Five new docks to be ready this fall
Docks, retaining walls, trails, trash cans to be in place for five parks this fall
Edmontonians should have more chances to get closer to the river this fall with a renewed set of docks.
Five docks — and a number of riverside amenities — along the North Saskatchewan River are slotted for completion this fall in Laurier Park, Hawrelak Park, Dawson Park, Capilano Park and Whitemud Park, Martina Gardiner, the city ’s director of open space infrastructure, said on Monday.
The docks are designed to “open up the use of the water to everyone in Edmonton,” she said.
At 50 Street, Capilano Park is receiving an expanded boat launch. New retaining walls are in store for Hawrelak Park and Dawson Park as well.
The docks are designed to be for general use, for people who use the river and for trail users just looking to get closer to the water.
“We’re really hoping that people who may not necessarily have been able to boat before, or have that experience, may now have it,” Gardiner said.
“It can be a little intimidating when you go down to the river with your fresh kayak to try and find a spot.”
Emily Murphy Park will receive upgrades as well after the Groat Road Bridge is rehabilitated.
The docks came about as part of a $73 million grant in 2012 from the River Valley Alliance, a non-profit formed by seven Alberta municipalities along the North Saskatchewan River, as well as the federal and provincial governments.
The dock upgrades have been planned since 2015.
Construction took time while the city considered the environment and the different needs of river valley users, she added.
At Whitemud Park, the planned dock was moved downstream after an environmental group, the Sierra Club, raised concerns that the construction would disrupt local fish.
Despite the move, the Whitemud dock is also on track to open this year, Gardiner said.
Aside from funding the docks and river upgrades expected this fall, the grant was also spent on the river valley funicular, the Terwillegar Park footbridge and new upgrades to trails in the city ’s west and east ends.
While the upgrades are “nice” because of the upgraded footpaths, Ceyana Canoe Club president Mark Lund said he couldn’t say how much the paddlers would use them because he didn’t know the particulars.
He was hoping for more washrooms closer to the water.
“People will just wander into the bushes to use the washrooms,” he said.
“So you get little white flowers popping up everywhere.”
Gardiner, a new kayak owner, is excited for the additional docks. They’ll let her “just put my boat in and go for a bit of a paddle on a Saturday.”
Upgrades in the construction proposals include:
Whitemud Park: Seasonal floating dock, short gravel trail to the river;
Laurier/Buena Vista Park: Seasonal floating dock, boulders to restrict vehicles;
Hawrelak Park: Dock with gravel trail, retaining wall, viewing area, trash cans;
Dawson Park: Dock with gravel trail, regraded trail to the river, retaining wall, bollards and gates installed to restrict vehicles;
Capilano Park: Expansion of concrete launch ramp, reconfigured parking area.