The Cyclist's Guide

Burrard Street

Cyclists

A one-way couplet of bike lanes is proposed along Burrard and Hornby streets. [...] For southbound cyclists, a one-way southbound bike lane is proposed along Burrard Street either adjacent to the curb or adjacent to bus/loading zones. The six existing traffic lanes on Burrard Street are maintained, but narrowed to achieve room for the bike lane. The parking lane on the west side of the street (southern half only) would need to be removed all day instead of just during the afternoon rush period. Approximately 40 parking spaces would be affected. A benefit of full time parking restrictions on the west side is the availability of a third moving lane throughout the day for better traffic circulation and transit service.

[DTP p. 98]

An Ipsos-Reid survey indicated a narrow majority in favour of this route. 54% of businesses and 54% of residents supported a southbound bike route on Burrard [DTP Ipsos-Reid Survey, Feb. 2002, p. 4].

Road Network

Burrard currently has heavy traffic, 20 000 to 40 000 vehicles per day. From the Burrard Bridge to Drake St., traffic is very heavy (over 40 000), and from Dunsmuir to Canada Place traffic is medium, with 10 000 to 20 000 vehicles per day [DTP p. 44].

Burrard was proposed to be designated as a Major Road, and may have already received this designation. Burrard is currently a circulation street.

Burrard Street, from Burrard Street Bridge to Hastings, is one of the busiest streets in the downtown with traffic volumes similar to Georgia Street. Burrard could qualify as an MRN street based on its support of major regional transit services, its designation as a truck route, its role in providing network continuity, its accommodation of regional traffic to and across the downtown, particularly between the north shore municipalities and UBC. Consideration of Burrard Street as an MRN street should also include the Burrard Street Bridge and its connections to the rest of the MRN (i.e. Burrard Street to Broadway, Nelson, Smithe and Hastings streets).

[...]

One advantage of designating streets as part of the MRN is the funding contributions received from TransLink for maintenance and capital improvements. This source of funding is substantial and could help pay for changes along those streets (e.g. upgrades to the Burrard Street Bridge or streetscape enhancements along Granville Street).

One disadvantage is the sharing of control in making future street modifications, particularly with respect to people carrying capacity. This uncertainty suggests that the role of the street (in terms of transportation, adjacent land uses, and streetscape context) should first be confirmed prior to its inclusion as part of the MRN. Given that the future role of Burrard Street is becoming more apparent with the Burrard Bridge Sidewalk Study and the Transit Priority Study, it is recommended that Burrard Street be further evaluated and pursued for potential inclusion as part of the MRN. Similarly, Granville Street and Mall should also be further evaluated and pursued for inclusion as part of the MRN after establishing its transportation role and context.

[DTP p. 46]

Intersection	Date recorded	Time	Left-turning vehicles	Through vehicles (both lanes)	Right-turning vehicles	Cyclists
Cordova	2002.06.21	am	45	239	0	15
		pm	63	397	0	14
Hastings	2000.06.21	am	26	250	122	18
		pm	35	435	177	26
Pender	2000.05.08	am	0	328	85	0
		pm	1	481	74	5
Dunsmuir	2003.09.17	am	0	579	154	15
		pm	0	990	155	23
Georgia	2003.07.16	am	0	561	34	14
		pm	0	931	62	36
Robson	2002.06.26	am	6	676	47	8
		pm	8	1080	59	65
Smithe	2002.07.29	am	0	716	25	8
		pm	0	1222	54	47
Nelson	2002.06.12	am	235	689	0	9
		pm	445	1113	0	65
Helmcken	2002.07.18	am	8	605	0	14
		pm	3	1096	0	84
Davie	2003.07.08	am	2	574	73	8
		pm	7	1173	89	58
Drake	2000.06.13	am	7	621	5	7
		pm	12	1291	13	70
Pacific	2000.06.20	am	0	701	22	20
		pm	0	1433	41	131

[VanMap]

Transit

Burrard Street has a transit hub:

The intersection of Burrard and Dunsmuir streets, in the centre of the downtown office precinct, is a major terminus for regional bus routes and is the location of one of the busiest SkyTrain stations. Underground pedestrian connections link the SkyTrain station directly to Bentall Centre and Royal Centre. Bus stops line Dunsmuir and Burrard Streets next to the station. Generally this transit hub functions well. Changes proposed for this area include a mid-block crosswalk across Dunsmuir Street between Burrard and Thurlow Streets and bus priority on Burrard Street.

[DTP p. 71]

Burrard is proposed to form part of the downtown trolley loop, from Cordova to Davie [DTP p. 69].

