Alberta moves ahead with $15M upgrade to Fish Creek pathway, widening central trail to 4 metres
Alberta’s $15-million project widens and repairs the 19‑km Fish Creek pathway, continuing through summer 2026 with temporary detours and safety measures.
Provincial project advances on Fish Creek pathway
The Alberta government has pushed forward with a $15-million rehabilitation of the central Fish Creek pathway, the main paved artery running roughly 19 kilometres through Fish Creek Provincial Park. The project, now in its third construction season, aims to widen and repair aging asphalt that officials say has reached the end of its useful life.
Work that began in 2024 on the eastern segment completed in 2025, and the province is now carrying out two phases concurrently to address the central and western sections. Alberta Parks has framed the effort as a multi-year upgrade to support the volume and variety of park users.
Design changes and multimodal goals
The core of the upgrade is widening the trail from about 2.5 metres to roughly four metres to better accommodate pedestrians, cyclists and other multimodal users. Engineers and planners say the broader corridor will reduce conflict points and improve safety along a path that links day-use areas and major points of interest across southern Calgary.
Resurfacing and structural repairs will accompany the widening, with crews attending to root intrusion, subgrade failures and other long-standing deterioration. The enhancements are pitched as both capacity and safety improvements rather than purely cosmetic work.
Safety clearances and hazardous-tree removals
Ahead of paving and widening work, crews removed nearly 1,000 trees identified as hazardous to clear the corridor and create the necessary footprint for a wider paved surface. Alberta Parks described the removals as a precondition for safe construction and long-term trail resilience.
Park officials have said prior public engagement highlighted tree encroachment and the narrow, degraded corridor as top complaints during a 2022 master trails consultation. The removals were paired with commitments to replanting and site-specific mitigation where possible.
Phasing, schedule and active work zones
Phase 1 covered the eastern stretch and wrapped up in 2025; Phases 2 and 3 are being advanced at the same time in central and western areas of the park. Construction activity is scheduled to continue through to December 2026 on the segments currently open to work.
Crews are operating between the Bebo Grove day-use area and the Bow Valley Ranch day-use area, excluding work at Glennfield and a short section west of Votier’s Flats. Additional activity is taking place between the Bow Bottom Trail S.E. pedestrian crossing and the Sikome Aquatic Facility. Further widening from Bebo Grove to Shannon Terrace, and some sections near Votier’s Flats, are slated to begin in 2027.
City stormwater work affecting pathway access
A separate City of Calgary stormwater project west of Votier’s Flats has introduced overlapping construction constraints this season. Municipal crews are repairing and reinforcing a retention pond embankment adjacent to the main paved pathway, and officials say the work will continue into late fall 2026.
Alberta Parks and city crews have warned that work on the pond embankment will require temporary closures of access points and short-term restrictions to nearby pathways for public safety. The combined provincial and municipal work increases the scope of detours users may encounter.
Impacts on users, detours and trail connections
Fish Creek Provincial Park will remain open to visitors while upgrades proceed, but Alberta Parks advises that short-term delays and temporary detours should be expected. Portions of the Rotary Mattamy Greenway and segments of the Trans Canada Trail run through or adjacent to active work zones and may be affected by closures or signed reroutes.
Park managers are asking visitors to obey signage and personnel directions, keep clear of fenced construction areas and plan alternative routes when necessary. Officials emphasize that the temporary inconvenience is intended to prevent accidents and allow crews to complete structural improvements safely.
For daily visitors and regular commuters who rely on the pathway, project managers say the widened corridor will ultimately ease congestion and create a more durable surface. Planners note the upgrades are designed to support both recreational use and active transportation through the park into the future.
Construction timelines and specific detours will be updated on Alberta Parks’ advisories as crews progress, and some segments currently in the bid or planning stages will be scheduled for work in subsequent seasons. The province has framed the multi-phase approach as a means to limit large-scale closures while moving several stretches forward at once.
Park users are encouraged to check advisories before travelling to Fish Creek Provincial Park and to follow posted directions on site to ensure the safety of both visitors and workers during the remainder of the construction program.
