other side of the Confederation Trail means greateramounts of water are moving through the storm sewer pipe that runs under the trail and intothe yards.

City officials met with residents this summer, according to public works manager Scott Adams.The city's plan is to install more pipes to channel the water away fromthe yardsto storm drainage on Lower MalpequeRoad.

The onset of freezing temperatures has now put that plan on hold.

"We hope to do the work in early spring," Adams said.

The city has set aside funding to get the work done but hasn't put out a tender for the project yet.

Bennett says he's looking forward to the fix. Inyears past, he has had to dig outout his backyard ditch to try to keep the water moving.

"I don't mind the problem as long as it's gonna get fixed," Bennett said.

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