Spring showers bring Calgary river pathway closures, again

High water levels this spring along the Bow and Elbow rivers have closed sections of Calgary's bike paths especially around bridge underpasses.

It's a spring tradition for cyclist in the city, but Zourab Gagnidze, who was forced to detour Monday below the Centre Street bridge, says it's more than just an inconvenience, it's dangerous.

"Now we got the situation, where [cyclists] have to cross that street and there is a blindspot over there," he said.

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Duane Sutherland with city parks says the reason Calgary sees more flooding in the spring along the river pathways is due to the regulation of water levels at upstream reservoirs.

"Unfortunately, when they are releasingfrom the GlenmoreReservoir and from the BearspawReservoir, we do have to shutdown the underpasses and divert people to use the level crossings," he said.

Some cyclists wonder why the bike underpasses weren't built above the high water mark after the 2013 floods.

The reason, Sutherland says, is the city's height restrictions that say there needs to be a three-metre clear distance along the pathway underpasses.

The city says it's hard to determine when the pathway will reopen, as it is hard to predict spring runoff and rain.

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