Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Rodney]

Starting on January 1st, the City of Chilliwack will be closing the vehicle access on the trail down to the railway bridge. Anglers will have to park in that open area at the entrance to the trail and walk down if you wish to fish that stretch. This makes no difference to me, but it's unfortunate as the stretch above the railway bridge is a good access spot for those with mobility issues but still wish to fish. It's also the only wheelchair access spot available.

Chris can tell you more about it as he has been working hard on persuading the city to change their mind but the decision was most likely already made before the dialogue began.

[HOOK]

What is the reason(s) for closing it ? 

[Rodney]

Garbage.

[Dave]

It's a real shame irresponsible people have made this closure necessary, at least in the eyes of the people mandated to clean this area, the city of Chilliwack.  Kudos to Chris, Dean, Nick and the others who fought hard to keep this area open to vehicle access.

[Tex]

Garbage.

If that's the reason, when are they closing the rest of the river? LOL

Seriously though, this may be a good thing. Make access a little more difficult, less crowded potentially, and we won't have idiots driving their cars down into the riverbed anymore.

[Floater]

I feel for the people who cant just walk from the gates to the spots but at the same time this will remove so much pressure from some very nice water for steelhead and salmon.

[RalphH]

Overall I think this is a good thing if only to stop people from parking on the gravel bars up from the train bridge.

[joshhowat]

About time.

That area has been disrespected too long.

[swimmingwiththefishes]

Overall I think this is a good thing if only to stop people from parking on the gravel bars up from the train bridge.

I tend to agree with Ralph.

If they were going to put in some infrastructure to support those with access issues, and allow for better patrol of the area, and limit access to the river by vehicles with barriers, and improve garbage disposal/cleanup, then road access to the area could work.

But as things are now it is best to close this area for vehicle access. In my experience the easier it is for people to get to the river and catch fish (without any patrol by an authority figure regularly such as police, bylaw officer or CO) the more dummies there are.

To be honest the city of Chilliwack and their RCMP should be treating the Vedder more like a popular regional beach. It probably draws just as many people from the region during high season. This could look something like Vancouver does in the summer with police driving around in ATVs. Anyways it always surprised me how little presence there is on the river.

[Rodney]

What floater said. While this is great for people like myself who don't mind the walk, those who physically cannot are losing more opportunities to enjoy the privileges which I have.

Although some littering is done by anglers, most of the garbage problems occur at night from gatherings or deliberate dumpings etc. Chris and others have suggested that night time closures by having the entrance gated from sundown to sunrise is a better solution.

Most are not aware of this, the city is reminded by FVSS directors like Chris each year to (re)open the key vehicle accesses in the lower river. One of the river cleanups' objectives is to maintain these heavily used areas so we do not lose access. Once access is lost, the problem is simply pushed to somewhere else. The parking at the entrance to the Rotary Trail will be an issue next season with this closure.

I do agree that vehicles need to stay off all gravel banks. It's something I've written about on the website since ten years ago.

[RalphH]

seems to be if that logic was followed there's be vehicle access in every place where it environmentally and aesthetically not appropriate. Society needs to develop more sensitive ways for people with mobility issues to access such places other than gas powered vehicles.

[BNF861]

When I fish the lower I do often find myself in that area. I am fine with a bit more of a walk but vehicle access is kind of nice. The unfortunate part is I do know people that fish the run above the train bridge  a lot because of mobility issues. Whether it is fishing, or any other outdoor activities (atv riding, horseback riding, hiking, 4x4ing) it is such a common theme to see more and more access closed to the masses because of the actions of a few.

[milo]

Although I'd rather see an approach that would allow people with mobility issues to access the area with their vehicles, I can't say I will be sad to see the idiots (and their vehicles) who caused this removed from the picture.

[Sandman]

Although some littering is done by anglers, most of the garbage problems occur at night from gatherings or deliberate dumpings etc. Chris and others have suggested that night time closures by having the entrance gated from sundown to sunrise is a better solution.

Will they be "deactivating" the road by installing barriers to stop the vehicles (day and night?).

[GENERAL-SHERMAN]

this area is polluted with ignorant pigs from June through October . This is great news imo. There is already dozens of access points directly beside the river from the canal all the way to limithole. People with severe disabilities should be fishing areas with more people to watch over them anyways(crossing to lickman) . Areas such as limit hole, prison, cedars, washout, fort apache, slesse trailer park, sections of tamahi , Osborne rd, upper Wilson area, crossing , peach lickman both sides, bergman. community area, and sections of the canal already provide excellent access to people with specific disabilities . This sounds more like a whining of a few people who don't want to walk a little.  Best news for the Chilliwack/vedder river system i'v heard in a while!