Whitehorse city council has approved a $12.5 million-project to construct an active transportation corridor connecting Whistle Bend and downtown.
The project received unanimous support from city council during a 16-minute council meeting on March 10.
The project is being added to the 2026 Provisional Capital Budget. This means that the project is approved and can go forward, but it depends on confirmation of funding from outside the city. Three-quarters of the estimated project costs (just over $9 million) will be covered by the federal Active Transportation Fund, but the remaining 25 per cent do not have a funding source yet.
There’s no design plan for the active transportation corridor just yet: as explained in a Feb. 17 city staff report, the dimensions and characteristics of the connector will be hammered out with public engagement and a “detailed design process.”
The report estimates that work would start in 2026, and construction in 2027.
More details on the funding on the project should be available by the next municipal capital budget cycle.
The city did hear a delegation from Keith Lay on March 3 regarding the funding for the project.
Lay said he was concerned that the city was not eligible to apply to the federal government’s Active Transportation Fund due to the city’s Snowmobile Bylaw, which allows snowmobiles on trails that are not on its excluded trails list.
Active Trails Whitehorse has been petitioning the city to prohibit snowmobile usage on non-motorized multi-use trails.
The federal government defines active transportation as “the movement of people or goods powered by human activity.” The definition also includes “hybrid mobility aids, such as wheelchairs, scooters, e-bikes, rollerblades, snowshoes, cross-country skis, and more.”
Lay said motorized vehicles like ATVs, snowmobiles and dirt bikes should not be allowed on the trail from the point it is constructed.
“I'm sure the city would not apply, let alone obtain funds from the Government of Canada for the purpose of building an active transportation trail, if it could not guarantee that said trail will actually be non-motorized year round, as to do so, would be a betrayal of the intended use of those funds and affront to federal taxpayers and the citizens of Whitehorse,” said Lay.
Matthew Cameron, the city spokesperson, told the News on March 11 that the city was not concerned about its application for this federal funding.
“The proposed Whistle Bend Active Transportation Connector is intended to be dedicated to active transportation,” said Cameron. “The connector is not proposed as an ‘out-and-away’ route and if funding for the project is secured, it would be designated for active transportation use only.”
The trail is expected to provide “opportunities for improved community recreation and active transportation connection to the future Range Point Subdivision,” per the Feb. 17 staff report.
Contact Talar Stockton at talar.stockton@yukon-news.com
