The City of Calgary has announced that the $50-million Sunnyside Flood Barrier project is now functionally complete, just in time for the 2026 spring flood season. This 2.4-kilometre barrier along the north bank of the Bow River and Memorial Drive is designed to protect the low-lying Sunnyside community from a once-in-100-years flooding event.
Barrier Details and Construction
The berm extends from the 14th Street bridge to just before the Centre Street bridge. It incorporates permanent concrete and metal flood walls, along with temporary barriers that can be deployed to close gaps across roadways and pathways during a flood response. Workers were seen putting finishing touches on the structure on May 14, 2026.
Continued Work Despite Completion
While the barrier is operational for the 2026 flood season—which officially begins Friday—restoration of the adjacent river pathway and public space improvements will continue through summer and fall. This means ongoing lane reductions for eastbound traffic on Memorial Drive.
Frank Frigo, the city's manager of environmental management, noted that the new barrier enhances Calgary's overall flood resilience. He highlighted that approximately $1.3 billion has been spent by all three orders of government on flood mitigation since the devastating June 2013 flood. The municipal government alone has invested roughly $295 million, reducing Calgary's flood damage exposure by more than 70 percent.
Broader Flood Mitigation Efforts
Communities along the Elbow River that flooded in 2013 are now better protected due to higher gates atop the Glenmore Dam, which doubled reservoir storage capacity, and the completion of the Alberta government's upstream Springbank Off-stream Reservoir (SR-1) last year. Located between Calgary and Bragg Creek, SR-1 is a dry reservoir that only holds water when the Elbow River overflows.
Sandy Davis, the city's top river engineer, emphasized that several low-lying communities on both sides of the Bow River are now much safer than in 2013 thanks to permanent flood berms. However, he cautioned that large floods could still overwhelm these measures, urging Calgarians to remain prepared.
