Calgary mayor says 3 to 5-week repair timeline is the ‘maximum’

Mayor Jyoti Gondek says work is progressing simultaneously on five issues identified in the city’s feeder main last week and residents are being asked for continued patience with Calgary’s water conservation measures.

The mayor offered an update on CTV Morning Live Calgary on Monday, saying the initial water main break is fully repaired, so crews are focusing on the five areas identified by technical teams last week.

“The other five were not breaks, so it is anticipated that we can get to those spots and get the repair work done quickly,” Gondek said.

Parts needed for the water main repair are coming in from all over North America.

“There are two new construction sites that are going up right now, between 45 and 46 Street and between Bowness Road and 43 Street, so that is going to impact traffic,” Gondek said, adding there are detours in place for drivers.

She says the city is working on locating temporary parking spaces for businesses that will be impacted by the ongoing work.

Work could be completed faster

Gondek said with support coming in, repairs could be completed a lot faster than first expected.

“The three to five weeks that was provided at the beginning of understanding that there was five hotspots was a maximum case because we didn’t know quickly we could get materials, we didn’t know how quickly we could get crews,” Gondek said.

“Now that we know we can work on all five hotspots concurrently, the timeline may be shortened.”

Gondek said the city will provide any updates on the schedule as it learns more.

As for water conservation measures, she says Calgarians should expect those to “go on for a little bit of time.”

“Until we get to a place where we can turn on the tap at Bearspaw and get water flowing in our system again, I would say please keep doing what you’re doing in terms of water conservation because it’s working.”