A spokesperson for the RM of Hanover says this year's spring thaw is shaping up to be as good as can be in the municipality. Wes Fehr is Manager of Works and Operations. He says we did not have a winter with large snowfall accumulations, and as a result, there has been less runoff so far this spring. Fehr says their Works and Operations team spends a lot of time each spring gearing up for the thaw. This includes opening up key drains running through local communities and within rural areas where they know there could be problems. "That's all been done now for the most part," says Fehr. "Still a few areas that we're kind of just watching, and a few calls we get here and there. But things are actually looking pretty good right now." Fehr says they have also been steaming culverts as required within communities. He notes they have not come across any situations that have been problematic yet this spring, and is hoping things will stay that way. Meanwhile, Fehr says he is excited by a project that will happen this year to address the drainage issues in the community of Kleefeld. He notes they are looking to install an LDS drainage system on the north side of College Avenue. Fehr says this will provide a separate drainage outlet for the area around Barak Drive and Barkman Avenue. "We're pretty excited that that's going to resolve the issues that we've been seeing in that development," he adds. "We've been mitigating any kind of flooding on the streets there, the best we can." As for spring road conditions in the municipality, Fehr says roads are still frozen, and this is not yet an issue. However, he notes they are bracing for what could be a tough spring. "We have noticed that there is an excessive amount of frost heaving, is what we are seeing in a lot of the roads," says Fehr. He notes history would suggest that anytime there is that much heaving, roads tend to be fairly soft in spring. "Hopefully the weather can warm up fast enough that they don't end up all fully opening up to the surface," he explains. "But we are anticipating that we will be facing some frost boil situations." According to Fehr, frost heaving is due to excessive moisture within the ground. He notes that could either be from the way water moves through the ground through different underground streams, but it could also be the result of how much rain was received in fall. Fehr says a third factor is how the frost has been driven down into the roadbed. "A lot of varying factors that go into that," he says. "But definitely the amount of movement we've seen in the roads in areas is indicating that there is a substantial amount of frost that is sitting down below." As we put the finishing touches on the month of March, Fehr says it will be some time yet before road conditions really become an issue in Hanover. He notes that will likely happen once the temperatures start to ramp up. "Dealing with frost boils is a tricky situation, and there's not really much that can be done until that road base actually firms back up," he explains. "We'll try and address them as we go along."