The proposed Point Grey Road – Cornwall Avenue Corridor Project will link downtown Vancouver to Kitsilano and Point Grey providing a safe and convenient connection between the Burrard Bridge and Jericho Beach for pedestrians and cyclists.
The goals of the project are to:
Encourage people of all ages and abilities to get around their city through active transportation (any mode of human-powered transportation, including jogging/running, inline skating, skateboarding, wheelchairs, strollers, etc.) in a comfortable, convenient, and enjoyable way.- Address existing safety issues along Point Grey Road and Cornwall Avenue by reducing the volume and speed of vehicle traffic.
- Create a walking and cycling route that is safe, convenient, and comfortable for people of all ages and abilities.
- Make the intersection of Burrard Street and Cornwall Avenue safer and more direct for pedestrians and cyclists.
The City of Vancouver wants community input on the project and invites you to a series of drop-in open houses to share your thoughts on ways to improve this corridor:
- Thursday, May 23rd from 7:00pm – 9:00 pm (Presentation at 7:45pm) at Henry Hudson Elementary School (Gym) – 1551 Cypress Street
- Saturday, May 25th from 10:00am – 2:00pm (Presentations at 10:45am & 12:45pm) at Bayview Elementary School (Gym) – 2251 Collingwood Street
- Monday, May 27th from 4:00pm – 6:00pm (Presentation at 4:45pm) at Kitsilano Public Library (Basement) – 2425 MacDonald Street
City staff will be available at all the open houses to discuss the project, answer questions and gather input.
Last modified: May 15, 2013
Extend 30 km/h zone from Burrard to MacDonald– and add a dedicated bike lane from Burrard to Point Grey Rd.
This proposed situation is insane , I live on 5th ave and the traffic is horrible on 4 th already ….the merchants , people on 2 nd 3rd and 4th should wake up before this nonsence gets legs ! Can we find out if Peter Ladner lives on or near Cornwell / Point Grey ?
Stop this insanity
Get used to it. Yes even snobs have to embarrass change
This is kind of out of the blue, but I’ve always wondered why cyclists don’t have to contribute/help financially for all of these bike routes?(not to mention being first of the list for snow removal, drivers roads being taken care of at end of the workday, 5pm last year, that was quite stunning. At least a $10 liscene plate, and maybe even insurance?? I am just curious, don’t blast me I really am just curiousm, does the Mayor ride to work each day and if so, does he shower and get ready at City Hall or carry on without a rinse off? Most employers do not offer shower facilities. I had to work with someone for years who rode, and he was dirty and wreaked all day from the rain on his clothing and sweat, how can we expect the city to ride to work when most of us have to look and smell decent and we only have sunny warm days for a small portion of the year? Thanks for listening 🙂
To respond to Tiffany’s questions…
It’s a common misconception that many people have is that somehow their licensing pays for the streets and clearing. This is not true at all. The streets are paid for by property taxes. Cyclists have already paid, either when they pay their property tax or rent.
There is a gas tax that goes into general revenue and in the lower mainland towards transit. That’s a different unrelated issue though.
There was once decades ago a requirement for licensing bikes. It cost more to administer than it brought in and so is no longer considered worth bothering with.
The other question about biking to work in the rain and showering. In places such as The Netherlands and Copenhagen with good cycling infrastructure, many people bike to work, they go more slowly and do not break up a sweat. Here, with it’s poor (but improving) cycling infrastructure the streets tend to dissuade the type of person who would cycle that way and so the only ones left are the racer types.
I don’t know what the mayor does.
For biking in the rain, the there are many ways to do it. Most of the type of rain we get here is so light that it’s easily ignored after you put on some light waterproof thing. Your former co-worker’s personal hygiene issues is his thing, not anyone else’s. It’s up to the individual what they do.
Thanks for presenting the questions in a non-attacking way. It’s nice to see. The media has chosen cyclists as the current enemy-of-the-week to pick on and demonize. Some people who aren’t so media aware buy into it and decide to attack their neighbours.
I live near 4th and Macdonald and resent the increased traffic that will for sure impact most of us only to accomodate bike riders and the residents of Point Grey Road.
What’s the point of creating such inequality?
Closing off Point Grey Road and Cornwall to car traffic is absolute non-sense. Not all of us can and want to bike, for some of us driving a car, despite it’s high cost, is the only way of getting around. Let’s be fair, and share our roads. With a closure of Point Grey Road 4th Avenue will become impossibly busy and the impact on the residential blocks to the south will be very unpleasant. I am all for greening Vancouver, but this is proposing to make very restrictive use of an area that belongs to all of us.
