Canmore Keeps Trying To Remove This Viewpoint From Google Maps

A popular Three Sisters viewpoint is bringing visitor traffic to a Canmore off-leash dog park, where residents say pedestrians are crossing Bow Valley Trail and the parking lot is becoming increasingly congested.

Longtime Canmore resident Lorna Hartley said she has seen people crossing the road to reach the viewpoint, visitors wandering into the fenced dog park and vehicles filling the parking area beside the off-leash area.

The concerns have now reached Canmore mayor and council, the town’s Municipal Enforcement, and RCMP, according to Hartley.

"What I've noticed is a lot of traffic in the parking lot," Hartley told Bow Valley Insider. 

"And with that extra traffic, I've been noticing that there's no parking for me to walk my dog, and a lot of people have been experiencing the same kind of issues with that parking lot."

Hartley said the parking is only one part of the problem.

When she does find a spot, she has noticed groups of people standing around the parking lot looking at their phones before crossing Bow Valley Trail toward the viewpoint.

"I feel like it's so dangerous that they're crossing the road there," she said. 

Where visitors are accessing the viewpoint

Part of the challenge is where the viewpoint is located and how people are getting there.

The viewpoint sits across Bow Valley Trail from the fenced off-leash dog park near Alpine Helicopters. 

The Town's correspondence does not identify a designated parking area for the viewpoint.

Hartley said visitors have instead been parking beside the dog park (map here).

Visitors are being directed to the area online

Hartley, who has lived in Canmore for 38 years, said the number of people she encountered around the parking lot became particularly noticeable this year.

She said the gravel lot doesn't have marked parking stalls, and she has seen vehicles parked irregularly while groups prepare to head toward the viewpoint.

Some visitors have also ended up inside the fenced off-leash area.

"I'm noticing too that people are actually going into the dog, the fenced-in dog park and leaving the gates open.”

Hartley said she has also seen toilet paper in the dog park and believes visitors have been using the area as a bathroom.

After looking into why so many people appeared to be arriving at the site, Hartley said she found several websites directing visitors to park in the area and cross Bow Valley Trail to reach the viewpoint.

The concerns have also attracted attention from other residents online, with people raising issues around roadside parking, pedestrians crossing the road and congestion around the dog park.

Hartley posted about the issue on Facebook to collect experiences from people who use the area before writing to Canmore mayor and council.

Town says it has been trying to address the area for years

In a Sept. 24 response to Hartley, Mayor Sean Krausert said members of council have also raised concerns about the location.

"This area has been a challenging one that Town staff have been actively trying to resolve the past number of years," Krausert wrote.

Part of the problem is who controls the surrounding land.

According to Krausert, the area across Bow Valley Trail is CPKC property before transitioning into provincial park land. 

He said adding a crosswalk at that section of road isn't an option.

The Town has also blocked access to parking on the CPKC bridge side of the road because people had been camping there, Krausert said.

He pointed to social media and online mapping as a major driver of visitation.

"The situation is very much caused by social media encouraging people to visit the area and Google showing it as a viewpoint," Krausert wrote.

The Town has asked Google to remove the "Three Sisters Viewpoint" location marker more than once, according to Krausert, but it has continued to reappear.

"Every time we find it up, we ask Google to remove it again," he said.

Signage options are now being explored and Municipal Enforcement has the area on its enforcement schedule, Krausert added.

However, he said the jurisdictional complications mean changes may not happen quickly.

"This will continue to be an area of concern until it is resolved in some manner," he wrote.

It's not the only popular roadside viewpoint facing safety questions in the area. In September, the MD of Bighorn backed a proposal to close a well-used Lac des Arcs pullout amid long-standing concerns about traffic safety.

Removing the Google marker may not solve the problem

Hartley said she found several other websites promoting the viewpoint and directing people toward the area.

"I think the Town of Canmore has to do something with that parking lot and maybe better signage," Hartley said.

But she acknowledged there isn't an obvious fix.

"I'm perplexed too," she said. "I think that we need more community involvement with it. Maybe that would help to get some feedback from people to figure out what to do."

Hartley's letter asked council to consider the problems together, including parking and access for dog-park users, RV and tour-vehicle use, pedestrian and traffic safety, signage, sanitation and access to railway property.

For her, one of the biggest questions is which agency can actually address the safety issues.

"Obviously people are frustrated and there is a concern with the safety," she said. "Who is responsible for taking care of this?"

Hartley says RCMP has opened a file

Since her interview with Bow Valley Insider, Hartley said she has heard back from Canmore RCMP.

According to Hartley, RCMP opened a file about the safety concerns and told her a meeting about the issue is planned.

She also said RCMP told her railway police had been contacted because of concerns about people accessing or crossing railway property.

Bow Valley Insider was not able to confirm those details with RCMP before publication.

Hartley has also contacted Canmore Municipal Enforcement regarding parking, RVs and congestion in and around the dog-park parking lot.

Residents who witness traffic-safety problems in the area can also report their concerns through the province's Alberta Traffic Safety Services Complaints Form.

For now, the Town says the location remains an area of concern while it explores signage and continues trying to work with the other parties involved.

Hartley said she doesn't want the discussion framed as locals against visitors. 

Instead, she wants the popular location managed safely while preserving access to the community off-leash area.