Section of Whistler's River of Golden Dreams will be closed Aug. 9 through 11

A section of the Whistler's River of Golden Dreams will be closed for two days this week. 

The Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) confirmed the canal section of the popular waterway will be closed from Tuesday, Aug. 9 through Thursday, Aug. 11 to remove a log weir, which is intended to make the passage of fish easier and improve the potential for spawning habitat. 

The closed canal section of the river runs fro the cement fish weir just downstream of the Valley Trail bridge, north of Our Lady of the Mountains Church, to the CN Rail bridge. The public will be prohibited from entering the water during that time as a fish salvage will take place, with machines working in the river, the municipality said. 

There will be signage and barricades marking the closure, as well as municipal crews and volunteers from the Whistler Wildlife Protection Group onsite to liaise with the public. Valley Trail users should expect delays in the area. 

The public is permitted to enter the river by the CN Rail bridge. 

The log removal is the first of two phases of improvement planned for the River of Golden Dreams, following the recommendations of an environmental assessment by Kerr Wood Liedal. If the second phase of work is approved by Whistler's council next year, two more existing log weirs will be removed and replaced with a more solidified weir. 

The RMOW said the timing of this week's work is pegged to fish life cycles.