The Cyclist's Guide

Bridges (Burrard Bridge, Granville Bridge and Cambie Bridge)

The bridges were not a part of the Downtown Transportation Plan, but are obviously very important to cyclists. I've compiled a range of city documents relating to the bridges.

Burrard Bridge Sidewalk Capacity Improvements for Pedestrians and Cyclists

2005 Session

• 2005.07.19. Minutes from council meeting, including the final adopted motion.
• 2005.07.06. Memorandum from General Manager of Engineering Services in response to council comments of June 2005.
• 2005.06.28. Video Clip of council discussion.
• 2005.05.31. Administrative Report, Burrard Bridge Sidewalk Capacity Improvements for Pedestrians and Cyclists.

Options for the Burrard Bridge were presented at two meetings of the city's Bicycle Advisory Committee (BAC), Dec. 2004 and Jan. 2005. The main options were:

• removal of two vehicle travel lanes, one in each direction. Bicycles would use those lanes, with a physical barrier (curb? small barrier? fence?) separating cyclists from vehicle traffic. Pedestrians would get the entire sidewalk. Cost: $5 million.
• outward expansion, as in option B1 from the False Creek study. Cost: $14 million.
• outward expansion, plus pinch points at the towers. In this variation, the sidewalk would be expanded everywhere except at the towers, creating a narrow "pinch point" at the towers but retaining more aesthetic appeal of the bridge by retaining the vertical lines of the towers. Cost: $14 million.
• hybrid option. In this version, the bridge would be expanded outward from the north end to the north towers, and from there south two vehicle lanes would be removed. This deals with the worst of the southbound traffic congestion, retains much of the bridge aesthetics, at an intermediate price. Cost: $9 million.
• underslung crossing, similar to option B3 from the False Creek study. Price: $15+ million

The BAC ranked them in this order: 1. removal of two vehicle lanes; 2. outward expansion; 3. hybrid.

A number of groups came together to support the removal option. They noted the following:

Capacity

• Burrard Bridge has low traffic volumes through much of the day and downtown car trips are down 4% from 1996.
• The Granville Bridge (about 500m away) has an excess of capacity
• The Lions Gate Bridge carries twice the traffic volume (60,000-70,000 daily) with half the traffic lanes.
• Capacity is limited by the intersections, not the number of lanes on the bridge

Transit

• Transit priority measures (queue jumper lanes, etc.) and design options for the ends of the bridge have not been investigated.
• With the new transit lanes on Burrard Street, bus travel could potentially be faster than car travel.

Cost

• A 2 lane reallocation is the most low-cost option available ($2M vs. $12M).

Leadership in sustainability

• Lane reallocation would demonstrate leadership on the issue of sustainability and would serve as an excellent showcase for the 2006 World Urban Forum.
• Parallels can be drawn to the Port Mann Bridge expansion project, which the City of Vancouver has publicly opposed.

From the City of Vancouver Downtown Transportation Plan (2005, p. 8)

• "Over the next 20 years...commuter trips on foot and bike are expected to double. Car and truck trips are expected to stay the same."

Excerpt from staff report, 1996 Burrard Bridge lane reallocation trial

• Travel behaviour, within the corridor, was modified in two ways as a result of the pilot project.
  1. On an average weekday, there were 870 additional cyclists (39% increase) and a decrease of 8800 car occupants (9% decrease). There is very little indication that people were diverted to other routes; consequently, a number of person trips were not made across False Creek. Either these trips went to other destinations or they were discretionary trips that were not made. Overall, 7500 fewer people crossed the bridge each day.
  2. Vehicular drivers changed their behaviour quickly and adjusted to the installation of the bike lane. Delays of up to 20 minutes were reported early in the week and reduced to a few minutes of delay later in the week.

[Submitted by Better Environmentally Sound Transportation, Heritage Vancouver, Society Promoting Environmental Conservation, Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition, West End Residents' Association]

2002 Session

• 2002.06.12. Minutes of Urban Design Panel and Heritage Commision on the Burrard Bridge options.
• 2002.05.15. Administrative Report, Award of Consulting Contract: Burrard Bridge Sidewalk Capacity Improvements for Pedestrians and Cyclists
• 2002.03.14. Terms of Reference, Burrard Bridge Sidewalk Capacity Improvements

False Creek Pedestrian and Cycling Crossings Study

I've collected some of the many small PDF files from the city website and compiled them into a few larger PDFs, with links below. The city websites are still necessary for context.

• 2002.02.14. Administrative Report, False Creek Pedestrian and Cyclist Crossings Study Final Report.
• 2001.11.28. Open House III
  • All PDFs
  • Burrard Bridge Option B1 (outward sidewalk extensions)
  • Burrard Bridge Option B2 (inward sidewalk widening, reduce 1 vehicle lane)
  • Burrard Bridge Option B3 (low level crossing beneath bridge)
  • Granville Bridge Option G1 (suspended crossing beneath bridge)
  • Granville Bridge Option G6 (reduce number of lanes to provide separate bike lanes)
  • Option Evaluation
  • Findings
• 2001.07.17. Administrative Report, False Creek Pedestrian and Cyclist Crossings Study Update / Interim Report
• 2001.06.09. Open House II
  • All PDFs
  • New PDFs (same as all, but without duplicated material from Open House I)
• 2001.05.02. Open House I
  • All PDFs

WERA letter

• 2003.03.31. West End Residents' Association letter to council, preferring closing lanes.

2003-2005 Capital Plan

• 2002.10.01. 2003-2005 Capital Plan makes mention of Burrard Bridge bike changes, and deferral of seismic upgrades.
• 2002.09.27. Administrative Report, 2003-2005 Capital Plan: Final Allocation.
• 2002.09.03. Administrative Report, Granville Bridge Pedestrian and Cycling Improvements - Capital Plan Consideration

1996 Burrard Bridge Bicycle Lane Trials

In 1996, the city closed one northbound lane on the Burrard Bridge for a one-week trial period, allowing the lane to be used by bicycles instead. Car traffic dropped by 9% (8800 daily trips), and bicycle traffic rose by 39%. However, the trial was highly controversial and media coverage was quite negative, so politicans cancelled the trial early (it was supposed to last six months) and avoided the topic for several years.

I visited the city archives and scanned the missing appendices to the staff reports below.

• 1996.07.02. Administrative Report, Burrard Bridge Bicycle Lane Trials. Appendices (400kB).
• 1996.04.02. Administrative Report, Burrard Street Bridge Upgrade. Appendices (1.2MB).

Seismic Upgrading, PCBs and Bearings

• 2004.05.04. Administrative Report, Burrard Bridge Seismic Upgrading and Broadway Corridor Reconstruction and decisions from that meeting.
• 2004.04.05. Administrative Report, City's Participation in the Canada - B.C. Infrastructure Program for the Burrard Bridge Seismic Upgrading Project and the Broadway Corridor Reconstruction Project
• 2004.02.19. Administrative Report, Consultant Appointment for a Rehabilitation Study of the Granville Bridge Expansion Bearings.
• 2000.08.25. Administrative Report, Award of Contract - Seismic Upgrading of Burrard Bridge.
• 1995.08.22. Administrative Report, Award of Contract - Granville Bridge Seismic Upgrading Phase III.

Older

• 1991. Basic Capital Budget for a proposed Burrard/Pacific Off-Ramp.