THE City of Surrey has awarded the contract for the design services for phase one of the Nicomekl Riverfront Park to a multidisciplinary consulting team led by space2place design inc. Phase one includes the development of the Hadden Mill and Oxbow zones, which are on the south side of the Nicomekl River adjacent to King George Boulevard.
The Nicomekl Riverfront Park is a park for the future. It will be developed over multiple years as a multi-phased project. When complete, it will be a 3-km-long, 80-acre riverfront park incorporating ecology, heritage, public art, recreation, infrastructure and innovative adaptations to climate change and sea level rise.
The Nicomekl Riverfront Park is also one of 13 Surrey project components to be partially funded through the Government of Canada’s Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund (DMAF), a program to help communities build the infrastructure they need to better withstand natural hazards such as floods, wildfires, earthquakes and droughts. In 2019, the City secured $76.6 million in federal funding to supplement a series of projects to reduce Surrey’s coastal flood risk and adapt to sea level rise. Of this, $4 million has been allocated to the Nicomekl Riverfront Park project.
“As part of our collective actions against climate change, it is important that we invest to protect communities from extreme weather conditions, such as flooding and other natural hazards,” said Catherine McKenna, federal Minister of Infrastructure and Communities. “The Nicomekl Riverfront Park is a great solution to increasing Surrey’s resilience to flooding while also enhancing the area’s unique ecological features in response to the aspirations expressed through public consultations in 2018 and 2019 by local residents and First Nations. Canada’s infrastructure plan invests in thousands of projects, creates good jobs across Canada, and builds cleaner, more inclusive communities.”
“Nicomekl Riverfront Park will provide Surrey residents with increased opportunities to get outdoors and enjoy nature while enhancing ecology and habitat connectivity and also addressing the impacts of sea level rise and climate change,” said Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum. “By investing in nature-based green infrastructure now, we are protecting our community, economy and environments from future flood risks. We thank the Government of Canada and the many partners who are supporting this important project.”
To learn more about the City of Surrey’s Nicomekl Riverfront Park project visit surrey.ca/nicomeklpark.
For more information on federal infrastructure funding, visit: http://www.infrastructure.gc.ca.
