City promises to fix long neglected sewer drain
Nine years after a Fort Richmond woman began complaining when a street resurfacing crew poured asphalt to almost completely block a sewer drain, the city is promising to fix it.
A city spokeswoman said on Friday that “our streets maintenance folks are investigating and have committed to determining a solution by mid-November.”
That’s more than Suzanne Pothe, who lives near the intersection of Greyfriars Road and Lafayette Bay, has heard since she began calling the city annually about the problem starting when the asphalt had just been poured on Greyfriars in 2015.
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A street resurfacing crew partially covered a sewer drain on Greyfriars Road in 2015.
“I’m cautiously optimistic there will finally be a resolution to this ongoing, frustrating interaction with the City of Winnipeg,” said Pothe.
“I find it quite ludicrous that, after nine years, we are finally seeing movement in rectifying this public works situation. It’s sad that it took this long and only when it was brought to light with media attention.”
The situation “flabbergasted” Gage Haubrich, Prairie director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, who said, “It really looks like that, at every opportunity, the city made probably the worst, most expensive decision, it could.”
Kevin Rollason
Reporter
Kevin Rollason is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He graduated from Western University with a Masters of Journalism in 1985 and worked at the Winnipeg Sun until 1988, when he joined the Free Press. He has served as the Free Press’s city hall and law courts reporter and has won several awards, including a National Newspaper Award. Read more about Kevin.
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