Burrard Bridge Renewal and Transportation Improvement Project

The City of Vancouver will convert a vehicular traffic line to a bicycle lane on the Burrard Street Bridge, which is currently the busiest active transportation crossing in Metro Vancouver, with about 10,000 trips per day on foot and bicycle. Burrard Bridge is one of three City-owned bridges that cross False Creek, a body of water separating the high-density downtown core and medium-density neighbourhoods to the south. Burrard Bridge was built in 1932 as a six-lane vehicular bridge with sidewalks on both sides in the Art Deco style, and is included on the City's Heritage Register. In the 1980s, City Council approved the painting of bicycle lanes on both sidewalks in order to create space for cyclists, and later converted one traffic lane to a bicycle lane and one sidewalk to a bicycle lane, with the other sidewalk reserved for pedestrians. Neither of these solutions offered sufficient space for cyclists and pedestrians to comfortably and safely cross the bridge. In July of 2015 after extensive public engagement, the City approved a permanent solution to convert a second vehicular traffic lane to a 2.5 m wide bicycle lane and reinstate pedestrian use on both sidewalks. Upon completion, pedestrians will have two dedicated sidewalks, cyclists will have two dedicated bicycle lanes and vehicles will have four traffic lanes. The project also involves modifications at the north end of the bridge, including intersection improvements at Burrard and Pacific Streets and improvements one block north, west and east so that cyclists can connect more safely to/from the existing network of bike routes downtown. The project is in line with the City’s goals as defined through the Greenest City 2020 Action Plan and Transportation 2040, which outline the following transportation goal: that 55% of trips in 2020 be made by walking, cycling and transit, up from 40% in 2008. This project is expected to increase the number of pedestrians and cyclists using the bridge by 10%, from 10,000 to 11,000 per day over the next five years (summer volumes). The project is also anticipated to lead to a reduction in GHG emissions, as it is assumed that about half of the additional pedestrian and bicycle trips on the bridge will be former motor vehicle trips. The City has formulated a methodology to calculate GHG reduction which indicates that GHG reduction would reach approximately 250 tonnes of CO2e per year in 2022. (Project description from original funding application)