City of Calgary breaks ground on Sunnyside Flood Barrier

The City of Calgary is pleased to announce the official groundbreaking event for the Sunnyside Flood Barrier which took place earlier today. This is a crucial infrastructure project designed to protect the communities of Sunnyside and Hillhurst from devastating impacts of river flooding.
This event marks the beginning of constructing a permanent flood barrier, a vital step in safeguarding the lives, homes and businesses in the flood-prone areas of Sunnyside and Hillhurst. This flood barrier will help manage flood water and prevent the type of damage we saw in 2013, while providing the building blocks for future climate resiliency.
"The Sunnyside Flood Barrier is an excellent example of how we can address urgent infrastructure needs while enhancing public spaces,” says Mayor Jyoti Gondek. “This barrier will provide much-needed flood protection and contribute to the long-term resilience, functionality and beauty of our city for generations to come."
The Sunnyside Flood Barrier will run along one of Calgary’s most cherished corridors. In addition to providing essential flood protection, the project presents an opportunity to enhance and preserve this public space. The design and construction of the flood barrier have been carefully planned to build upon improvements made to the area over the past decade, continuing the efforts to enhance the spaces for the public and safety of the communities.
Once completed, the flood barrier will feature a combination of permanent flood walls and sheet walls as well as temporary deployable systems (i.e., sandbags and water filled tubes) and demountable flood walls. The barrier will run along the north side of the Bow River from 14 Street N.W. to the west side of the Field of Crosses.
Part of this project will include enhancing the pathway consisting of building multi-use pathway along the majority of the project length. This pathway will have clearly defined lanes for cyclists and pedestrians as well as widening the pathway where possible. Further to this, there are numerous informal pathways that run adjacent to the river and reaching these trails can be a bit of a scramble and has led to areas of localized erosion. These connections will be formalized with staircases and accessible routes leading down to the river.
In addition to new and enhanced plaza spaces, additional seating areas off the primary network are planned. These will be spaces to take a break, take a selfie or just sit back and watch the river flow by. Five specific places where public realm improvements are planned have been identified along the corridor including Calgary Soldiers’ Memorial, Poppy Plaza, Peace Bridge North Shore, 7 Street N.W. lookout and Prince’s Island Pedestrian Bridge and Bow River Access.
“I am thrilled to see the Sunnyside flood barrier project break ground,” says Councillor Terry Wong. “This project will be providing improvements along the Bow River Pathway for all Calgarians to enjoy, while ensuring the protection of our beloved Sunnyside community. This milestone is a testament to the years of dedication and advocacy from our incredible community volunteers, to whom we owe immense gratitude, and the work of City staff who have worked diligently to make this project a reality.”
The first phase of construction is focused on enabling work that is nearing completion before official barrier construction begins. As The City works through the details with the design team and construction manager, we will share information on what enabling work will be taking place, the schedule for the work and any construction impacts the public could expect to see. During construction, efforts will be made to ensure safe, accessible and efficient movement within the Sunnyside, Hillhurst, Kensington and Riley Park areas.
The project is an estimated $50 million investment in the communities of Sunnyside and Hillhurst, building vital flood protection along the Bow River and is anticipated to be complete by spring 2026 ahead of flood season.
We know that construction can make traveling through the impacted area more challenging. When traveling downtown, Calgarians should plan for and expect delays and traffic congestion due to reduced lanes, lower speed limits and detours. Commuters are advised to allow extra travel time and use alternate routes and modes of transportation or carpool when possible. For up-to-date information on road closures and detours visit www.calgary.ca/trafficinfo.
For more information about the Sunnyside Flood Barrier Project, visit calgary.ca/sunnysidefloodbarrier.
We thank Calgarians once again for your patience through this important work.