As usual, there are those that can embrace change and those that seem to choose to embrace the status quo. I am a resident of 3rd Avenue close to MacDonald. Yes, the traffic along MacDonald will increase as will the traffic along 4th, especially West of MacDonald. However, the area along Point Grey Road will become much more of a “neighbourhood” rather than a “concrete highway” utilized by ~ 50% of people from outside Vancouver. I think this is a good thing. Not everyone needs to bike in order to enjoy the greenway along Point Grey Road. It will be utilized by pedestrians as well.
Clearly, traffic calming measures need to be put in place along streets like 3rd Avenue etc. to ensure cars from outside the neighbourhood don’t cut through. Businesses along 4th will also benefit from added traffic flow along that corridor. Hopefully, this will also encourage more transit ridership. I think we need to look upon this proposal as a “green initiative” which can be enjoyed by everyone regardless of income level.
I applaud Keith’s informed, thoughtful and clearly articulated comment. I would strongly encourage the nay-sayers regarding making Point Grey Road a Local Street for its primarily residential neighbourhood to research the issue before commenting. “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.” You can read in detail about the proposed options of change for the Point Grey Road and Cornwall Corridor at the City’s website:vancouver.ca/pointgreycornwall. Once you have done your due diligence in learning about the facts of the issue, you can express your views by filling out the online survey which is on the same website. Point Grey Road has been identified as a high fatality, injury, accident and property damage area of the City with extreme levels of pedestrian, car and cyclist conflicts because of the narrow road and lack of effective speed-reducing measures. Police enforcement, signage, blinking speed boards, marked crosswalks, and parking on both sides of the road have done nothing to slow down and/or discourage users of the road. Increasing density from single-family homes to duplexes, triplexes, four-plexes, etc. have increased the number of cars and residents in the area. Moreover, as Keith mentioned, over 40% of drivers on Point Grey Road have been identified by the City as not residing in the area but using Point Grey Road as a speedway arterial rather than taking 4th Avenue, which is controlled by stop lights. Extending existing parkspace across Point Grey Road at Trutch and Macdonald Streets will enhance greenspace for recreational use and will reduce the number of cars from 14,000 per day (mostly through traffic) to 500 per day (local residents only). Speeds will reduce, as locals opt to care about the safety of their neighbour-users of the road. Almost all of the existing parking will be retained, and the road will be equally available, used and safe as a two-way Local Street for resident drivers, and as a through route for cyclists and pedestrians. If you would like to support this Local Street option 1(2a), please contact englishLPI@AOL.com before June 9th to sign the Petition in favour of this option.
The other option proposed by the City is a one-way westbound street on the North side of Point Grey Road, with the eastbound lane (South side) removed and almost all of the parking removed on the South side of Point Grey Road to accommodate a two-way separated bikelane. This option 2(2b) would reduce the 14,000 cars to 7,000 per day, not reduce speed at all but likely increase it, and push those who currently park on the South side of the street into the side streets to find parking. I urge Vancouver residents to send a strong and clear message to the City by choosing Option 1 (2a): neighbourhoods exist and are important to preserve and enhance; Vancouverites are not all going to abandon their cars in favour of transit, bikes and walking, so parking cannot be arbitrarily eliminated; safety is of primary significance for all users, which includes cyclists but is not limited to cyclists; and public consultation with the most-affected stakeholders is essential for their input before major decisions about changes to the accessibility, availability and viability of neighbourhood streets are made or implemented by the City. However, to be heard and to have one’s views respected by the decision-makers, the public must educate itself about issues to be able to contribute to productive and meaningful negotiation.
Oh, and one further point: the City has done extensive research on where the current 40%+ through traffic on Point Grey Road will go in the event that Option 1 (2a) is implemented; some of the traffic will be on 4th Avenue, and the City has determined that 4th Avenue can unquestionably bear the increased car volume, and designated left-hand turn lanes as well as left-turn only and right-turn only intersections are planned to prevent delays. Moreover, the businesses along 4th Avenue will have increased trade from the new drivers. Other traffic will opt to use Broadway, 12th, 16th or 25th.
In case you are wondering, no, I do not work for the City; I am an ordinary resident of the City just like you, but I have taken it on myself to attend the Open Houses, fill out surveys, keep in touch with the Planning Committee, attend stakeholder meetings, listen and speak with my neighbours, petition, as well as read and post comments on blogs to correct and exchange information and ideas.
Thanks City Dude! 🙂
Mary sounds very much like an aggrieved resident of Point Grey Road who very much wants the place to herself and whoever she deems suitable.
10th Ave, 7th Ave, and 3rd Ave are all designated E>W bike routes but some people (I suspect certain lard arsed hill-haters) are never satisfied.
