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PHOTOS: Crews begin repairs on collapsed Oak Bay waterway

Recreation centre loses parking as Bowker Creek banks failure is fixed

Repair work on the fallen Bowker Creek banks adjacent to the Oak Bay Recreation Centre is well underway.

Cones and barriers blocked off several impacted parking spaces March 22 after banks of the waterway, built up years ago to create the adjacent parking lot, eroded to the point of collapse.

READ ALSO: Oak Bay prepares to reinforce failed Bowker Creek bank

Barriers to the entire upper parking lot appeared Tuesday (June 14) as crews removed stumps and brush from above the work zone, then crews put in diversion pipes, according to an Oak Bay spokesperson. Those pipes allow the creek to flow during work.

Repairs entail excavating the banks that slid into the creek and replacing that material with boulders to stabilize the slope. There are no improvements to the waterway planned.

In April, a spokesperson said the district was waiting on permits from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to begin the repairs.

The upper parking lot of the Bee Street centre closed Tuesday. Work is expected to take one or two weeks.

READ ALSO: Oak Bay elementary students send chum fry down the creek (video)


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Christine van Reeuwyk

About the Author: Christine van Reeuwyk

I'm dedicated to serving the community of Oak Bay as a senior journalist with the Greater Victoria news team.
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