Newsletter 2

(Originally published via email in January 2024)

Whitehorse Elementary School relocation update

In June 2022, the Government of Yukon announced that École Whitehorse Elementary School (EWES) would be relocated from downtown Whitehorse to the Takhini Educational Land Reserve at the corner of Range Road and University Drive. The exact location of the school remains undecided.

The Takhini Neighbourhood Association is a part of an advisory committee participating in the relocation along with the City of Whitehorse, the EWES school council and Department of Education. 

The planned new school is for 500 students plus teachers and staff. The Department of Education will analyze the traffic increase associated with the new school this spring. Traffic on Range Road is a major concern to Takhini residents so we are watching this issue very closely. 

Proposed McIntyre Creek Park update

A proposed park to protect McIntyre Creek is underway. The City of Whitehorse and Government of Yukon are working with Ta’an Kwächän Council and the Kwanlin Dün First Nation to develop a framework for developing and managing the park. Due to the large area of the park and the number of parties involved, the park will be a many-year process. 

The boundaries of the park are conceptual and not confirmed. The conceptual boundaries are shown by the red dotted lines in the diagram below (copied from the City of Whitehorse Official Community Plan document).

The green space between the north end of Takhini and the dirt road to the pumphouse is not included in the proposed park. There remains a corridor of land for development which is represented as a grey area on the map from the university to the highway. As we all know, this area is essential to Takhini residents accessing the larger green space for a wide variety of activities. The land is in the creek's watershed and is immediately adjacent to a sensitive wetland. This land falls under three jurisdictions: Yukon University, the Ta’an Kwächän Council and the Kwanlin Dün First Nation. 

The Association is in discussions with Yukon University and Government of Yukon to find out why this area was excluded from the proposed park.