B. Barilko-city cyclist since 1974 and now living on the Cypress St bike route-which I have to myself 8 months of the year because it’s too wet/cold for 99% of the other cyclists in this city-and always will be.
Hi, if there are already bike routes on adjacent streets to Cornwall, why is this being proposed? Why congest further already congested streets?….? Some people do not have the option to bike to work,
Why you want to divert 17,000 cars a day up McDonald avenue for a few bikes, is beyond me. Where do people park their cars in the areas. Is City Hall going to provide new spaces for those taken away. This is an old established area with many multi dwellings with very limited parking. Once again Gregor’s Vision is skued. I enjoy biking but this is beyond ridiculous. Kits point and the beach bike path is fine.
The West 8th ave bike path is fine. This proposal should be shelved or put to a referendum on the next election. Let the people have a true voice. VERY BAD IDEA!!!!!
Greg, you can have your “voice” by filling out the online survey at the City’s website (available now). The City has stated that “the status quo is not an option” for the Point Grey Road-Cornwall Corridor, so you can either dig in your heels and just not participate in the democratic process of asking for what you want, or you can choose to be heard by filling out the online survey. Your “voice” would also have been welcome at the Open Houses called by the City and/or at the public meetings that have been called by local residents to discuss this neighbourhood transportation issue (these have been advertised and have taken place over the past year). Moreover, if you, or anyone else, would like to support Option 1(2a), making Point Grey Road a local street as opposed to Option 2(2b), making Point Grey Road a one-way street with bike lanes and removed parking, I would be happy to take your signature on the Petition in support of Option 1(2a). Let me know.
The issue of safety for all users has been on the agenda at City Hall for 20 years and finally this Mayor and Council have given the direction to the transportation department to fix the safety issue – the excessive speeding of cars and the mix of users – bikes, pedestrians and cars. The pedestrian is the first to be considered: It is unsafe to walk across the street at any point as there are lights or stop signs on the expanse from Macdonald to Alma and yet there are parks and beaches that people from all over the city should have safe access to. Therefore making the street local and reducing the cars is the answer. The option to extend the parks and let the bikes and cars use the road and pedestrians a widened sidewalk is the best solution – 2A. The other option to have a one way street for cars with a bike lane is not a good idea at all as it does not address the speeding cars, the intersections. The cyclists don’t even like this option. It would also see all parking removed from the southside of PGR and some on the Northside which would make it difficult for residents in the whole neighborhood – including other side streets who would find themselves hosting these displaced cars. Point Grey Road is not a highway and yet over 50% of the cars are going in excess of 50 in a 30kms. The police say they can not enforce this area due to lack of resources 24/7. Enforcement just makes drivers made and they go right back to speeding. There have been studies done that show that other streets between Macdonald and Alma can take additional traffic, 4th, 10th, 12th, 16, 25th. as can Burrard. These streets have traffic calming in place with lights, push pedestrian switches that make it safer to use these streets as a driver or pedestrian than PGR. When the lights were put on 4th. the traffic moved to PGR – 40% of the license plates going through PGR have out of Vancouver registration so these people are not going to this neighborhood but a further destination and there are other routes than through a park laid route where people should be able to come with their children and dogs without such risk. 2A is a great plan and needs to be supported. There is a petition circulating and there is a survey on line that you can use to vote for this localizing, greening plan.
Retyped due to typos – sorry about that in last draft – up early.
The issue of safety for all users has been on the agenda at City Hall for 20 years and finally this Mayor and Council have given the direction to the transportation department to fix the safety issue – the excessive speeding of cars and the mix of users – bikes, pedestrians and cars. The pedestrian is the first to be considered: It is unsafe to walk across the street at any point as there are no lights or stop signs on the expanse from Macdonald to Alma and yet there are parks and beaches that people from all over the city should have safe access to. Therefore making the street local and reducing the cars is the answer. The option to extend the parks and let the bikes and cars use the road and pedestrians a widened sidewalk is the best solution – 2A. The other option to have a one way street for cars with a bike lane is not a good idea at all as it does not address the speeding cars, the intersections. The cyclists don’t even like this option. It would also see all parking removed from the southside of PGR and on the northside which would make it difficult for residents in the whole neighborhood – including other side streets who would find themselves hosting these displaced cars. Point Grey Road is not a highway and yet over 50% of the cars are going in excess of 50 in a 30kms. The police say they can not enforce this area due to lack of resources 24/7. Enforcement just makes drivers mad and they go right back to speeding. There have been studies done that show that other streets between Macdonald and Alma can take additional traffic, 4th, 10th, 12th, 16, 25th. as can Burrard. These streets have traffic calming in place with lights, push pedestrian switches that make it safer to use these streets as a driver or pedestrian than PGR. When the lights were put on 4th. the traffic moved to PGR – 40% of the license plates going through PGR have out of Vancouver registration so these people are not going to this neighborhood but a further destination and there are other routes than through a park laid route where people should be able to come with their children and dogs without such risk. 2A is a great plan and needs to be supported. There is a petition circulating and there is a survey on line that you can use to vote for this localizing, greening plan.
