After 12 years of bureaucratic road blocks, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will start designing improvements this winter for the W-14 Canal, a major drainage artery for southeast St. Tammany, Parish President Kevin Davis said.

'��It'��s been a long time,'�� Davis said. '��Finally, we'��re getting going.'��

Improvements to the canal, considered among the most important weapons against drainage in Slidell, have languished since 1996 when Congress first approved the upgrade under Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Program. The program, better known as SELA, allocated $1.3 billion to Orleans, Jefferson and St. Tammany parishes to improve drainage. But until now no money was pumped into the W-14 Canal despite urgings from local politicians and even tours from legislators, including then congressman Bobby Jindal. For the most part, work was continually delayed because SELA requires local governments to match 25 percent of the federal monies allocated per project. For years parish government could not scrape enough money together for its match of the $180 million project.

Davis, however, closed that gap last year when he agreed to reallocate money from other drainage projects, including detailed computer models of major rivers and streams.

The canal, snaking though Slidell'��s bayous and neighborhoods was heavily dammed from Hurricane Katrina debris, causing additional flooding after up to 8 feet of flood water swept over the city.

But if cleared and cleaned, the canal easily drains to Lake Ponchartrain and could mitigate flooding in Slidell, among the lowest lying areas and most flood prone in St. Tammany.

After design work begins between November and December, preliminary plans call for a '��couple years'�� of construction that includes a concrete lining and state of the art pump stations, Davis said.