Work to naturalize two Kitchener creeks, extend Iron Horse Trail may finish by 2027
A project to reduce flood risk by naturalizing parts of Schneider and Shoemaker creeks will move ahead after Kitchener councillors approved an environmental report this week.
The project, estimated to cost between $50 million and $70 million, looks to replace concrete-lined channels with a naturalized watercourse for the creeks, between Stirling Avenue and Sydney Street and from Courtland Avenue to where the creeks meet near Borden Avenue South.
The report, approved at a committee meeting this week, is expected to be formally approved by council at an upcoming meeting; it will then have a mandatory 30-day public review before detailed design work can proceed.
Environmental reports for two other projects — a flood risk reduction project in Hidden Valley, and the proposed extension of Blair Creek Drive in southwest Kitchener — were also approved.
Work on the environmental assessment for Schneider and Shoemaker creeks has been underway since 2022, with three public information sessions and multiple meetings with Indigenous rights holders.
Federal funding is expected to cover about 40 per cent of the project costs. Construction could start in mid-2025 and wrap up by the end of 2026, said Steve Brown from consulting firm Stantec.
As part of the project, the Iron Horse Trail will be extended from Ottawa Street to Sydney Street, with a spur added along Shoemaker Creek to Courtland Avenue.
Two existing pedestrian creek crossings between Kent and Stirling avenues will be replaced with one, and more viewing and seating areas will be added along the trail.
With more hard surfaces increasing runoff in urban areas, and with intense storms occurring more frequently, the aging, undersized concrete channels like those funnelling Schneider and Shoemaker creeks can’t handle the higher flows created by severe events.
The current floodplain extends far beyond the creeks’ boundaries.
The naturalized creeks will reduce flood risk, improve natural habitat, increase green space and enhance recreational options in the area, Brown said.
Naturalized creeks slow down water and better accommodate higher flows, while also helping to filter out sediment and pollutants.
However, the naturalized creeks and adjacent valleys are broader and require the city to acquire private properties where buildings will be demolished. A report notes 11 “non-residential” buildings will be affected.
“Currently, we have notified all impacted property owners and we are in active negotiations with them,” the city’s director of sanitary and stormwater utilities, Bu Lam, told councillors.
“Because we are in active negotiations, I’m not at liberty to provide a lot of the details.”
The Hidden Valley Creek project looks to reduce flood risk and support future development in the area by replacing existing culverts with a larger box culvert at Hidden Valley Road.
A larger culvert would accommodate higher water flows without overtopping the road, a report says. A 2013 flood partially washed out a culvert crossing that remains at risk, noted project manager Monica
Mazur. The project, estimated to cost $1 million, would also naturalize the surrounding channel to reduce erosion potential, Mazur said. Construction could occur in 2028.
The final environmental report concerns the route for the proposed extension of Blair Creek Drive from Reidel Drive west to the future Strasburg Road extension.
The Blair Creek Drive extension would serve as an east-west collector street in the new Dundee North community in southwest Kitchener.
The preferred design alternative would be a straight two-lane road with parking on one side and bicycle lanes and sidewalks separated from the road by boulevards.