I am a walker, biker and driver and a resident for many years. Please rethink removing parking spaces from Cornwall/Point Grey roads. We already have residents parking in back alleys often blocking garage doorways and driveways. Workman needing trucks often block travel to and from garages just trying to do their jobs. Check with the parking regulators and see how many times cars are ticketed because owners are parking too close to the corners making it impossible to see oncoming cars. Don’t even get me started on Fireworks night and the Music Festival. And for those who think it would be nice to have space for walking, biking, pushing buggies and wheelchairs and skate boarding, look a few feet to the north. We have miles of beach and park right at our doorstep. Could our valuable tax dollars be better spent on neighborhoods that aren’t as fortunate? I sure think so.
TO THE PARKSBOARD
The city is planing to remove parking on lower Point Grey Rd. Parking for Kits.Park is already in short supply, as the existing street parking must serve the Yacht club, the outdoor theater, the swimming pool, and relaxation. Some of the redirected traffic will end up on Cornwall and will further complicate the highly trafficed rought from point grey to downtown
This is a preposterous plan to benefit a handful of cyclists and a few rich people living along Point Grey Road, while greatly adding to the commuting inconvenience of the vast majority of people. Please, dear city council, notice how many negative responses you are getting to this selfish and self-serving proposal.
Time for all the great writers on this site to copy and paste their material and forward it to
mayorandcouncil@vancouver.ca
and if any time at all – phone those counsellors, even voice mails help
It is very clear this project is being railroaded through the community.
Not even all the cycling community wants what is proposed!
Please sign the petition to re-evaluate this project: http://chn.ge/17AyoHv
I am a cyclist who has embraced all the changes so far but disagree with this one. 4th avenue is much too congested as it is. If accidents and injury is the issue what about enforcing the helmet law. I’m seeing more and more people cycling without helmets.
They could pay for this project by fining cyclists for all the ridiculous traffic violations they make. One moment they want equal road as the cars, the next moment the cut into the pedestrian crossing and then get all indignant when you call out these hipsters for their cycling etiquette (I won’t even get into them wearing their grandmother’s sweaters and non-prescription glasses). Of course, to collect on the fines they’d have to just impound the bikes because this group of neo-commies won’t pay. Over 70% of the tickets for not wearing a helmet are unpaid because these self-righteous wankers think it’s their God given right to do as they please.
Option 1 (2a)- LETS BUILD SEMI-PRIVATE CUL-DE-SACS FOR THE FOLKS ON POINT GREY ROAD
As both a vehicle operator and bike rider the City should be searching for a solution which will allow safe and efficent traffic flows for all forms of transport for the greatest number of its citizens.
The proposals for Point Grey Road will divert up to 14,000 vehicles of passengers per day from their most preferred, direct, and seemingly most efficent routing into a quagmire of difficult turns and increased traffic on West 4th Avenue and MacDonald.
Additionally a large number of vehicles will be forced to transit the narrow streets and avenues between Point Grey Road and West 4th between Alama and MacDonald creating safety concerns for the residents on the secondary roads.
Other than the benefit to bicyclists, these proposals will produce huge benefits in terms of reduced traffic, increased green space, and increased property values for owners/residents along Point Grey Road.
Unfortunately these benefits are clearly at the expense of the safety and convenience of almost all other area residents. It is not surprising that some Point Grey Road owners have been inundating the local area with self-serving petitions urging support for Option 1(2a) which would completely close Point Grey Road to 2 way traffic.
Clearly both the proposals for the Alma – Macdonald corridor are deeply flawed and need to be scrapped. A more balanced solution needs to developed. As has been proposed for York Avenue, the shifting of bicycle traffic from arterial to secondary roads is logical. Improvements to the designated bike route along 3rd Avenue and/or the construction of a seawall with bike path are also solutions which would allow safe traffic flows for all transport modes without endangering local residents and causing huge inconvenience to vehicle traffic
1(2A) REMOVE ALL VEHICLES FROM POINT GREY ROAD EXCEPT FOR THOSE OF THE RESIDENTS
The current proposals have divided my community (north of 4th between Alma and Macdonald) into camps defined by whether they live on Point Grey Road or not.
