Hillcrest residents ask City of Whitehorse to clear snow from local paved trails

Some residents of Whitehorse's Hillcrest neighbourhood are urging the city to plow two local paved trails in the winter, describing them as important parts of the city's active transportation network. 

Three delegates brought the request to Whitehorse city council's meeting on Monday, saying that cyclists and people on foot use the Hamilton Boulevard and Elijah Smith trails year-round to get to and from school, work or other parts of the city. 

However, the trails become difficult if not impossible to use after snow and ice accumulate on them, Hillcrest Community Association board member Hillary Smith told council. 

"I'm sympathetic to the fact that the city has many competing priorities when looking at transportation and trail maintenance — however, having heard from my community for several years now, it's clear that these trails are significant pathways for many," Smith said.

"Maintaining them would [have] a huge impact in Hillcrest, plus to the other above-the-airport neighbourhoods for years to come." 

The Elijah Smith trail connects the neighbourhood's road network to Hamilton Boulevard to the north, offering access to the Elijah Smith Elementary School and other neighbourhoods like McIntyre, while the Hamilton Boulevard trail runs alongside its namesake. 

"There's a lot of little kids that use that [Hamilton Boulevard] trail, or, there's a lot of elderly people with mobility issues, a lot of people who use strollers," delegate Aurora Johnsgaard told council. 

Another delegate, Ghislain de Laplante, described himself as among the city's "crazy bike commuters" who use the Hamilton Boulevard trail year-round. He said that while conditions are fine now, issues arise with fresh snowfalls or during the spring melt. 

The city, de Laplante continued, has already seen a "success story" when it comes to plowing local trails and pointed to the Hillcrest-to-Granger connector.

"I've seen cyclist traffic and pedestrian traffic skyrocket since the city decided to maintain that route up to Granger… Having these connector pathways facilitates much more than active transportation," he said. "It facilitates people's lifestyle, it facilitates people's ability to go about their daily lives."

Hamilton Boulevard trail plowing raised before

Coun. Lenore Morris noted later in the meeting that the issue of plowing the Hamilton Boulevard trail has come up before — most recently, in November, when a representative for the Whitehorse Urban Cycling Coalition made the same request. 

"I know that we've discussed that, it seems like ad-nauseam, and yet it seems to be not resolved," Morris said. 

City manager Jeff O'Farrell, responding to questions from councillors, said council would need to do two things before the city can start plowing either the Elijah Smith or Hamilton Boulevard trails — amend the city's snow and ice control policy, and allocate additional resources to the operating budget. 

The Hamilton Boulevard trail, both council and city officials noted, has some additional complicating factors. The trail is also used by people on snowmobiles, which require a certain depth of snow to operate, and was previously maintained on a volunteer basis by the Klondike Snowmobile Association. As well, community services director Krista Mroz said that steep inclines and narrow sections on the trail could pose challenges for staff operating equipment on it. 

Coun. Anne Middler said it was time to find a solution that worked for everyone. 

"I don't know what the answer is but I would love to not have another winter of this situation — like, I can't imagine the kids trying to get to the school and anybody in the upper levels [of the city] trying to get to the Canada Games Centre and there not being a maintained route for them," Middler said.  

"I'm not happy about that."