A disjointed section of the Galloping Goose Regional Trail that sends cyclists and pedestrians on lengthy detours — and some taking chances crossing a busy highway — is finally being addressed with a new bridge.
Colwood council will use money from reserves to top up a federal grant and build a $6.3-million bridge to send the Galloping Goose trail over the Island Highway near Wale Road.
Council on Tuesday approved a staff recommendation that the contract to build the 38-metre-long, 4.1-metre-wide crossing be awarded to North Vancouver-based SureSpan Construction.
Colwood had already been approved for a $3.6-million grant from the Canada Infrastructure Program in April 2022, and added $1.33 million from its own surplus for the project. The remaining funding of $1.3 million will now be drawn from the city’s capital projects reserve fund.
Council approved the decision in a 5-2 vote, with councillors Misty Olsen and Dean Jantzen voting against using reserve funds.
Galloping Goose cyclists and pedestrians have been forced to detour along Wale Road to the Island Highway, wait to cross at the light, then travel several hundred metres on a sidewalk along the highway to reconnect with the trail.
Often adding to confusion at the crossing is a small section of trail that cuts across from Wale Road to the highway, but ends there, with no safe crossing in sight.
Last year, construction was estimated to be complete by 2026.
The city said there will need to be extra preparatory work before the bridge is built.
A city spokeswoman said once detailed designs are finalized and a formal project management contract is in place, preliminary underground utility work and road work might be required.
The SureSpan proposal estimated a bridge-construction timeline of 28 weeks, and full completion in advance of a 2026 funding deadline.
Advocates of the trail cheered the move. Council received dozens of letters in support, though Mayor Doug Kobayashi said the majority came from residents outside Colwood who frequently use the section for commuting.
Corey Burger of Capital Bike, which advocates for cycling in the capital region, said the Colwood bridge will close a critical gap in the trail and vastly improve safety for cyclists.
“It’s been a priority since the trail was built in the 1990s,” Burger said. “It’s not very safe and it’s a confusing part of the trail for a lot of people who think it actually ends there.”
“And it’s an intersection that has seen a lot of crashes.”
Several people urged council to spend the money on the bridge, saying they’ve seen several close calls when cyclists and pedestrians, including children, have attempted to cross the Island Highway at that spot.
Colwood has been studying the idea of a pedestrian and cycling overpass since 2015, and made it part of the city’s Official Community Plan three years later.
Preliminary designs include approach spans connecting the bridge to the trail on each side. Railings, retaining walls, fencing, lighting, landscaping, movement of underground utilities and road works are included in the project.
Improvements to the Galloping Goose crossing at the intersection of Wale and Wilfert Roads are also proposed and are set to be discussed at Monday’s active transportation committee meeting.
Those improvements include a signalled intersection, a diagonal shared crossing for the Galloping Goose trail, bike-lane protection, extension of sidewalks along Wilfert Road and safer turning for larger vehicles.
Burger said as areas of the West Shore continue to be built out, trail use will steadily rise. “So having that key infrastructure there is so important,” he said.
“Just in Colwood alone, ridership has increased from 1% in 2017 to 8% in in 2022, and that’s just people using their bikes to get around Colwood.”
The Galloping Goose Trail, which runs 55 kilometres from Victoria to Sooke, is owned and maintained by the Capital Regional District and attracts thousands of users every day.
>>> To comment on this article, write a letter to the editor: [email protected]
