Whitehorse Urban Cycling Coalition is asking the City of Whitehorse to maintain the trail along Hamilton Boulevard.
Forest Pearson, the delegate for the coalition, presented the case on the standing committee meeting on Nov. 4. He said the trail was well-maintained by the Klondike Snowmobile Association (KSA) last winter after the coalition and the association set up an agreement to maintain the trail to a level where both cyclists and snowmobiles can travel on it. Pearson called the agreement a success in that both snowmobilers and cyclists were able to use the trail.
However, Pearson asked the city to take on snow and ice clearing on this trail. He said he has seen impressive maintenance on city-maintained trails.
“I think it could be an early success story for this new council,” said Pearson. He added snow clearing is a city responsibility, and not that of volunteers.
Pearson told the council the KSA does not have the volunteer capacity to clear the trail adequately or frequently enough for people to use it daily.
Mark Daniels, the president of the KSA, told the News on Nov. 7 the association maintains six hundred kilometres of trails. They work around volunteer availability.
“You can't expect the KSA to jump on a trail, say, at five o'clock in the morning because it snowed overnight, and have that cleared off for a pedal bike by the time it is to ride that bike to work in the morning.”
Krista Mroz, the director of community services, said the city does not remove snow or ice from trail along Hamilton Boulevard currently.
To change this, council would have to amend the snow and ice control policy, which would have implications for the budget, said city manager Jeff O’Farrell.
Mroz also said the city has a $10,000 memorandum of understanding with trail stewards to maintain multiple trails throughout the city. She emphasized the agreement was not a service contract but rather a stewardship agreement.
O’Farrell said the KSA probably used a grooming device last year on the trail. O’Farrell said the association did not have access to that equipment for this winter, per a briefing he received that morning.
Mroz told council while the KSA is able to maintain the trail, they wouldn’t be able to meet the same level of service as last year.
“As you've already heard, they don't have the volunteer base, and they don't have access to that particular piece of equipment either,” she said.
Daniels disputed this point when asked by the News. He said neither the equipment nor the volunteer capacity has changed in the association since last year.
“The main difference between last year and other years would be that there wasn't a lot of snow last year,” said Daniels. “When the snow came, it came in little bits, so it was more manageable, I think, for an active transport route, than has been in the past, compared to years before when it snowed a lot.”
Mroz said during the council meeting the city is in regular conversation with the association. Daniels said the association meets with the city’s parks and recreation department once a month, and they are in regular contact via email.
When asked about the maintenance of the trail along Hamilton Boulevard, Daniels told the News it is part of ongoing conversation between the city and other stakeholders – one that has not yet reached a conclusion.
Contact Talar Stockton at talar.stockton@yukon-news.com
