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Sidney waterfront walkway damaged in wind storm

Lochside walkway closed indefinitely until town approves repairs
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A total of 160 metres of Sidney's waterfront walkway are closed after a wind storm battered the decades-old retaining wall Monday.

Walkers will have to stop 160 metres short on the southern portion of the Lochside walkway.

"We had some damage done, but fortunately no one was hurt," said Randy Humble, acting chief administrative officer for the Town of Sidney.

Power outages and monster waves came along with 100 km/h winds during Monday's wind storm.

"It's not good, it just shows the power of what can happen with respect to water and waves. … We lost about 160 metres of the walkway."

The area from the south end to Captains Walk along Lochside Drive has been compromised. Some areas are collapsed, in others it has pulled away.

"That 160 metres is closed completely right now," Humble said.

Staff are creating cost estimates to repair that segment of the path, a block restraining wall constructed in the late 1980s.

"We've got to figure out what the costs are going to be, how we're going to repair it ... how to repair it so it doesn't happen again," Humble said. "And then the logistics of how we do it, how we get down there – because of the upper slope it's very difficult to access."

Town staff are creating a cost estimate and time frame to present to council.