As a longtime Victoria resident and daily user of the Galloping Goose/Lochside Trail, I’d like to commend the Capital Regional District and the participating local municipalities for creating such a wonderful trail system. I’ve cycled all over North America and believe that the Goose ranks right up there with any urban trail system.
That said, there are some issues that I believe pose significant safety hazards to its users.
The Galloping Goose/Lochside Trail, as I’m told by CRD staff, was originally conceived of as a “linear” park and has historically been managed as a park since its inception. However, with the advent of promotions such as, “Get out of your car and ride a bike,” there has been a significant increase in numbers of daily users of the Goose.
Now hundreds, if not thousands, of people use the trail system each day to commute to work, ride to the shopping mall, cycle for exercise, walk their dogs or take the grandkids out for a stroll. One needs only to stand on the Selkirk Trestle during the morning and afternoon commutes to see how heavily the trail is used.
Safety problems on the Goose arise typically where congestion occurs. One often finds large groups of “racing cyclists” riding two to five riders abreast at fast speeds where there are pedestrians, including small children. Conversely, cyclists are confronted with dog-walkers with their animals on a leash stretching across the entire trail. Or one can see large groups of pedestrians walking three, four or five abreast, taking up an entire lane of the trail and leaving little or no room for cyclists to negotiate their way around them.
Finally, there are the music lovers that have earbuds in their ears while walking on the Goose and who can’t hear any warning signals at all.
Contributing to these safety issues is the fact that signs on the Goose/Lochside trail system and on municipal road crossings are inadequate and inconsistent. For example, in the City of Victoria, signs on the Goose require cars to yield to trail users, while in Saanich, cyclists on the Goose must yield to cars.
Worse yet, in View Royal, where Atkins Road crosses the Goose, there’s almost no road signs at all.
In my view, the Galloping Goose/Lochside trail system can no longer realistically be deemed a linear park. Instead, it should be recognized and managed for what it is — a major regional transportation corridor and therefore subject to the provincial laws that govern the use of such corridors by all users, be they cyclists, pedestrians or dog-walkers. Moreover, there needs to be better co-ordinated sign management of the trail and intersecting roads among the CRD and participating municipalities.
Given the limited resources and staffing the CRD and local municipalities face, I don’t think the focus should be on enforcement, but rather on signs and education to minimize the safety hazards on the trail system. Some key steps to minimize safety issues would be:
• Manage the Galloping Goose/Lochside Trail system not as a linear park but as the major regional transportation corridor it has come to be.
• Develop clear, concise user rules for cyclists, pedestrians and dog-walkers using the trail system.
• Develop and implement clear, consistent signs throughout the entire trail system outlining these rules and safety measures.
• Distribute pamphlets containing a trail map, highlights and user-safety guidelines to local bike shops, hotels and other outlets such as B.C. Ferries to educate the public on use of the trail system.
• Conduct user-information days periodically throughout the year by setting up kiosks at key trail locations where CRD staff and volunteers can provide information on the safe use of the trail system.
It is not my intention to bash the CRD or the other organizations that have contributed significantly to the creation and management of the Galloping Goose/Lochside Trails, but simply to raise awareness about the significant potential safety hazards that exist on the trails and to offer some simple steps that, in my view, would help polish the “gem” and prevent an accident waiting to happen.
