Early in 2021, the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) released a survey to assess how the community felt about the RMOW’s new direction when it comes to the trail system in and around town, and the increased funding to the Whistler Off Road Cycling Association (WORCA).
Specifically, the Recreational Trail Strategy community engagement survey, which had 800 responses—the most engagement seen in any community survey—wanted feedback on “certain trails like the One Duck, Jane Lakes and those kind of loops,” according to Councillor Ralph Forsyth, who sits on the RMOW’s Recreation and Leisure Advisory Committee (RLAC).
“[We found] that [the community is] generally supportive,” said Forsyth. “They love the work that WORCA does. They love that there are so many trails. It’s all pretty positive.
“But then specifically, the One Duck Lake [trail] is going to be really good because now we have access because the municipality bought the adjacent property.”
Forsyth acknowledged that there are concerns from residents in the Emerald neighbourhood over how busy the trail might become but, he said, “I think having legitimate access that’s not trespassing is a big win for the community.”
In an emailed statement, the RMOW said the new access to One Duck Lake, which was previously lost due to the trail being cut off by new developments, “will be achieved through a property that has been purchased by the RMOW” and is “intended to serve local residents primarily.”
The statement continues: “Signage improvements to facilitate this access have been made over the course of 2021,” and trail access will be completed by this fall.
While WORCA doesn’t have anything to do with the access trail to One Duck Lake, the rest of the survey’s results were “as expected,” particularly when it comes to the major increase in funding WORCA received this year, according to executive director Trevor Ferrao.
“Most people thought that was of really high importance for the trail strategy,” he said. “Sustainable funding is something that has been a big issue for us, so we’re glad to see that everyone recognizes that needs to be tackled long-term.
“People want to see a mixture of trails and different difficulties throughout the trail network and things like that, so it confirmed a lot of what we already knew.”
The survey also asked questions about three new trail builds proposed by WORCA, two of which—Mystic Function and D’Arcy Burke Memorial Trail—Ferrao believes will be approved by the RMOW.
“Mystic Function is from Into The Mystic [trail] down to Function Junction. So the idea behind that is to make better use of the whole trail that takes you up into the alpine,” explained Ferrao. ““This will be like a lower elevation part ... That will basically allow that [trail] to be used for a lot longer period.”
The D’Arcy Burke Memorial Trail is planned for the Jane Lakes area, he added, which doesn’t see a lot of use right now.
If these new proposed trails are approved by the RMOW, the next step would be for WORCA to apply to the province for permission to start building. However, once in the province’s hands, it could take upwards of three years to get approval to start the build, according to Ferrao.
