The Cyclist's Guide

Hornby Street

Cyclists

A one-way couplet of bike lanes is proposed along Burrard and Hornby streets. For northbound cyclists, a one-way northbound bike lane is proposed along Hornby Street adjacent to full-time parking spaces along the east side of the road. The width of Hornby Street can accommodate a bike lane by narrowing the two existing travel lanes and making the two curb lanes full-time parking lanes. The existing rush hour regulations on the west side of the street would need to be removed.

[DTP p. 98]

26. Create a bike lane on Hornby Street from Pacific to Hastings Street

The Issue: Hornby Street provides an opportunity for a one-way bike lane feeding off of Burrard Bridge into downtown. This would combine with a Burrard bike lane to provide both north and south access to and from Burrard Bridge.

The Approach: A northbound bike lane would be provided on Hornby adjacent to the eastern curb lane. This would be accomplished by narrowing the existing lanes to standard lane widths on Hornby resulting in no loss of vehicular capacity. Parking in the existing east curb lane would become full time.

[DTP p. 149]

Road Network

Traffic volumes on Hornby are typically medium, 10 000 to 20 000 per day [DTP p. 44]. Hornby has no special designation within the road network.

VanMap Stats

Intersection	Date recorded	Time	Left-turning vehicles	Through vehicles	Right-turning vehicles	Cyclists
Hornby	2004.06.15	am	289	698	299	91
(eastbound on Pacific)		pm	210	611	353	16
Pacific	2004.06.15	am	24	107	27	14
(northbound on Hornby)		pm	31	101	36	8
Drake	2004.06.08	am	29	424	78	37
		pm	22	348	94	19
Davie	2004.06.10	am	74	910	28	61
		pm	144	683	46	7
Helmcken	2004.06.10	am	21	1012	26	45
		pm	38	793	37	9
Nelson	2004.06.08	am	0	1006	195	68
		pm	0	807	195	15
Smithe	2004.06.18	am	82	1143	0	44
		pm	121	928	0	25
Robson	2004.06.24	am	154	1499	8	68
		pm	216	1218	15	18
Georgia	2004.06.16	am	251	1129	154	72
		pm	379	524	251	31
Dunsmuir	2004.06.17	am	268	795	0	45
		pm	275	627	0	19
Pender	2004.06.09	am	128	393	238	25
		pm	164	347	354	30
Hastings	2004.06.09	am	203	0	244	22
		pm	105	0	387	12

Transit

No impact.

Pedestrians

Hornby forms an arterial in the pedestrian network:

This route connects two large pedestrian generators—Granville Island to the south and the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre to the north. Along its way, this route provides connections to several significant architectural buildings including the Hotel Vancouver, the Vancouver Art Gallery, Cathedral Place, the Electra, the Wall Centre and Canada Place. Double rows of mature trees and a street-end closure at Hastings provide a pleasant pedestrian environment that connects to Canada Place.

[DTP p. 89]

Goods Movement

Hornby is currently entirely in the downtown truck area, but the south section from Pacific to Nelson is slated for removal [DTP p. 106]. Hornby is on tour bus, airporter bus and express bus routes [DTP pp. 110-112].

Parking

Parking on the west side of Hornby will be added during rush hour from Pacific to Smithe and from Georgia to Hastings [DTP p. 125].

Spot Improvements

Hornby is described as part of the Burrard Bridge/Seaside connection:

8. Improve Seaside Route connection to Burrard Bridge for cyclists

A direct and comfortable bike route is needed to connect the Burrard Bridge bike facility with the seaside Bikeway. This will be examined as part of the design development of an improved bike facility on the Burrard Bridge.

[DTP p. 141]

The dashed route just west of Hornby is in fact an alley, and a fairly steep descent. There are already some markings for cyclists there, but it's not a great route as it stands, due to poor sight lines.

27. Adjust the intersection of Hornby Street at Hastings to accommodate a cyclist left turn

Northbound cyclists on Hornby Street must make a left turn on Hastings Street to continue north on Burrard Street. Special provisions may be required at the Hornby/Hastings intersection as the demand for cyclist left turns increase.

[DTP p. 150]

Hornby ends at Hastings, so there is no competition with through traffic, only right-turning traffic. At the intersection, there are currently two right-turn lanes and one left-turn lane, making a left turn at this intersection quite difficult; the second right-turn lane only opens up near the end of the block, however. Left turns are important, since they will allow access to the Port Road route and the Seabus. The block from Pender to Hastings is quite short, and traffic volumes are lower than most sections of the street.

Comments

The lane is ready for implementation, and plans went to council on April 22, 2004. VACC members (Jack Becker and David Pritchard) met with Brigid and other staff in late January, 2004 to discuss issues on Hornby and other routes. The city held an open house on February 19, 2004; details here.

The route was supposed to be constructed in June 2004, but has been delayed until fall 2004 or spring 2005. One slight modification to the route is hoped for: the Art Gallery may be willing to give up is recessed parking spot between Georgia and Robson. This would make it possible to install normal street parking on this block, together with a dedicated right-turn lane. Under the old system, the entire rightmost lane would be intended for right-turning vehicles, and the bicycle lane would be placed just left of that lane (uncomfortably between two moving lanes of traffic); with this new system, parked cars will occupy the right lane for the first half of the block, reducing the time that cyclists have to ride between two moving lanes.

After several discussions, the VACC prepared a letter to staff and council regarding the Hornby bike route. It is available here [PDF | HTML]