The Capital Regional District (CRD) is considering widening and lighting certain sections of the Galloping Goose and Lochside regional trails with a 6.5 metre separated use pathway design. These 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.
Public Engagement
A public engagement report was presented to the Regional Parks Committee on September 22, 2021 and presented to the Capital Regional District Board on October 13, 2021. The CRD Board has 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.
As part of the initial engagement, the public was invited to fill out a survey to offer feedback about the trail widening and lighting proposal. These responses will help CRD Regional Parks gather background information about level of support for the proposed design.
The survey is now closed, thank you to those who participated.
Virtual open houses were held on June 4 & 7, 2021. These open houses offered the opportunity to learn more about the project through a presentation, followed by a Q&A session with experts. You can watch a recording of these sessions at the links below.
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. Staff have been directed to conduct expedited public engagement on the 6.5m separated use pathway design with lighting and implementation priorities.
Frequently Asked Questions