Burrard would make a good candidate for a transit priority lane:

Investigate the potential for introducing transit/HOV lanes from Pacific to Pender, in the peak periods/peak directions only, as part of the Vancouver Area Transit Planning process starting in September.

[DTP p. 71]

Pedestrians

Burrard is classified as a Ceremonial Street in the pedestrian network.

This street has been selected as a ceremonial street because it provides an historic and memorable gateway into the centre of downtown. It is recommended that high quality pedestrian amenities, including additional trees, water fountains, benches, signage and banners be provided along its length. Substantial pedestrian activity will be generated at its northern terminus with the proposed expansion of the trade and convention centre, a future hotel, civic theatre, and offices. Sidewalk designs and widths should provide pedestrians with a sense of history and grandeur. It is recommended that design guidelines for the street be developed in accordance with this vision.

[DTP p. 86]

Goods Movement

Burrard is currently a truck route [DTP p. 105]. Parking is slated for removal from the west side of Burrard, from Pacific to Comox, and from Robson to Alberni [DTP p. 125].

Parking

Spot Improvements

The intersection of Pacific and Burrard is slated for a spot improvement, but details are not yet decided:

12. Redesign the intersection of Pacific Street and Burrard Street

Pedestrian, bike and vehicular conflicts exist at the Burrard and Pacific intersection. These conflicts will be addressed as part of the Burrard Bridge Study and as part of the implementation of bike lanes on Burrard, Pacific, and Hornby Streets. Also required as part of the intersection redesign is the provision of a direct connection to the north end of the Burrard Bridge from the Seaside Bike Route.

[DTP p. 144]

This is definitely an important and necessary redesign. Cyclists leaving the Burrard Bridge have a hard time going northbound on Burrard, due to the poor sightlines on the right-turn ramp leaving the bridge. Similarly, it is very difficult for cyclist to go west on Pacific from the bridge. Traffic volumes are very heavy at this intersection, and a good design will need to be sensitive to car users as well as cyclists' needs.

The Helmcken bike route has a jog onto Comox at Burrard, listed in a spot improvement:

18. Create a cyclist connection between Helmcken and Comox across Burrard

This offset intersection poses additional complexities for routing cyclists across Burrard along the proposed bikeway/greenway. A combination of bike lanes and off-street bike facility on Burrard Street in front of the St. Paul's hospital could provide a way to facilitate this movement.

[DTP p. 146]

The bike route here seems quite awkward, at an initial glance. I would guess that the motivation for this design is to avoid installing separate signals at Helmcken and Comox. There are two main difficulties with this design:

• sidewalk width: the sidewalk in front of St. Paul's Hospital is quite narrow, and it would be difficult to support two bike lanes and two pedestrian lanes on this stretch. It appears that the sidewalk will be widened by removing parking, but the new on-street bike lane on Burrard must also be accomodated. Existing trees in the sidewalk would almost certainly have to be removed.
• pedestrian/cyclist conflicts: the design above has three points where cyclists and pedestrians cross each others' paths. If pedestrian traffic was positioned on either side of the cyclist traffic, this could be alleviated, but the design would be quite strange and convoluted.
• redundant lane: this design will require two separate southbound lanes along Burrard for a short distance. This redundancy initially seems confusing, but could also make signage easier, since the two southbound lanes serve very different purposes.

Comments

The city liked the VACC's idea of having the bicycle lane outside the transit lane (i.e., the HOV lane next to the curb, then the bicycle lane to the left of that), as we discussed in our Jan. 2004 letter on downtown issues. One major benefit of this arrangement is that it will reduce conflicts with right-turning vehicles, since they'll need to cross the bicycle lane before the intersection, and bikes won't be stuck waiting for them while they try to make their turns.

Designs for this route were presented at a city open house on Feb. 24, 2005. Photos from that open house are shown below, from the north end to the south end. Click on any diagram to see a larger version.

	Cordova to Pender
	Pender to Dunsmuir
	Dunsmuir to Georgia
	Georgia to Robson
	Robson to Smithe
	Smithe to Nelson
	Nelson to Helmcken
	Helmcken to Davie
	Davie to Drake
	Drake to Pacific

The VACC's position on this route is outlined in our letter [PDF | HTML] to council.

Note that some of the issues on this route will be resolved later: the Comox/Helmcken connection will be dealt with when that Greenway is designed, the Burrard Bridge connection at Pacific St. will be dealt with when the bridge design is chosen, and the Pender St. connection will be defined when that route is designed. Burrard St. north of Cordova will also have bicycle lanes, as part of the convention centre redesign.

This route is going to city council on April 26. The staff report with the final decisions is available here.