Road 54 East off Provincial Road 201 by Sundown is experiencing overland flooding and ice build up.

Lucie Maynard is the Chief Administrative Officer for the RM of Stuartburn and says Road 54 East is an intermunicipal road shared with the RM of Piney. Maynard notes she has been receiving several phone calls from upset residents about the issue.

"There isn't an easy solution. We're requesting help from the [Seine-Rat River Conservation District] as well as the province to provide us with a hydrology report of some sort to see if there's a different fix that we aren't aware of which could alleviate this problem."

Maynard says the RM of Stuartburn and the RM of Piney had a joint meeting on Monday and a topic of discussion was drainage. She notes an option was to build the road up, however, the road would then act as a dike causing more water issues on the Piney side of the road, making it an unfeasible option.

Piney Reeve Wayne Anderson says Road 54 East has caused issued for the last few years and was closed for over a month during spring last year adding residents will likely see the same type of closure again this spring. Anderson notes the issues are caused by a combination of the Sundown bog levels getting higher, excess moisture, large amounts of rainfall, the springs which run all winter, and Horseshoe Lake spilling over the dam.

"There is just too much moisture there and the water level is too high, combined with the springs and the warm weather. It's basically a connecting road that was built in the 1980's right through a swamp and it's not much higher than the swamp level, so any kind of problem with obstruction of water causes the water to go over the road."

Anderson says the road is a bus route and the bus has had to make detours when it's not able to pass to ensure all students are still picked up for school. Maynard adds the road is well used amongst residents and detours can add ten to twenty minutes onto the drive.

Piney's public works supervisor, Harold Grawberger, and his crew were working on the road Wednesday. Anderson says they were cleaning as much snow and debris from the ditch as they could to allow the water to flow back into the swamp.

As for a solution, he adds this area is part of the Roseau River Watershed, one of the last to be looked at by the Seine-Rat River Conservation District. Anderson says they have been keeping in touch with the SSRCD and trying to get help from the province's engineering department. 

"We're working towards [a permanent solution] and it's going to happen, but, like I say, it's an uphill battle because we have conservationists who are trying to preserve wetlands. They won't allow you to drain the water. Meanwhile, this Sundown bog in the 1990's, they used to cut hay there, so just over the last 15 to 20 years, the water level has gotten higher and higher."

Maynard adds while the RM's are looking for a solution they ask for patience from the residents in the area.