City of Vancouver presents six options for Granville Bridge redesign
Credit to Author: Jennifer Saltman| Date: Fri, 06 Sep 2019 22:38:51 +0000
As part of its 20-year transportation plan for the city, Vancouver is looking at ways to boost the number of trips made by transit, bicycle and on foot. This includes making the eight-lane Granville Bridge more attractive to those who cycle, walk and roll.
“(The bridge is) a big barrier to people connecting across False Creek now,” said Paul Storer, Vancouver’s manager of transportation design.
This is because of pedestrian crossings that make people feel unsafe and are inaccessible, narrow sidewalks, confusing and awkward connections at bridge ends, and a lack of bike lanes.
After an initial round of public consultation, the city is putting forward six redesign options: two focused on the west side of the bridge, two focused on the east side, one with a raised centre, and one that would make improvements to both sides.
All designs assume that plans for a protected bike lane on Drake will move ahead, and will “normalize” the intersection at West 5th and Granville. Storer said all options will also involve reducing speeds on the bridge.
A second round of public consultation begins next week, with open houses scheduled for Sept. 13, 14 and 17, and public workshops between Sept. 19 and 21. A survey, along with detailed information about the bridge options, will go online Sept. 13 to 30 at vancouver.ca/granvilleconnector.
It is anticipated that design options will be evaluated and a final report will go to council early next year, and detailed design work will follow. Construction could start in 2021.
WEST SIDE
This option would see two lanes on the west side of the bridge reallocated to create a wide sidewalk and protected two-way bike lane in a space approximately 10 metres wide. The wide walkway would allow for benches, and pedestrians and cyclists would have views up False Creek toward the Burrard Bridge and West End. The east sidewalk would be unchanged.
“We think there’s a lot of opportunities for place making with this,” said Storer.
Traffic signals would be added at the Howe and Fir ramp crossings.
Cost: $20 million to $30 million
WEST SIDE PLUS
Like the West Side option, the majority of improvements here would be made to the west side of the bridge, where a wider sidewalk and bi-directional protected bike lane would take up eight metres of space. However, the difference is that improvements would be made to the narrow, unsafe sidewalk on the east side of the bridge. It would be widened and a barrier put between traffic and pedestrians.
The bike lane would run down the Fir Street ramp to 10th Ave., and there would be new signals at the Howe and Fir ramp crossings.
Cost: $30 million to $40 million
EAST SIDE
This would be a mirror image of the West Side option, with a wider sidewalk and two-way bike lane on the east side of the bridge, and no improvement to the west sidewalk. The view would be down False Creek toward Cambie. New traffic signals would be added at the Hemlock and Seymour ramps.
Cost: $20 million to $30 million
EAST SIDE PLUS
The east sided of the bridge would be widened to eight metres and contain a wide sidewalk and two-way bike lane that extends down the Hemlock ramp and links to the 7th Avenue bike route. The west side of the bridge would get a slightly wider, safer sidewalk. New signals would be added at Hemlock and Seymour.
Cost: $20 million to $25 million
RAISED CENTRE
This idea would see two lanes in the middle of the bridge turned into an eight-metre-wide walkway and two-way bike lane. The path would be elevated about a metre above traffic to provide better views and decrease the impact traffic would have on people walking and cycling across the bridge. The existing walkways on the east and west sides of the bridge would be untouched.
On the south end, the path would connect to an improved intersection at 5th and Granville, but ramps would be unaffected.
Cost: $45 million to $55 million
BOTH SIDES
Storer said this design option comes up often when Granville Bridge improvements are discussed, because something similar worked on the Burrard Bridge. On both sides of Granville Bridge, sidewalks would be widened and improved, and one-direction bike lanes would be added. The bike lanes would be 2.5 metres wide, and the sidewalks widened by a metre or metre and a half.
All four on-ramps — Fir, Hemlock, Seymour and Howe — would have traffic signals.
Cost: $20 million to $30 million