The Central Valley Greenway (CVG) is a 25 km regional greenway linking Vancouver, Burnaby, and New Westminster. It is a combination of off-road paths and on-street routes.
The CVG follows the Expo and Millennium SkyTrain lines, running from False Creek through Burnaby, and along a shallow valley south to the Fraser River in New Westminster.
Destinations
Burnaby Lake Regional Park
New Westminster Quay
Telus World of Science
False Creek Seawall
There are also dozens of parks, community centres, swimming pools, and libraries along the route.
The Central Valley Greenway also links to the Millennium and Expo SkyTrain stations.
What's happeningUpgrades to the Greenway
The Central Valley Greenway (CVG) between Clark Drive and John Hendry Park has been identified for improvements to provide a safer and more comfortable cycling connection between the area’s local and regional destinations (e.g. Commercial Drive, John Hendry Park, and Commercial Broadway SkyTrain Station).
The upgrades impact the following streets:
Grandview Highway North (between McLean Drive and Lakewood Drive)
Woodland overpass
E 8th Ave (between Grandview Highway North and Lakewood Drive)
Lakewood Drive (between E 12th Ave and John Hendry Park)
The upgrades will include the addition of a new protected bike path as well as a rerouted bike path to increase cyclist safety and comfort. Some changes to motor vehicle circulation will also be taking place along the project route.
Construction is expected to begin in December 2021.
Public consultation
The City welcomed comments on the upgrades during a period of public consultation from September 28 to October 18, 2021. Additional comments were received after this period which also influenced the final design.
A summary of the final design is described in the implementation notification letter:
Construction is expected to begin in December 2021 using interim materials, allowing staff to adapt the future design. Staff are aware of nearby construction projects and are coordinating and phasing the work to minimize impacts.
Background
The Central Valley Greenway is one of the 14 greenways identified in the Vancouver Greenways Plan PDF file (7.5 MB), and is an integral part of the Greater Vancouver Regional Greenway Vision. Construction of the greenway took place over two phases and was completed in 2009.
On February 24, 2004, City Council approved $4.63 million for the Federal Government’s Urban Transportation Showcase Program, which included the design of the CVG.
Phase 1 of the Greenway was developed and constructed in partnership with the Millennium SkyTrain line.
Construction started on Grandview Highway North on the north side of Grandview Cut between Commercial Dr and Slocan St. It was completed in 2002 and inlcudes a series of bike streets closed to vehicle traffic.
Phase 2
In 2009, the City of Vancouver, Burnaby, and New Westminster completed construction of Phase 2 of the CVG which links the three municipalities across Metro Vancouver.
It serves both regional travel and trips within neighbourhoods. Scenic, direct, and comfortable, most parts of the route are seperated from vehicle traffic and are accessible for people of all ages to walk, cycle, and connect to transit.
Additionally, the greenway connects a number of neighbourhoods to major employment centres, two town centres, 10 SkyTrain stations, 16 bike routes, and 11 regional greenways.
