Vancouver City Council has approved ‘option three’ of the Burrard Bridge bike lane trial, meaning drivers will lose one lane on the bridge. Council voted to designate the southbound curb lane and the northbound sidewalk for bike traffic only. Pedestrians in both directions will use the southbound sidewalk–which will be pedestrian only. A trial run of the arrangement will start in June.
The trial re-allocation of the west curb lane of the Burrard Bridge will be between Cornwall Avenue and Pacific Street. City staff will implement a number of modifications to the configuration and operation of the road network downtown and south of False Creek. Three options were considered, including one which would have closed one lane in each direction.
Last modified: May 7, 2009
What will become quickly (and painfully) apparent is that, as drivers idle on the bridge, they will be staring at an empty bridge lane that will only have a handful of bicycles go by every half hour.
s.t.u.p.i.d.
I am willing to bet that the first week or two, traffic will be horrible and people will be complaining, sending rants to the West Ender and letters to the editor to the Sun and Province.
And then when week 3 comes around, suddenly, the extra cars will vanish. And traffic will go back down to levels that it is at now. We won’t really know where they will go, but some will have moved to the Granville bridge, some will be taking transit, some will be biking, and some will just not be going downtown.
Let’s be honest here. NO ONE is going to take a bus instead of driving because of the traffic (plus it’ll take the same time if not longer on the bus)
What’s going to happen is people driving further (to another bridge) or people idling in traffic (so much for the environmental benefits).
People who are willing to ride their bike on the road/in traffic have always been willing to ride over the Burrard bridge.
We are inconveniencing many drivers for a handful of bikers (with power lobby groups). I am all for more bike lanes and bike routes, but reducing lanes in an already congested bridge (and not creating more public transit options) is not the solution.
Why couldn’t we have one side of the sidewalks for pedestrians and one side for bikers?
“Why couldn\’t we have one side of the sidewalks for pedestrians and one side for bikers?”
Because mixing bikes going in opposite directions in lanes that are already too narrow by modern safety standards is an even worse idea than mixing bikes and pedestrians?
Rob is a wise man, listen to him.
This entire thing is silly. I have trouble believing it’s even true.
Closing a lane will not effect traffic congestion on the bridge. The intersections at Cornwall and Pacific cause the backups. There could be 10 lanes of traffic on that bridge and travel time would not be reduced.
Closing a lane for bikes creates a safer environment for the road network’s most vulnerable users and it is a shame that for the sake of some perceived inconvenience we would put a person’s life in danger.
JM says “it is a shame that for the sake of some perceived inconvenience we would put a person\’s life in danger.”
It is also a shame that for the sake of some perceived threat to some irresponsible bikers life a very REAL inconvenience will be inflicted upon thousands of daily commuters that need to drive.
And yes, busing/skytraining/busing to north burnaby, port coquitlam, new west, or langley is simply not an option.