Highway 2 south of Prince Albert, Sask., will be closed another four to six weeks due to flooding, but officials say they have a solution.
The road has been closed south of the junction with Highway 11 because of excessive spring runoff that has not drained. The Rural Municipality of Prince Albert has experienced flooding as a result and the highway has been closed for several weeks.
Late Friday, the Water Security Agency and highways ministry said an engineering assessment had shown the fastest way to move the water is to pump it into McFarlane Creek, but that will take several weeks.
Two pumping stations will be used to move the water about three kilometres into the creek; the creek flows into the South Saskatchewan River.
“This is a complex situation and it’s been a challenging few weeks for us with the spring runoff,” said RM reeve Norma Sheldon.
She said she was pleased the water would soon move and alleviate the pressure on local homeowners and the RM’s infrastructure.