The rumble of vehicles may be a thing of the past on the northern portion of Squamish River Dyke Road.
As of last month, a two-month closure was put in place while dikes in Brackendale and North Yards underwent upgrades. The blockades didn’t go unnoticed. District of Squamish officials received public comments on the peacefulness of the neighbourhood near West Coast Railway Heritage Park. Since motorized vehicles were barred from the upper end of Dyke Road, it’s opened the area up to residents, Kurt Waher wrote to council.
“Since then there hasn’t been any illegal dumping, no vehicles driving erratically and the general demeanour of the people on the dike seems to be more pleasant,” he stated.
Without the threat of vehicles speeding down the road, families and dog owners are able to experience a more relaxing outing, Waher wrote. He requested council consider putting a gate at the intersection, blocking traffic from going north on the dike, but still allowing authorized vehicles to access the area when needed.
Coun. Bryan Raiser highlighted the letter during council meeting this month.
“It seems like we inadvertently solved a longstanding problem in the community,” he said.
Raiser asked municipal staff to examine the possibility of closing that section of dike to motorized vehicles, which are already banned from large chucks of the district’s dike system, he told The Chief. Educating the public on the regulations has been an ongoing challenge, Raiser said.
A municipal bylaw prevents off-road vehicles, including dirt bikes and quads, from driving on any municipal dike, district spokesperson Christina Moore wrote in an email to The Chief. The North Yards dike, located north of the Spit Road, allows conventional vehicle traffic and is treated as a road, Moore wrote.
“…in response to recent public comments encouraging the district to fully restrict vehicle access to this section, the district’s engineering department will be preparing a report to council further exploring the restriction of all motorized vehicle access on all municipal dikes,” she stated.
