Souris-Glenwood is looking at some construction and repairs in 2024, one of those being along their Cresent Avenue which faces the Souris River and Victoria Park.

Mayor, Duane Davison, says Crescent Avenue is one of the focal points in town and had some erosion issues after a severe rainstorm in 2022, affecting the bank and creating havoc for the sidewalk on that side of the street.

"So, we're doing a bank stabilization project," explains Mayor Davison. "In layman's terms we're putting a whole bunch of dirt on that bank to stop it from moving.  It's a lot more complex than that but at the end of the day it's just adding more weight to the bank, so it doesn't move anymore."

Davison hopes this project will be completed prior to spring, and then grass and tree planting can complete the project.

The next restoration project is outside town limits.  Four of the municipal bridges west of Souris have been deemed incapable of holding the required weight of today's transportation requirements.

Back in the day when these bridges were constructed, goods were transported mostly by train.  The rural roads and bridges were never built for the heavy weights and use demands of today.

Davison says assessments have led to important discussions as to whether to repair or replace the bridges.

"We're hoping to have one bridge repaired prior to seeding which would be tremendous, and then we'll go from there and see what happens," he says. "There's one on the south side of the highway and that's kind of the most important one for us. We'll get that one done first and then there's three on the north side of the highway west of town and we'll do one of those right off the hop."

"We'll see what the damage is dollar-wise and then make a decision going forward on how we're going to address the other two," he adds. "They might just stay as load-restricted bridges."

"With the bridges on the north, I anticipate the one we'll do is in the middle of those three, so you have 2 miles either way east and west of it. Then we'll assess the rest after."

Estimates are being collected now as to what those repairs will look like for each of the four bridges. Decisions will be made after that, keeping the significant costs in mind.

Davison notes he's hoping to receive some funding from the province to help with repair costs.

With construction being on the horizon for spring, Souris-Glenwood can expect to see some delays and challenges in travelling in and around Souris.

"You try and plan and go hard as soon as the frost is out of the ground and hope you get stuff done before the frost comes back in a couple of months later," adds Davison.