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A short section of the Galloping Goose trail, a popular route for commuting cyclists in Greater Victoria, could be closed for a few more weeks — well past the planned end date for an unrelated construction project — leaving trail users to detour up onto city streets.
Municipal officials say a retaining wall on the embankment of a private property above the trail is failing, causing a threat to both public safety and sewer infrastructure.
Engineers are now assessing the situation and aren’t expected to report back until later in the month.
“We’re hoping to have the detailed information back to us in the next couple of weeks,” Capital Regional District (CRD) director Jeremy Caradonna told CBC’s All Points West.
“And then that will provide some clarity on what the path ahead might look like.”
The Galloping Goose is one of several former railway lines that now serve as multi-use trails in Greater Victoria. The closed portion is between Cecelia Road and Gorge Road East.
A portion of the Galloping Goose Trail is closed. The multi-use trail is a popular commuting route for cyclists. (Capital Regional District/submitted)
Thousands of people use the trail each day to commute through the region.
A portion had been closed in November to accommodate work that BC Hydro is doing to replace a transmission cable, but by the time the Hydro work was complete, the CRD had discovered the retaining wall failure.
The one-kilometre detour created for the BC Hydro work remains in place, but it leads trail users onto city streets.
Saanich resident Daniel Winner, who rides his bike to work along the trail four to five days a week, said the detour may only add a few minutes to his commute, but it’s inconvenient.
“The reason we ride the Goose is because we don’t want to ride on the road, right? So it’s not great,” he said.
He said it was also difficult to get information at first about why the trail was still closed — though he’s noticed more signs throughout the week, after people had been skirting the fence to ride the trail anyway.
Caradonna is urging the public to obey the signs and not use the trail, saying there is a risk the retaining wall could fail completely — which could cause a landslide onto the trail.
The district said it will provide updates, as they become available, on its alerts page.