The Capital Regional District (CRD) is exploring widening and lighting certain sections of the Galloping Goose and Lochside regional trails with a 6.5 metre separated use pathway design. The sections under review include 6.6 km portions of the Galloping Goose Regional Trail between the Selkirk Trestle and Grange Road (adjacent to McKenzie Avenue) and the Lochside Regional Trail between the Switch Bridge and McKenzie Avenue/Borden Street.
In October 2021, the CRD Board directed staff to actively develop partnerships and pursue grant funding opportunities, including submission to the federal Active Transportation Fund, to support implementation of the separated use pathway design with lighting (low-intensity lights or reflectors are proposed adjacent to natural areas, such as Swan Lake, to minimize potential impacts on wildlife).
In 2022, staff worked with the province and municipalities, pursued grant opportunities and undertook feasibility studies on the project. In 2023, staff hope to secure funding and advance design.
Public Engagement
Staff were directed by the CRD Board in February 2021 to conduct an expedited public engagement on the 6.5m separated use pathway design with lighting and implementation priorities, including consideration of low-intensity lighting in the trail segment adjacent to Swan Lake.
As a result, public engagement was conducted between May 25 and June 13, 2021. First Nations, government and agencies were also invited to provide input. A number of tools and approaches were used to provide information about the project, to gather views and opinions, and to discuss stakeholder interests. These tools and approaches included a project webpage, video, posters, advertisements, social media, an online survey and virtual open houses.
A total of 1,784 online surveys were completed, 10 email submissions received, 44 participants attended the virtual open houses, and approximately 18,000 people viewed the project webpage or social media posts. Survey responses indicated strong support for the separated use pathway design and for the priority sequence for project implementation. Strong support was also indicated for lighting the trails and for low-intensity lights adjacent to Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary between Darwin Avenue and Quadra Street.
Background
The Galloping Goose and Lochside Regional Trails have steadily increased in popularity since being constructed in the late 1980s (Galloping Goose) and early 2000s (Lochside) and now average 3.8 million visits per year. The increase in user volumes and conflicts in urban trail sections have been identified as challenges for years.
The 2016 Regional Trails Management Plan (RTMP) identifies assessing the feasibility of separating or widening the Galloping Goose between Selkirk Trestle and McKenzie Avenue/Highway 1, as well as to assess widening the Lochside between the Switch Bridge and McKenzie Avenue. The RTMP also identifies the need to study the possibility of adding lighting along regional trails.
The CRD retained consultant services in 2019 to conduct the Regional Trails Widening Study. The study considered options to widen and separate trail users and potentially light the 6.6km portions of the Galloping Goose Regional Trail between the Selkirk Trestle and Grange Road (adjacent McKenzie Avenue) and the Lochside Regional Trail between the Switch Bridge and McKenzie Avenue/Borden Street.
Urban Systems and PBX Engineering were retained for the project and submitted a report with recommendations and conceptual design drawings to Regional Parks in 2020. This report was presented to the Regional Parks Committee and CRD Board in February 2021.
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