It’s no joke, Rainbow Road set to reopen on April Fool’s Day

Chestermere Utilities Inc. is on track to reopen Rainbow Road upon completion of phase one of the Rainbow Road Sanitary Trunk project.
“We’re about 80 per cent done the total project,” said CUI CEO Leigh-Anne Palter.
While the wild weather and heavy snow has impacted roads and other work in the city, Palter said that the work tunneling to install the gravity main has been unaffected by the weather.
“It continues to dig away quietly under the earth’s surface 24-7,” she said.
Barring any unexpected geological features underground that could slow the work down, the project is both on schedule to finish by April 1 and on budget.
For all the inconvenience and longer commutes caused by the road closure, when commuters get to return to Rainbow Road they will see very little difference on the surface.
“The only thing that you’d see are manholes,” said Palter.
While the project has left very little noticeable impact on the road, it will have a big impact on CUI’s waste water system.
The gravity main will divert waste water from Lift Station 10 to Lift Station 13 to be pumped back into Calgary.
“Lift Station 10 has been operating well beyond its designed capacity for quite some number of years,” said Palter.
The project has been designed so that the gravity main will be able to handle both the current needs of the city and future city growth over the next 25 years.
As part of CUI’s renewed commitment to better communication with residents, they have planned two opportunities this spring to give people more information about the project.
“We’ve got two events coming up,” said Palter.
On April 11 they will be hosting a community meeting to discuss the project as well as broader details about the company including financial results and future initiatives.
They will also be holding an open house with tours of Lift Station 13 and the new gravity main on Earth Day, April 22.
“People will be able to see first-hand what is on the inside of that building, how does it work, what benefits does it provide,” she said.
The open house will be by registration to ensure that manageable numbers are at Lift Station 13.
For more information on the project or the upcoming open house visit CUI’s website at https://cuinc.ca.