Parks Canada prepares for Banff National Park tourism onslaught

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Parks Canada officers are hoping to tame ever-worsening car congestion at Lake Louise, which has reached the purpose of disrupting emergency response.

To scale back these site visitors volumes this summer time, the company has practically doubled the parking price on the Lake Louise lakefront lot whereas sustaining the $8 grownup cost for shuttles to that website and close by Moraine Lake.

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“There have been conditions the place site visitors was at such a standstill that it was not impeded nevertheless it was tough for emergency personnel to entry (higher Lake Louise),” mentioned Parks Canada spokeswoman Lindsay McPherson.

“That’s after we do discover ourselves going into these staged site visitors restrictions, the place we’re limiting autos till the whole lot is flushed by means of and the site visitors can move safely once more.”

There have been instances prior to now when site visitors move on the Trans-Canada Freeway has been disrupted by the gridlock backing up from Lake Louise, mentioned Parks Canada spokesman James Eastham.

Final summer time, Parks Canada officers had been twice pressured to halt site visitors on the freeway flowing into Lake Louise village due to congestion, they mentioned.

In 2023, a median of 1,200 autos used the Lake Louise lot every day, with employees turning away from 3,000 to five,000 every day, Parks Canada mentioned.

From Could 17 to Oct. 14, a every day parking price of $36.75 per car might be charged on the lot, which ushers guests to the enduring glacier-fed lake from 3 a.m. to 7 p.m. That’s practically double the $21 price charged final summer time and greater than triple the $11.70 parking value in 2021.

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There aren’t any hourly charges.

The price hike can also be meant to cowl the dramatically rising prices of shuttle contracting and site visitors administration, which jumped from $5.71 million in 2022-23 to $9.71 million this yr.

Income this yr from parking and shuttles lined about $5.2 million, or simply over half, of that $9.71 million and was used to maintain the prices of that bus service low, mentioned the federal company.

‘Lake Louise, Moraine Lake the top of what folks wish to come and see’

Parks Canada officers are encouraging guests to make use of their summer time shuttle from the Lake Louise park and trip to the lake and Moraine Lake, which prices $8 for adults, half that for seniors and is free for these below 18.

“We’re hoping that by offering an financial incentive to take a shuttle, fewer folks will select to drive,” mentioned Eastham.

However even then, demand for these shuttles causes its personal on-line gridlock, with reservations being snapped up inside 45 minutes of them changing into accessible, he added.

Further measures to regulate crowds sooner or later are depending on what transpires within the coming tourism season, mentioned McPherson.

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“In subsequent years, it’ll actually be decided on what occurs this yr,” she mentioned.

Officers are additionally within the early levels of crafting a customer administration plan for the Moraine Lake-Lake Louise space aimed toward making certain sustainable visitation.

A number of the focus is on environmental conservation, mentioned Eastham.

“The site visitors administration program does have an ecological influence,” he mentioned.

Since personal site visitors was prohibited final yr on Moraine Lake Street, the vehicular quantity on it has dropped by 60 per cent, which eases the strain on wildlife, mentioned Eastham.

Banff Nationwide Park is by far Canada’s busiest, attracting greater than 4 million guests a yr, with most of these coming from the encompassing area.

However Parks Canada officers say the variety of guests driving from the U.S. is recovering from pandemic ranges — a lot of them heading to its twin crown jewels Lake Louise and close by Moraine Lake, mentioned McPherson.

“Banff Nationwide Park is an iconic vacation spot and Lake Louise and Moraine Lake are the top of what folks wish to come and see,” she mentioned.

“What it actually comes right down to is guests have to anticipate once they come right here that they’re going to come across a busy place. They need to be versatile with their timelines and have a back-up plan.”

New this summer time is the Alpine Begin Shuttle to Moraine Lake, which is able to depart the Lake Louise lakeshore lot at 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. It’s going to have the identical fares because the daytime shuttles, mentioned Parks Canada.

BKaufmann@postmedia.com

X (Twitter) @BillKaufmannjrn

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