A contentious issue in the city of Vancouver is about to heat up again.
An experiment to convert vehicle lanes on the Burrard Street Bridge into bike only routes is expected to get the go ahead in early March. Today, Vancouverites were invited to give their input at an information session, and get a first look at the proposed redesign.
"What we're showing here is what the bridge could look like if we were to run a trial reallocation of some road space to open things up for pedestrians and cyclists," says City of Vancouver engineer David Rawsthorne.
What's being looked at is shutting down one or two vehicle lanes, with the space being given over to bike riders.
Cycling advocates have long called for such a move, noting the dangerously tight space currently shared by pedestrians and riders. Those advocates like what they're seeing.
"I'm happy, I'm definitely, it looks good," says Rob Wynen from the group Friends of Burrard Bridge.
"The two lane design it definitely looks really well done here and I think they've got a good design that we can start working with."
Despite the city's plans, some are worried changes to the bridge will do more harm than good. Namely that shutting down one lane of vehicle traffic will cause back-ups like this to get even worse.
"What this is going to do is going to cost a lot of traffic jams," says NPA city councillor Suzanne Anton.
Anton fears the plan will lead to major traffic back-ups, even more so if the city opts to shut down two vehicle lanes rather than just one. She's looking for a longer term solution.
"The one that I would like to see is a really beautiful iconic pedestrian cycling bridge across False Creek, she says.
"You see these in many cities in the world and they become their most beautiful bridges, their most prized bridges and I would like to see that for the city of Vancouver."
Some living near the bridge agree.
"This plan is going to be a no-win situation and it worries me that in some ways it's being driven by a vocal, well organized minority," one area resident tells CTV.
For the city's part, they admit many motorists would have to take alternate routes.
"If the trial happens and is a success, it will be in part because drivers can adapt to it and I trust drivers can," says Rawsthorne.
A final proposal will be presented to city council in March with a trial of the plan starting sometime after that. Only then will we know for sure whether this will lead to better traffic flow or just more headaches.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Stephen Smart
