Residents of Golden, B.C. are celebrating Friday’s announcement that Canada Pacific Railway and the six local rafting organizations have reached an agreement on river access.
Earlier this year CP Rail officials halted access to the lower canyon of the Kicking Horse River, a popular whitewater rafting destination, citing safety concerns with the way guides and visitors crossed active railway tracks on foot with their rafts.
“On March 24, we had a meeting with CP,” said Ryan Johannesen, owner of Glacier Raft Company. “We went into it pretty hopeful as well. We were under the impression we would talk solutions and that we would be rafting.”
“We agreed that how we had been crossing for 35 years had worked for us but we would like things to be safer as well. There is no official crossing down there, where we’ve been going. We’ve never had an incident but, at the same time, safety is number one.”
The decision to restrict access to the lone entrance to the lower canyon, a path which had been utilized for nearly four decades, was expected to have a drastic impact on the local economy.
“The estimated loss that we were looking at was between $3 million and $5.8 million potential for the town,” said Andy Brown of Tourism Golden. “(In) a town of 4,000 people that’s a big deal.”
Brown says approximately 15,000 people raft the Kicking Horse River’s lower canyon each year.
Johannesen says his guides and staff were concerned with the potential impact of the closure.
“The lower canyon represents a third of our rafting runs, a third of our river,” said Johannesen. “It’s also, at times of the summer, the most exciting part. It’s a section of the river that people will call and ask for by name.”
A grassroots movement saw the circulation of a petition garnering 7,000 signatures and a letter campaign asking Prime Minister Trudeau and Transportation Minister Marc Garneau to intervene before the May long weekend, the unwritten start of the rafting season.
On Friday, CP Rail officials stated access to the lower canyon would be reinstated.
“It’s wonderful. We couldn’t be happier,” said Johannesen. “It’s really nice to see CP come and work with the town. They’re quite involved in our town with a couple of railway tracks running right through it and yards.”
“It’s good that they see the importance of that and that they were able to make this work.”
Brown says the town will gather to celebrate the renewed access to the lower access with a public event on April 30.
