With more freeze/thaw cycles in the forecast, along with additional rain and snow, Steinbach Public Works is working hard to get drainage ditches open. Department head Randy Reimer says they were out Tuesday in anticipation that water will start running again in the next day or two.

Ice being cleared near next to Park Road"We were on Park Road around Clearspring Green. From those high winds we had the other day, we've got a few ditches that have blown back in (with snow). So we're just trying to make sure we've got everything cleaned up on Park Road. We're spending some time on Hespeler as well. We want to try and get at least a channel cut through that. We've got a pretty thick ice build-up on the bottom of the Hespeler drain, from Main Street all the way to Loewen Boulevard, so we're trying our best to get a good channel open there so the water can flow."

Reimer adds they are also doing some work on the Hirshfeld drain that crosses under Highway #52 at the east end of the city. He notes there could still be some localized flooding in the coming days.

Ice piles on Hespeler Street"It depends on how much water is going to be coming from the southeast, down the Hirschfeld drain and the Hespeler drain. It will depend on how much run-off we're getting, how quickly. But the good part about the Main Street/Mckenzie intersection, if it doesn't flow down Hespeler quite as quickly as it should, it can spill over onto Mckenzie and travel down Mckenzie. As long as we're not getting really, really cold temperatures at night, we're just dealing with water, we're not dealing with all the ice build-up."