The Capital Regional District board has unanimously approved adding room in next year’s budget to widen and lighten sections of the Galloping Goose and Lochside trails.
Dean Murdock, chair of the CRD’s transportation committee, says the Galloping Goose and Lochside trails are about to reach 4,000 users per day in the summer.
“It’s a good problem to have, our trail systems are well utilized,” Murdock said.
“That means the trail is getting quite busy and a mix of uses between people walking, biking and e-mobility devices. That means that in sections of it, we’re going to need to create some widening to create separation between uses so pedestrians will have a safe place to walk and people riding will have a safe place to ride.”
The budget to widen the sections of the trail is estimated to cost between $43 and $52 million. The CRD plans to go ahead with this funding, but hopes that the provincial or federal governments will kick in funding to offset the cost.
Murdock says the goal is to have work start by the end of next year and is estimated to take place over six years.
“It is certainly a space that is getting quite crowded, particularly in the busier sections around the Selkirk [Trestle], the switch bridge out here at Swan Lake and as you head out to the West Shore, those are becoming quite congested, and that’s good news,” Murdock said.
“We certainly want to encourage people to continue to use the trails because it means they’re riding or walking to get to their destinations, but the separation that we can achieve by widening the trails will mean it’s a safer place for people to get to where they need to go.”
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Laura Brougham
