In the story “Alix Frontage Road residents present to Houston council,” published in the Houston Today July 12, 2017 issue, residents of Alix Frontage Road presented to District of Houston council their concern that the flooding in that area is man-made due to the merge lane put in on Morice River Road around nine years ago.
Houston Today contacted the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource (MOFLNR) asking if Morice River Road and Alix Frontage Road fall under their jurisdiction MOFLNR said, “Alix Frontage Road and large areas in and around Houston are on the floodplain of the Bulkley River. This floodplain has a very low gradient and given the porous nature of the soils in the floodplain, when high flows occur in the Bulkley, large areas of the floodplain are prone to flooding, regardless of roads and their associated drainage structures.”
The ministry was also asked if they are responsible for the flooding and if there is anything they can and are going to do about the issue, spokes person Vivian Thomas did not answer the questions but instead replied, “I did follow up with the ministry’s regional research hydrologist. As previously stated, the floodplain has a very low gradient and given the porous nature of the soils in the floodplain, when high flows occur in the Bulkley [River], large areas of the floodplain are prone to flooding, regardless of roads and their associated drainage structures.”
In an earlier statement the MOFLNR said,”The Alix Frontage Road is covered by the District of Houston and is therefore not apart of the Ministry of Transportation’s jurisdiction.” But Michale Glavin, Chief Administrative Officer for the District of Houston said, “I don’t have all the information. However, that area does belong to the Ministry of Transporation and the Ministry of Forests, and I have started setting up meetings with both parties to look at the issue and start up a game plan.”