A man who lives on the northwestern outskirts of Edmonton says he believes the collapse of part of a roadway over Horseshoe Creek along 137th Avenue could have been avoided.
The section of road collapsed after heavy rain took its toll.
“It’s taking longer for police, fire, and ambulance to get into our neighbourhoods here in Starling and Trumpeter because we only had two entrances and exits coming into these neighbourhoods,” Raf Tenderenda, who is also president of the Big Lake Community League, said in an interview with CBC News on Thursday.
“Now we only have one, so it created a lot of headaches for everyone, and a lot of risk to the neighbourhoods.”
Significant rainfall throughout June and July now has City of Edmonton crews racing to repair major sinkholes and road erosion.
Tenderenda told CBC News he’s been watching the situation closely and that ongoing erosion in his area was flagged to Epcor and the City of Edmonton three years ago.
“The water had no mechanism to go through the culvert because it was undersized and blocked. So now, essentially, [it] carved through 137th Avenue here.”
Increase in subsidences
Anthony Nardi, senior director of linear asset operations at Epcor water services, told CBC News that the city is working to repair 30 subsidences, which are dips in the ground. Nardi said a pair of subsidence situations in Lauderdale — in the area of 107th Street and 130th Avenue — and Starling are exceptional in terms of severity.
Nardi said work on the issues in both Lauderdale and Starling is ongoing.
A photo of where part of a road collapsed in Edmonton’s Starling neighbourhood in July 2026. A significant sinkhole has also been spotted in Edmonton’s Lauderdale neighbourhood. (Nathan Gross/CBC News)
“I can appreciate the trouble and the inconvenience that this has caused the residents of the Big Lake community,” he said.
“We are actively working with the City of Edmonton to address a long-term repair strategy at that location, and we have every intention of completing the repair and reopening the road and restoring normal operation.”
Widespread impact
Ward Anirniq Coun. Erin Rutherford, whose ward includes Lauderdale, told CBC’s Radio Active that the entire city’s infrastructure is under strain.
“When we put this into perspective, the average rainfall in Edmonton over a summer season is about 220 millimetres, and we’ve surpassed 450 millimetres as of July 20,” she said.
“We’re hearing a lot about floods — as city council — with sinkholes. I’ve experienced a few in the ward that I represent, and just even flooding of roads like Yellowhead [Trail] or Whitemud [Drive].”
Because work on the Yellowhead Trail Freeway Conversion is ongoing, that means significant co-ordination is required between Epcor and those overseeing the project, Rutherford said.
“I think the capacity of Yellowhead will be better once it is completed and we have the whole corridor finished with some of those … flood mitigation strategies that are incorporated into the project.”
In 2017, Epcor came to city council’s utility committee with a flood plan that would span 20 years and see $1.6 billion be invested into flood mitigation efforts.