Parks Canada is investing millions in the rehabilitation of Jasper National Park’s trails, campgrounds, and heritage buildings, as well as its highways and bridges.
This unprecedented investment, the largest in the history of Parks Canada, will improve visitor safety, ensure high-quality visitor experiences, and maintain commemorative and ecological integrity in Parks Canada places across the country.
This fall, Parks Canada will be doing construction at two of Jasper National Parks iconic visitor experiences, Mount Edith Cavell and the Valley of the Five Lakes day use areas. Both sites will close early this fall so that work can be done outside of the peak visitation period.
Mount Cavell Day Use Area - Closed September 19th
As announced in July 2015, repair and restoration work will be done on the parking lot access road, trails, and viewpoints that were damaged in 2012 and 2014. Public safety issues were identified when a large piece of Ghost Glacier fell off the side of the mountain face and landed in a tarn lake below the glacier in 2012. The surge of water from the tarn caused significant damage to the day use area’s trails, viewpoints, and the parking lot access road. A similar, smaller glacial wave event happened in 2014 with similar damage. In each incident, closures to the area were required while the damage was repaired and measures were taken to ensure the safety of park visitors.
The 2014 study on the risks to the public visiting the glacier recommended that Parks Canada take additional steps to improve public safety in this area. New resources provided by the federal infrastructure initiative will implement the study’s recommendations with permanent safety measures. The access road to the existing parking lot will be moved out of the high-risk flood zone and additional parking spaces will be added to meet current and future demand. The new access road will include safe curb parking. The existing trail will be rebuilt to an easy trail standard and a new trail will complete the existing loop. Work will also be done on the view point, day use and picnic areas. There will be new signage and a seedling gallery for the interpretive areas. The day use area will re-open in the spring of 2017.
During the closure, parks users will still be able to access the HI-Mount Edith Cavell Hostel and the Tonquin Valley trailhead.
Valley of the Five Lakes Trail Head & Parking Lot – Closed on September 6th
As announced in July 2015, this day use area will receive a major investment in order to improve visitor safety and to provide a better visitor experience.
The small parking lot, located on the edge of Highway 93, currently holds approximately 32 vehicles. During peak times, the demand for parking spots can range as high as 80 vehicles. Visitors are parking on the highway shoulder creating safety concerns as people cross the busy highway to reach the trailhead. The parked vehicles also create congestion on both sides of the highway, limiting visibility for approaching traffic. The parking lot will be expanded to meet current and future demand while providing enough turning room to allow vehicles to exit safely onto the highway. In order to address this, Parks Canada will expand the parking lot to meet current and future demand while providing enough turning room to allow vehicles to exit safely onto the highway.
In addition to the parking lot safety work, the picnic area will be re-located and the current single picnic table will be replaced by three new picnic tables. The current single outhouse will be replaced by a double unit and the existing single unit will be re-used elsewhere in the park. The information kiosk and public telephone will be moved closer to the new trailhead. The project is expected to be completed by November 2016, weather permitting. All trails and roads affected by the construction will re-open at that time.
The redesigned parking lot will have dedicated parking spaces and better storm-water management ensuring that nearby wetlands are protected from erosion caused by both storm-water run-off and by vehicles parking on the edges of the road. Making trail boundaries clearer will ensure trail users can stay on the trails and have less impact on the surrounding environment. Reinforcing trail slopes and re-routing trails around wet areas will reduce erosion.
Investments in visitor infrastructure – such as the Mount Edith Cavell day use area and Valley of the Five Lakes trail head and parking lot – will ensure the quality and reliability of visitor facilities and continue to allow Canadians to connect with nature.
Canada’s national parks and national historic sites enable Canadians to experience their rich history and heritage in a special way and will play a big part in the celebration of Canada 150. Parks Canada appreciates the patience and cooperation from park visitors and local residents while it ensures these two popular locations are ready to welcome Canadians in 2017.
Highway Construction Update
Since the last National Park News update about the infrastructure program, a number of projects have been completed. Rehabilitation work on the two Rocky River bridges east of Jasper on Highway 16 was completed in late June. Sightline clearing operations began on the Icefields Parkway in March and the last leg of the work from Mount Christie to Wabasso Lake was completed in late June. The paving work and slope re-profiling work on Highway 16 East has been re-scheduled until August to ensure better traffic flow during Jasper’s peak visitation period while the Fiddle, Athabasca, and Snaring bridges get their retrofits. Local residents will also notice new highway directional signage along Highway 16. This work will continue onto Highway 93 later in the summer.
In July and August, motorists will continue to encounter lane-narrowing at all the Fiddle, Athabasca, and Snaring bridges. Single lane, alternating traffic will continue at the Miette River Bridge as well. Workers will be on site from 7a.m. to 7 p.m. and the bridge width reductions will be in place 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The bridge work is expected to continue until the fall.
With many projects underway on Highway 16 and the Icefields Parkway, Jasper residents and park visitors are advised to plan ahead when travelling through the park. For the most up-to-date information on the location of road construction, delays and any other pertinent information that may impact your travel plans along Highway 16, the Icefields Parkway (Highway 93), and 93A, please call 511 (in Alberta only) or visit the website www.511.alberta.ca. For road conditions on the British Columbia side of Jasper National Park, visit www.drivebc.ca or call 1-800-550-4997.
For the current list of infrastructure projects in Jasper National Park visit pc.gc.ca/infrastructure.
