The Cyclist's Guideto Vancouver's Downtown Transportation Plan |
|
The Cyclist's Guideto Vancouver's Downtown Transportation Plan |
|
This shared on-street bike route [Comox/Helmcken] would become part of the east-west Greenway/Bikeway across the peninsula joining Stanley Park with the Yaletown and False Creek North neighbourhoods. Helmcken Street is particularly narrow for cyclists and motorists to share the road space. Some parking spaces would likely be removed as part of the redesign of the street into a Greenway.
[DTP p. 99]
An Ipsos-Reid survey indicated support for this proposal. 62% of businesses and residents supported redesigning Helmcken St. to give room to pedestrians and bikes [DTP Ipsos-Reid survey, Feb. 2002, p. 4].
Where data is available, Comox has very light traffic, with under 5 000 vehicles per day [DTP p. 44]. Comox is designated as a local street [DTP p. 49].
| Intersection | Date recorded | Time | Direction | Left-turning vehicles | Through vehicles | Right-turning vehicles | Cyclists |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denman | 2003.06.12 | am | eastbound | 11 | 2 | 22 | 1 |
| westbound | 9 | 8 | 29 | 0 |
No impact.
Comox is designated as a greenway, and is the centrepiece of the new pedestrian network [DTP p. 79].
Together these streets [Helmcken and Comox] serve to link into the regional Parkway Greenway. This route will connect Burnaby's Central Park to Vancouver's Stanley Park. This greenway will proceed along quiet, well-treed residential streets in the West End, past the historic Mole Hill block adjacent to Nelson Park, and finally through Yaletown connecting to the Seaside Greenway and the False Creek ferry system. The development of a custom greenway design that introduces landscaping treatments (trees, shrubs, and flowerbeds), public art, street furniture, improved visibility of pedestrians through pedestrian bulges, pedestrian oriented lighting and improved signage is recommended. Local vehicle access will be maintained along the Greenway and special attention will be given to securing sufficient parking for local businesses. Some improvements may include:
- Incorporating designs that provide significant landscaping treatments (trees, plants, shrubs, etc), environmental benefits (such as reduced rainwater run-off), noise mitigation from traffic, improved street definition, increased protection from rain and sun, and increased separation of pedestrians from traffic;
- Providing traffic diversions at select locations to reduce traffic volumes along this greenway. A special landscaped traffic diversion island (right in / right out) is suggested where Comox meets Thurlow (See spot improvement #19 in section 5.1);
- Installing pedestrian activated signals for crossing Denman at Comox Street; Thurlow at Comox Street;
- Providing pedestrian bulges to reduce pedestrian crossing distances across Granville at Helmcken; Thurlow at Comox; Helmcken at Homer; Helmcken at Richards Street; Pacific Boulevard at Cambie Street (See spot improvement #17 in Section 5.1);
- Using special surface materials that may include interlocking pavers for sidewalks and coloured pavement for cyclists;
- Providing special design attention to be given to the cycling and pedestrian crossing between Helmcken and Comox Street at Burrard (See spot improvement #8 in section 5.1);
- Removing bollards at eastern street-end of Helmcken at the lane (just east of Mainland St.) to provide unimpeded access for pedestrians;
- Incorporating roadway treatment that signals to drivers that this is a pedestrian priority area; and
- Redesigning the southern end of Cambie Street between Pacific Boulevard and Nelson Street by reducing roadway width and reallocating the centre median to provide increased width on the western sidewalk thereby enhancing the entrance into the Parkway Greenway.
[DTP pp. 86-87]
No impact.
No impact.
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:
The only reasonable alternative design would be to reuse the southbound Burrard lane for eastbound Comox/Helmcken traffic, and to build a short northbound Burrard lane for westbound Helmcken/Comox traffic. This would also require installing an appropriate combined signalling system for Helmcken and Comox, which is difficult to conceive.
Another reasonable alternative design is shown in the figure to the right [adapted from Alta Planning, San Francisco Bicycle Program Supplemental Design Guidelines, p. 20]. In this design, the signal region at Helmcken is enlarged to include Comox, making a single large intersection. This design is much clearer than the alternative, but the distance between Comox and Helmcken may be too large to make this practical.
19. Enhance the crosswalk on Comox Street across Thurlow Street
Crossing Thurlow Street at Comox can be difficult for some at this un-signalized intersection. The pedestrian crossing could be enhanced with a traffic signal and corner bulges.
[DTP p. 147]
The Comox / Helmcken greenway is a very promising and attractive route. The Comox section is essentially a neighbourhood route, similar to other routes found outside the downtown. However, as a Greenway, we should be able to expect better design elements and more pedestrian- and cyclist-oriented crossings at major streets.
There is some controversy over the redesign of the Comox/Denman intersection. Apparently, engineering wanted to just put a signal in there. In keeping with the Greenway status, residents are pushing for better treatment: curb bulges, raised crosswalks, and signals. The residents coalition seeks our support for this proposal.
VACC members expressed some concern at the idea of raised crosswalks, but the residents' proposal is still substantially better than the engineers' alternative.
