Funds flow for floodway

The federal government is giving $213 million for the Red River Floodway expansion project in Winnipeg.

WINNIPEG

The federal government is giving $213 million for the Red River Floodway expansion project in Winnipeg.

The expansion will double the width of the floodway, a 47-kilometre-long ditch that diverts rising river water around Winnipeg. The total cost of the expansion is $655 million. Construction begins with excavation to create a third notch at the floodway’s southern end near Grande Pointe and will raise flood protection to accommodate the type of flood that occurs once every 700 years.

The province estimates the floodway expansion will create nearly 14,000 person-years of employment and inject $1.5 billion into the economy.

Once completed in 2009, the floodway will protect an estimated 450,000 Manitobans, more than 140,000 homes and 8,000 businesses. Work on bridges spanning the project as well as other finishing touches are expected to be completed in 2010.