Residents of Erie Shore Drive have left their homes, some possibly for the final time as the municipality prepares to begin emergency repairs on the dike.
A state of emergency was declared on February 28th, and a 2.5 kilometre stretch of road was shut down indefinitely last night.
General Manager of Infrastructure and Engineering Tom Kelly says it’s expected to take about six to eight weeks to shore up the dike.
“Simultaneously, we’re going to be working on the Phase Two plan and we hope to council in the same time and recommend this is what we’d like to do in Phase Two and get that approval,” Kelly says. “In a perfect world when Phase One is complete, we’re good to go on Phase Two.”
Some of those long-term plans could include protecting the embankment from saturation during flood events, reinforcing and flattening the north slope, and reducing flow velocities in discharge spillways.
There’s no timeline in place for that portion of the work, although municipal officials say it could take up to a year, if not longer.
In the meantime, high winds and strong waves are expected to continue battering the shoreline today and into tomorrow, raising the risk of further erosion and flooding in the area.