Capilano Bridge Trail (Southwest) Repair
***The public discussion has concluded and a What We Heard Report is now available.***
Thank you for participating in engagement activities for this project. For any further inquiries regarding this application, please contact the project manager on this page, under the "who's listening" section.
Please review the information on this page. Please share your feedback with us before the end of the day on July 30 2021.
The Capilano Bridge Trail (Southwest) project focuses on an approximately 100 m stretch of paved asphalt trail running along the North Saskatchewan River that is located approximately 250 m west of the Capilano Bridge on the southside of the river.
Please refer to the following maps for the specific location of the affected trail area:
General site location:
Specific trail area to be repaired (for enlarged map, click here):
As a result of a landslide that occurred in the area, the trail has been significantly damaged. The trail is severely cracked and uneven (either raised or sunk) in a number of locations. The landslide was likely triggered by periods of heavy and prolonged rainfall in the summer of 2020. Timber retaining walls that were installed in the 70’s were also damaged and must be replaced. The trail was closed to the public in July 2020 due to safety concerns.
Please refer to the following images to review the trail damage (also available in the photos section on the right side of the page): Photo #1, Photo #2, Photo #3
The goal of this project is to reopen the trail to the public, providing safe access to this area of the river valley. The exact solution will be determined through a combination of City policies and procedures, technical requirements and public input.
Repair Solution
The City investigated a range of options before determining a preferred solution to repair the trail and is looking for public input before proceeding with construction. In determining this solution, the Project Team has taken into account safety, environmental impacts, sustainability, user accessibility and cost. Your comments will be compiled and considered during the environmental assessment. They will also be summarized in a What We Heard report that will be shared in fall 2021.
Preferred Option
The trail remains in its existing location and two retaining walls (one on each side of the trail) will be added to provide stabilization of the failed area. This option is preferred due to the anticipated longevity of the repair, minimal environmental impacts and its lower cost. View an image of the preferred option.
Other options investigated but eliminated are listed below:
Environmental Impact Assessment
To comply with the City of Edmonton’s North Saskatchewan River Valley Area Redevelopment Plan (Bylaw 7188), an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the project is being conducted. Your input is important. Please provide any information that you wish the project team to consider regarding the proposed project and associated considerations (in the "share your thoughts" section below).
Construction Timeline
Construction is tentatively planned for spring / summer 2022.
Share Your Thoughts
Please review the Capilano Bridge Trail (Southwest) Repair project information, including the City’s selected repair option. Let us know if you think we've overlooked anything or should consider any other important factors that will inform this project and its environmental impact assessment.
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ADVISE
ADVISE
This means the City asks the public to share feedback and perspectives that are considered for policies, programs, projects, or services.
ROLE OF THE PUBLIC
It seems The City already has defined a solution. The three other options are presented in such a way that they are not at all desirable. After experiencing the lack of listening that was done by The City of Edmonton re: the neighbourhood sidewalk/roadway rehabilitation of The Highlands, I doubt very much that anyone's opinion matters.
This pathway is highly used and should be repaired as soon as possible. During all the walks we took during Covid restriction times, I was sad to see this pathway was not repaired two years ago. Please, get on with it, even if a few trees have to be taken out to do the repair.
Sincerely,
Glenda Perry
10655 Hardisty Drive
Edmonton
Agree this is the best option, but unbelievable that it takes the City this long to come up with the solution and the trail will not open until at least Winter 2022!!! Too bad the City doesn't prioritize it like a bike lane or any of their other pet projects. In the meantime, people will continue to go around the barriers.
The proposal looks good and I am hopeful it can go ahead quickly--I have really missed access to this trail.
So happy the city is doing this. I spent much of my youth down in that ravine along those trails even before they were paved. A priceless gift for kids of future generations. Thank you!
Please please please do not ruin any more single track mountain bike trails. These are a huge reason why outdoor athletes live and play here. Please restore the path with minimal impact to trees, single track trails and overall river valley .
The preferred option is the best choice. Repairing the existing trail and retaining walls results in the least environmental impact, appears to be the most cost efficient, and keeping the current trail location where it is will minimize damage to existing vegetation. The only problem is that it should not have taken this long to repair such a high traffic section of trail.
This is getting a bit silly. They city tosses up a fence to absolver their liability and close a major pedestrian linkage. A whole year later finally decide to do some public engagement. How about instead of spending money on fancy bridges on the northeast section of trail that does absolutely nothing for the average trail uses we spend a little more money on maintaining our trail infrastructure in the core of the city. Please rebuild the walls and repave the trail. Not rocket science, let's not overthink this please
i am glad to see it is finally getting fixed, as we should maintain existing trails, do wish that it happened earlier
Thank you for this opportunity to express my opinion.
I think you have chosen the right option. The trail should be reopened -- it is an important part of the trail system, and is used by people in the neighborhood.
There is no good reason to change the basic location of the trail -- it functioned well where it was.
No need to overbuild it.
In short, I agree with the proposal.
I agree with the proposed solution. It is the obvious solution. Leaving it as is is unsafe, but people still use the trail anyway. It should have been repaired long ago.
I agree with the Preferred Option outlined above; i.e. trail remains in the existing location with two retaining walls on either side of the trail. If the retaining walls are well built with deep piles, similar to the work that was recently completed on the East Capilano Trail along Capilano Crescent, hopefully the fix lasts for a long time. Do some replantation of native trees and shrubs to replace any that had to be removed to facilitate construction.
The landslide damages to the trail are not that significant, as I've run much worse sections (unpaved) of the river valley. However, I recognize the need for repairs, so let's just get on with it. Hopefully, they won't take too long. My biggest fear is that this project will turn into a major expensive boondoggle that will cause much more inconvenience for users during trail reconstruction closure than the existing damaged trail currently does.
I appreciate that the city will finally be working on this trail as we are frequent users of it. What I question is the time & money spent on getting the public's feedback on such a small project. In the future I think it would be more economical and efficient to just repair trail sites without all of the bureaucracy.
I believe that higher or lower realignment of the trail is not the right answer and that rebuilding along the existing damaged trail route is preferable. This would minimize disturbance to the existing forest area. However the forces in play that resulted in the landslide are likely to re-occur( perhaps more frequently with increasing storm events) and that the engineering takes that into account.
I strongly agree with repairing the existing asphalt trail and rebuilding the two necessary retaining walls to keep the area from further damage. The trail is very popular. Even though the area is closed many people are continuing to walk/run/cycle in the area. Without the trail the area will sadly experience a lot of damage as people travel off road through the area.
preferred option looks good. Please complete as soon as possible.
I agreed with the proposed option! These trails are used all the time so let's get on it sooner than later.
The repair solution looks reasonable, although I don't see anything about drainage for future or ongoing water in the area. As a frequent user of the mountain bike trail above this landslide, there is an area that has water present all year round. The Edmonton Mountain Bike Alliance, with permission from the City, had built a raised boardwalk a few years ago, above this area to avoid the mud/ice that is always present there. Could this water have been slowly deteriorating the slope over time allowing the stormwater of 2020 to finish it off? The boardwalk can be found by entering the dirt trail to the left (south) at the east end of the multi-use trail where the fence is.
I fail to see how this is even a question. Of course it needs to be repaired. The entire trail system need to be redone. I grew up using these trails, from one end of the city to the other, and it's shameful the state they're in now. As others have already stated, it's an embarrassment that it's taken this long to get to this stage. The proposal for this 150m section looks fine. Now let's get going on the other 20km.
Sounds great. Start tomorrow?