When we went to Mt. McKinley/Mt. Denali in Alaska, cars were not permitted in the park. It made it so much easier and more pleasant to sit on a coach, with a guide and let someone else do the driving. It's much nicer for the driver because you can really focus on the scenery and animals and not worry about driving.
I was thrilled to see this press release from Parks Canada.
LAKE LOUISE – Private vehicles will be banned year-round on Moraine Lake Road.
Parks Canada officials say the 12.8-km scenic road to the iconic lake is closed to personal vehicles year-round in 2023, but Parks Canada-run shuttles from a park-and-ride lot at the Lake Louise ski hill, Roam public transit, and commercial buses are permitted from June to mid-October.
Jed Cochrane, visitor experience manager for Lake Louise, Yoho and Kootenay, said the Moraine Lake lot accommodated about 900 vehicles a day last summer, while another 5,000 vehicles a day were turned away.
“We were doing 24-hour traffic control, turning vehicles away at 3 o’clock, 4 o’clock in the morning because our parking lots were full,” he said.
“People were being turned away and getting frustrated and I don’t blame them. Restricting private vehicles at Moraine Lake was the next logical step.”
Banning private vehicles on Moraine Lake Road and Upper Lake Louise were key recommendations of the Parks Canada-struck expert advisory panel on moving people sustainably. The report, released in early December, is out for public review until Feb. 5.
While the ban on Moraine Lake Road is going ahead for 2023, Parks Canada says there are no plans to do so at Upper Lake Louise at this time. However, traffic is restricted on Lake Louise Drive when volumes present a safety concern for emergency vehicle access.
Between 2010 and 2019, there was a 29 per cent increase in visitation to Banff National Park.
At Lake Louise, for example, there has been a 71 per cent increase in traffic over the past decade, leading to significant congestion issues. The area also lies in the middle of core grizzly bear habitat, a threatened species in Alberta, and include two vital wildlife corridors.
Bow Valley Naturalists say, on the face of it, reducing traffic on the road is potentially positive from a wildlife, public safety and visitor experience perspective.
However, the local conversation organization says that what is unknown at this stage is the ripple effect on the other side of the valley, with potentially more traffic now driving through the important Whitehorn wildlife corridor to get to the shuttle staging area at the ski hill.
“Secondly, transit has the potential to efficiently move more people into the Moraine Lake area,” said Reg Bunyan, a member of BVN’s board of directors.
“It’s important that Parks Canada set conservative limits on the number of shuttle seats available in order to prevent further degradation of the area’s already compromised grizzly bear habitat security.”
Wanda Bogdane, executive director of Banff and Lake Louise Hospitality Association (BLLHA), said an alternative transportation approach to access Moraine Lake is a good starting point because of the intensified visitation in recent years; however, it will be critical to ensure that access remains inclusive.
