A responsible, affordable solution

On Vancouver's most iconic and popular False Creek crossing, pedestrians and cyclists have had to share narrow sidewalks on either side of the bridge deck. Over the years, there have been repeated safety and accessibility issues for cyclists and pedestrians as they contended with traffic and each other in the limited space.

During the trial, three vehicle lanes headed into downtown are unchanged. One lane headed out of downtown has been converted to a protected cycling lane. Cyclists and pedestrians have been separated to reduce collisions, which happened more frequently on the Burrard Bridge than on any other bridge in the city.

The Burrard Bridge Lane Reallocation Trial is about determining whether creating a new protected bike lane is a viable, lower-cost alternative to increase the safety and comfort of cyclists and pedestrians-while maintaining an effective flow of traffic and continuing the shift toward green transportation alternatives.

Of all the various options considered to address cycling and walking concerns on the bridge, converting an existing southbound curb lane to bikes only was the quickest, easiest and least expensive to implement. For instance, widening the sidewalks would cost approximately 30 times more, and other solutions, such as a new bridge, would take considerably more time and resources to implement.

The Lane Reallocation Trial is an affordable and positive step forward for safer, more sustainable commuting over False Creek. The trial is being carefully monitored. Staff produced a status report in October 2009 and will be providing addtional updates in 2010.

What is involved during the trial

• Protective barriers to separate bike lanes from traffic
• Traffic signal modifications
• Transit priority measures to minimize impacts on transit
• A monitoring program to assess impacts and flow levels (traffic counting, signal monitoring and trip timing)

Lane reallocation diagram

Download the above diagram as PDF: Lane reallocation diagram (206 KB)

A southbound curb lane was converted to a southbound bike lane; the west sidewalk (closest to English Bay) is now for pedestrians only, and the east sidewalk is for northbound cyclists heading into downtown only.

 

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