The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure is moving forward with detailed engineering on solutions to improve safety and capacity for visitors at Cathedral Grove in MacMillan Provincial Park, while protecting the environmental, social and cultural values associated with the park.

The options the ministry is exploring originated through feedback received during two rounds of online and face-to-face consultations. The ministry will now take the feedback, as well as input from Indigenous communities and local governments, onto the next phase. This includes engineering design work to refine the scope and costs. 

The ministry will explore options to:

• add capacity to the existing parking lots on Highway 4;
• add centre median barriers, as well as roadside barriers, in some areas at the existing parking area to prevent unsafe vehicle movements along and across the highway;
• construct a pedestrian overpass near the parking lot over Highway 4 to create a safe crossing of the highway;
• expand the trail network to allow visitors to walk safely from their vehicles to the grove; and
• construct U-turn facilities east and west of Cathedral Grove to enable drivers to safely turn around after visiting the park.

One of the most frequent comments during the engagement period was the need to balance pedestrian/vehicle safety with the protection of rare old-growth trees. This balance will be considered as engineering work gets underway. No old-growth trees will be removed to accommodate the proposed improvements.

The ministry will present details of the preferred options once engineering work is completed.

During two rounds of engagement, the ministry received more than 1,500 responses from park users, area residents and environmental groups on potential options to improve safety and access to Cathedral Grove. A complete engagement summary report is available online: https://engage.gov.bc.ca/cathedralgrove

Cathedral Grove, located in MacMillan Provincial Park, is an old-growth forest found along Highway 4. The park has become a local, national and international attraction, with roughly 500,000 visitors per year.