For years it has been little more than a few ambitious dotted lines in the corner of a very large planning map.
But with a unanimous vote — and some strong words of support for the project — the Capital Regional District’s (CRD) Parks Committee is recommending the CRD board hand off the priority-positioned Salt Spring Island Regional Trail (SSIRT) to the CRD’s Regional Transportation Service, a shift that could bring a long-imagined 21-kilometre path connecting Fulford, Ganges and Vesuvius closer to reality.
Directors also recommended the service take on “planning, implementation and operation” of all planned regional trails in the Gulf Islands, which would include similar dotted lines on Pender, Saturna and Galiano islands — and indeed one solid line, marking the completed portion of the “pilot” Mayne Island Regional Trail connecting the Village Bay ferry terminal with Miners Bay.
CRD directors on the committee were moved to action largely by the completion of an exhaustive feasibility study on the SSIRT, presented to the Regional Parks Committee at its meeting Wednesday, Nov. 26. The study involved partners and planning staff from the CRD, Islands Trust and Ministry of Transportation and Transit, as well as Salt Spring-based Island Pathways and the broader Salish Sea Trail Network Working Group. It concluded the trail represented a “significant opportunity” to enhance active transportation across Salt Spring, laying out groundwork on routes and trail designs.
Active transportation infrastructure generally serves cyclists and pedestrians that might otherwise drive or use transit.
“We’re so excited about this study,” said Island Pathways’ Robin Jenkinson, who spoke at the committee’s Nov. 26 meeting.
The group funded the first $10,000 for the feasibility study, she said, and was part of the technical advisory committee to develop it.
“Salt Spring is the last missing piece in the 200-kilometre Salish Sea Trail network, and this report finally shows us how to build it, in a way that’s accessible for everyone.”
Emphasizing the project’s long history of community support, Jenkinson noted repeated setbacks. The study itself took more than a year longer than expected, she said, and there was more recent uncertainty about whether the project would indeed fall under the new Regional Transportation Service.
That service’s relationship with Salt Spring Island has been something of an arranged marriage. Island officials, including Salt Spring CRD director Gary Holman and members of the elected Local Community Commission, strongly opposed being included in a requisition scheme they said centred either on duplicating services Salt Spring already had — like its independently funded bus system — or on Saanich Peninsula services Salt Springers would scarcely utilize.
Indeed, upon establishing the new service in June, the CRD board quickly identified projects on the regional district’s established trails — the Galloping Goose, Lochside and E&N Rail trails — as priorities for immediate inclusion as “active transportation.” Gulf Islands trails were not included at the outset, but the service’s establishing bylaw does allow them to be added at the board’s discretion, according to CRD manager Nikki Elliott.
Elliott told the committee that Regional Parks has been “actively decoupling” regional trail responsibilities by transferring staff and associated funding for regional trails to the new transportation service. The SSIRT feasibility study was launched before that service became operational.
The shift of Gulf Islands regional trails into the new service would be an “excellent fit,” according to Sidney mayor and CRD board chair Cliff McNeil-Smith, who said the committee’s vote was a “positive acknowledgement that the trails on Salt Spring and the Southern Gulf Islands are also true ‘active transportation.’”
And in praising the region-wide economic development potential for the trail, Saanich CRD director Judy Brownoff said if anything she worried the project was too conservative, having reduced some originally envisioned trail design improvements in pursuit of cost savings — and that cyclists had “for years” been telling her they wanted a better bicycling environment on the Gulf Islands.
“[Cyclists] would go more if they felt it was inviting for them,” said Brownoff. “And I understand the ‘island life,’ but I wouldn’t want us to start small and then do like we have to do in this region now — we’re having to widen [Galloping Goose and Lochside regional trails].”
Jenkinson advised directors to move quickly to fund preliminary design on a first segment of the trail in 2026. Island Pathways has said they believe completing one section of the SSIRT will help unlock additional funding sources and smooth potential landowner negotiations, and Jenkinson on Wednesday said there were “visionary donors” already approaching the organization.
“The study does give us a clear first priority,” said Jenkinson. “Segment ‘J’ — Portlock Park to Mobrae [Avenue] — it’s the lowest cost, with no property conflicts, and constructing this segment sooner would build trust and show visible progress.”
If the board approves, the SSIRT would be rolled into the regional transportation plan update, and included and prioritized within that plan, according to CRD staff. Island Pathways has said it will be sending a supporting delegation to the CRD’s board meeting Wednesday, Dec. 10.
“The starting point for discussion will be the capital plan that exists now for regional parks,” said Gary Holman. “That could potentially be changed by recommendation from the transportation committee and the board, [but] that’s the starting point.”
An initial estimate to complete the entire SSIRT rang in at over $100 million, although the feasibility study examined potential savings — such as different surfacing materials and incorporating some on-road segments along “traffic-calmed” side streets — that nearly halved that figure. Holman said the number could fall even further, as the estimates were crafted before the $22.9-million Fulford-Ganges Road improvement project launched last year — and much of what SSIRT envisions would be supported by provincially funded work already completed on that stretch of road.
Jenkinson said Island Pathways was ready to provide matching funds, community engagement and coordination with its working group.
“I do support this 100 per cent,” said Langford CRD director Lillian Szpak. “It’s exciting to think about going into Fulford Harbour and riding your bike to Ganges without thinking that you’re going to be taken out by a farm vehicle.”
“It is true that cycling is very exciting on Salt Spring,” chuckled Holman. “We want to make it a little bit less exciting, and more accessible.”