When the fencing between Viaduct Park and Dupplin Road comes down next spring, will the Galloping Goose be back to the way it was? The schedule says no. The closed section is the first piece of a Capital Regional District project that will widen, light and rebuild the trail north of the Selkirk Trestle in phases until 2028. Spring 2027 ends only the first closure.
CRD regional trails recorded 4.4 million visits in 2025, and the CRD estimates about 80 percent of trail users are cyclists and 20 percent are pedestrians. That split explains how the detour was designed and what the finished trail will look like. It also explains why this stretch of the corridor in Burnside-Gorge is being rebuilt in stages instead of all at once.
Three projects share one ravine
The fences went up on June 1, 2026, for a BC Hydro cable replacement. Two more projects have since started in the same ground. Saanich News reported in September that the City of Victoria is replacing a sanitary sewer near Cecelia Ravine Park while the CRD widens and lights the trail, all inside the same closure.
BC Hydro's job is the deepest of the three. According to BC Hydro's Victoria to Esquimalt project page, a transmission cable failed in August 2023 and crews found widespread corrosion. The old cable was buried directly in the ground and insulated with mineral oil. Its replacement is an oil-free cable running in a duct bank, along a route of about 2.7 kilometres from Horsey Substation in Victoria to Esquimalt Substation, including a crossing beneath the Gorge Waterway. The old cable is removed once the new one is in service, which BC Hydro scheduled for fall 2026. BC Hydro's July 22 update said the cable was expected to be energized "this fall." The CRD's alert scheduled overnight BC Hydro investigative work at Burnside Road East and Washington Avenue from October 19 to 22, between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m., and said cyclists would stay on the current detour.
The City of Victoria's Cecelia Ravine Park project page says the sewer pipes being replaced have reached the end of their service life. The city is coordinating that work with the CRD's trail upgrades and expects to finish in spring 2027. The CRD said in its September update that the shared schedule was deliberate.
"Coordinating the city and CRD work within one construction period will reduce repeated closures and limit long-term disruption in the park."
That statement was carried in the same Saanich News report. Grouping three digs into one closure keeps Cecelia Ravine Park from being reopened and dug up again for each project. In exchange, the closure lasts longer.
Why walkers and riders now take different streets
Until September 22, everyone used the same detour of about one kilometre, open around the clock. Since September 23, cyclists and people walking or wheeling have followed separate routes. CHEK News described the northbound versions this way.
- Cycling, northbound: Waterfront Crescent to Gorge Road East, then Washington Avenue, then back onto the trail at Dupplin Road.
- Walking and wheeling, northbound: Waterfront Crescent to Jutland Road, then Finlayson Street, then Douglas Street, then Kelvin Road.
The two routes are built for different trips. Most of the trail's traffic is on bikes, and the cycling route keeps it on roads and away from the sidewalk route on Jutland, Finlayson and Douglas. The CRD asks everyone to follow the posted signs, take care at road crossings and follow directions from traffic control staff.
Riders on the Gorge Road East leg pass a newer neighbourhood stop. Crow's Coffee, a small coffee counter at 210 Gorge Rd. East, was featured in Tasting Victoria's late-summer roundup. It pours 2% Jazz beans and serves baked goods from Bubby Rose's.
The next closure is already mapped
The September detour was never meant to last all winter. The CRD said it would change again in the fall as widening and lighting moved north along the trail. As of its mid-October update, the CRD's project page set a late October 2026 target for the next phase of CRD work, between Cecelia Road and Culduthel Road.
The same page links a map labelled "Galloping Goose Full Closure and Detour Map, Fall 2026," and says its effective date will be confirmed. With so many changes in one season, a route that was correct in September may not be correct today. Before a morning commute or a weekend loop, check the CRD's closure and detour alerts page and the Viaduct Park to Dupplin Road alert. Those two pages carry the current routing.
Spring is one milestone on a longer timeline
The CRD expects the Viaduct Park to Dupplin Road closure to stay in place until spring 2027. The full project is much larger. The CRD's Regional Trestles Renewal, Trails Widening and Lighting project has an estimated cost of $53.5 million and a 2026 to 2028 timeline. The CRD lays out the phases like this.
| Window | Where | What |
|---|---|---|
| Summer 2026 to spring 2027 | Galloping Goose, Selkirk Trestle to Culduthel Road | Coordinated CRD, City of Victoria and District of Saanich work, including widening and lighting from Cecelia Road to Culduthel Road |
| Fall 2027 | Selkirk Trestle | Resurfacing and related corridor improvements |
| 2027 to 2028 | Galloping Goose, Culduthel Road to McKenzie Avenue | Trail improvements |
| 2027 to 2028 | Lochside Trail, Culduthel Road to McKenzie Avenue and Borden Street | Trail improvements |
| 2027 to 2028 | Brett and Swan Lake trestles | Trestle renewal |
The work moves north in stages. The current closure is at the south end, near Viaduct Park. The Selkirk Trestle, which links the Goose to the Gorge Waterway, has its own construction window in fall 2027. After that the work continues past Culduthel Road toward McKenzie Avenue and onto the Lochside, including the Swan Lake trestle. Someone who rides from Vic West to Saanich will likely ride past active construction somewhere on the corridor in each of the next two years. The location changes with each phase.
What the finished trail will look like
The rebuild responds to the same 80-to-20 split that shaped the detour. The CRD plans to widen up to four kilometres of the Galloping Goose between the Selkirk Trestle and Grange Road, plus two kilometres of the Lochside Trail between Culduthel Road and McKenzie Avenue and Borden Street. The widened sections will have a dedicated space for walking and wheeling and a separate two-way cycling path.
The project also adds energy-efficient lighting at selected locations, with intersections, underpasses and trail access points named as examples, to improve visibility and safety. Lighting in or near environmentally sensitive areas will reflect local ecological conditions.
The CRD's project page also links a construction area map that shows current construction limits and affected trail sections, along with the CRD bike map for alternate routes while the corridor is under construction. Keep both handy for winter rides. The Gorge Road East and Jutland Road detours are the current routes, and the closures will keep shifting until 2028.
How close a home is to the Goose matters to a lot of buyers along this corridor. If you own near the trail and wonder whether the coming upgrades should change how you present your home, the team at Coastal Living Collective can walk you through it. Start with a simple question. What's your property worth?