Of course the Point Grey Road owners/residents motivation for the support of Local Street Option 1(2a) has very little to do with improved bike lanes.
Rather it is largely a self-serving opportunistic attempt to personally benefit from the closure of Point Grey Road to through traffic.
If it is truly the City’s objective to increase safety and increase efficency of all forms of traffic it is hard to believe these proposals would even have seen the light of day.
Even with today’s traffic, it is a dangerous and daunting task to exit my community south bound or eastbound by crossing or turning left onto West 4th Avenue. As it can be next to impossible to access 4th Avenue, I often cringe when I see drivers or passengers (sometimes children) exiting vehicles to push the pedestrian crossing red light activation button and then quickly return to their vehicle.
With the increase in traffic on West 4th (and MacDonald) these proposals would bring, I hope the City planners realise that a full set of traffic signals will be required on every intersection along West 4th Avenue between Alma and MacDonald in order to handle the increase in traffic departing my community (north of 4th between Alma and MacDonald).
Obviously the huge increase in traffic and the stoplights will only further gridlock 4th Avenue. I barely need to mention that the high accident intersections at West 4th/MacDonald and West 4th/Burrard will become even greater nightmares than they are at the present time.
OPTICS, AGENDAS, AND INFLUENCE or WHO’S PULLING CITY HALL’S STRINGS?
City Hall has a major problem with the optics of the proposals for Point Grey Road from Alma -MacDonald.
City Hall is advocating the closure of Point Grey Road to all through traffic and up to 14000 vehicles and their occupants per day will be forced from their preferred routes.
Those residing between Point Grey Road and West 4th Avenue will be subjected to a large increase in traffic and increased demand for on street parking.
Questions are begging to be asked:
Who are the beneficiaries and who is to be disadvantaged?
To what extent can the rights of a majority of Vancouver’s citizens be forfeited in order to benefit a minority?
Why is City Hall so unsympathetic to rights of Vancouverites to use their preferred routes and chosen modes of transportation?
Why is City Hall adamantly only allowing two options along the highly controversial stretch of Point Grey Road?
Why was the option of improvements to the established bike route on 3rd Avenue discarded?
Where is the seawall and bike path which has proven so successsful around Stanley Park-English Bay-False Creek-Kitsilano?
Could it be that Point Grey Road lobbyists prefer semi-private cul-de-sacs rather than a seawall and bike path?
Are the residents/owners of Point Grey Road truly concerned for the bicycle lobby or opportunistically seeking to remove all vehicles from Point Grey Road except for their own?
How much influence over City Hall do multi-millionaires hold?
To sign the Petition in support of Option 1(2a) to achieve safety and shared road usage for pedestrians, cyclists and local motorists without bike lanes impeding all of Point Grey Road, and to preserve the majority of existing parking for residents and visitors, go to http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/pgr2a/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=system&utm_campaign=Send%2Bto%2BFriend
Option 1(2a) NEVER IN THE HISTORY OF URBAN PLANNING HAS SO MUCH BEEN GIVEN BY SO MANY TO SO FEW
Mayor Robertson. Tear up your ridiculous plans to close Point Grey Road and build semi-private cul-de-sacs and parks for your lucky friends on the bluff!
apologies2w.s.churchill
I do support bike lanes in general, I did support Mayor Robertson and Council until this proposal, but I do not support closure of Cornwall/Pt. Grey. I don’t even live in Kitsilano anymore, but I know how crazy the traffic is over there even before the closure, and I do not understand why the bikers don’t use and aren’t required to use the existing routes on 1st and 3rd (ie., ticketed offence to ride a bike on Cornwall/Pt. Grey). There are lots of easy alternatives if you want to close a road and not mess up traffic, and I am going to have to find an alternative way to vote in the next mayoralty race if there isn’t some order brought to this bike lane situation. Look, I even support the marginally crazy Comox Street bike lane in the West End so I am not a freaking anti-bike-lane-at-any-cost type, but this one just rubs me the wrong way.
The city’s proposal for the Point Grey /Cornwall corridor is just part of Vision’s feeding frenzy before their term is over. Again Vision is rewarding one small sector of citizens at the expense of the majority.
The way Vision is going into our communities with very little consultation is just plain old fashion bullying.
I’m so tired of Vision trying to create a “cyclist camp” versus “motorist camp” warfare.
This worldwide push for bike lanes is in my opinion just a cheap, easy and very visible P.R. campaign to give the perception of being green, instead of having to tackle the bigger and more time consuming environmental issues that could help on a much larger scale.
Kitsilano pioneered the green movement in Vancouver, it has also been a community of cyclist before it became “cool”.