Vancouver’s proposed bike lanes officially approved
After their proposal met with a bit of controversy, Vancouver's plan to introduce 12 new bike lanes to the city, a place where dedicated bike infrastructure is already enshrined, has jumped its last hurdles at city hall.
After their proposal met with a bit of controversy, Vancouver’s plan to introduce 12 new bike lanes to the city, a place where dedicated bike infrastructure is already enshrined, has jumped its last hurdles at city hall.
The proposal was approved at a session of the city’s government on Thursday night, the CBC announced.
Once construction begins, the initiative will roll out 12 new bike lanes—many of which cyclists will share with skateboarders—over the next five years, installing them on streets like Richard, Bute, Smithe and Nelson, as well as Commercial Drive and the Granville Street Bridge. Originally laid out in the city’s Transportation 2040 plan, as Canadian Cycling Magazine previously reported, the overall objective is to make cyclists feel safer—an increasingly influential consideration, with bike traffic having already broken records in Vancouver.
12 new separated #Vancouver #bikelanes coming over 5 years https://t.co/0TrCLoURXQ Good but I say build them faster. pic.twitter.com/1LNqI1jGQw
— Brent Toderian (@BrentToderian) December 7, 2015
Much of the network will connect existing bike lanes with parts of the city, while in other places, new bike routes will be constructed altogether. On Cambie Street, the Dunsmuir bike lane will be connected with Gastown, an enhancement that will involve the removal of parking spaces along Dunsmuir and Water Street, as well. On Nelson and Smithe, meanwhile, new bike lanes will connect traffic moving east and west between Richards Street and the Cambie Street Bridge. Commercial Drive will receive a new bike route, too.
As city officials said earlier in the year, the ambitious overhaul of Vancouver infrastructure is about getting more people riding, part of an ongoing strategy under the Transportation 2040 plan. That strategy’s objectives, Canadian Cycling Magazine, have already had an effect on changing the city’s landscape for cycling.
Now, it’s about taking that plan to the next level.
“We know there are a lot of people who will bike if they feel safer,” said Heather Deal, a Vancouver city councillor. “We’ve seen those numbers shooting up in recent years as we add more safe cycling routes.”
