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Sea to Sky Trail clears another hurdle

Next step is developing master plan

For almost 14 years now a dedicated group of volunteers has been working on a project that would connect sections of existing trail between the towns of D’Arcy and Squamish into one Sea to Sky Trail.

The project got a major boost last summer when the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District created a standing committee to assess the feasibility of the project, and provided the committee with $23,000 to start work on a master plan.

Work continued through the winter, and on March 28 the standing committee presented its findings to the SLRD board – namely that the Sea to Sky Trail is a feasible project, and enjoys support from local governments.

The SLRD endorsed the report and extended the standing committee additional funding to work with stakeholders, such as local governments and First Nations, to complete the master plan.

Gordon McKeever, a Whistler councillor and chair of the Sea to Sky Trail Standing Committee, presented the feasibility study to the SLRD.

"We’ve had great response from groups near and far, and working with Cascade Environmental we’re now able to hammer out a master plan now that we’ve concluded the feasibility of the project," said McKeever. "They gave us an endorsement that we’re heading the right way, and were given the authority to carry on with additional community engagement – especially with the three First Nations that are affected."

The next step is to go to stakeholders to get their input on the draft master plan, which will be taken into account for the final planning document. There’s no set schedule for completion, but McKeever says the trail proponents are working to ensure that it is processed in a timely way.

The standing committee is also in the process of producing a business plan for the trail, including the potential for public-private partnerships to raise money for trail building and maintenance.

The Whistler-Blackcomb Foundation has approved a total grant of $300,000 over five years for the trail. It’s estimated that the total cost will be in the range of $3 million to $3.5 million to complete the entire 150 km trail, or about $20,000 per kilometre.

The trail itself will be about two metres wide with a maximum grade of four per cent, which is similar to Whistler trails like Tin Pants and Molly Hogan. The trail will be open for mountain biking, hiking, cross-country skiing and other non-motorized uses.

McKeever says the second phase of the project will involve connecting the trail to West Vancouver in the south.

Trail proponents had hoped to start construction this spring, but they can’t proceed until they have a master plan approved by municipal and provincial governments, First Nations and other stakeholders along the route.

"We have eyeballed a stretch of trail from the Jack Webster bridge at the north section of Squamish in the Paradise Valley, where the Cheakamus Challenge route joins the highway… as a target section for our first project but we need the necessary permits and approvals, dot our I’s and cross our T’s before we spend money digging a trail," said McKeever.

"We won’t invest unless the trail is there legitimately. With any luck we may be able to do something this year. Spring is out of the question, but fall is within reach at this point."

The exact route has yet to be decided, and proponents are looking at two or more options in certain areas. Some sections also have issues, says McKeever, which the proponents had expected.

"There are a lot of essential challenges when you’re trying to create a corridor three metres wide and 150 km long. There are private land owners, Crown corporations, forestry operations, competing recreational uses… but overall everyone we’ve talked to is very positive, they think it’s a great idea."

The Sea to Sky Highway Improvement Project is also helping with the project, he said.

"Part of the reason we focused on that stretch of highway (Jack Webster Bridge) between Squamish and Whistler is that we have a once in a lifetime opportunity to incorporate this trail into the work that’s going on."

The project also got a boost recently from a plan by the Squamish Forest District to create a trail strategy for the corridor, identifying trails that are of value to recreational groups and determining the best way to preserve them for the future. The existing trails in the Sea to Sky Trail could be grandfathered, and new sections could be officially recognized and protected through the strategy.

The Ministry of Tourism, Sport and the Arts is also in the process of creating a policy for recreation mountain biking on Crown land, establishing standards while encouraging trail development that enhances tourism and sport. Officially recognizing trails will reduce liability issues for the communities and organizations that use and maintain those trails.

McKeever says the challenge now is to keep the project front and centre.

"The trick is to keep the pace going forward appropriately," he said. "It’s not one of the major capital ambitions in the corridor right now, with Olympics and other plans, but we don’t want to be bumped off the table as a nuisance. It’s a long-term project, but the work needs to start now.

"The challenge is to keep it on the edge of all the right desks without it falling off. This is not a minor project, it definitely stands on its own, but we’re trying to be sensitive to the available resources right now with different, busy stakeholders."