Construction begins soon on Vancouver's Granville Bridge upgrade. Here's what to expect.

Crews are scheduled to begin upgrade work on Vancouver's Granville Bridge next week, but officials are promising the impacts on traffic will be minimal.

The $50 million project will see the onramp and offramp on the busy crossing's north side demolished to make room for more development downtown, and to increase accessibility for both pedestrians and cyclists.

There will also be a separated bike lane installed on the west side of the bridge, similar to the one on the Burrard Bridge.

KEEPING TRAFFIC MOVING

Paul Storer, Vancouver's director of transportation, said the city is not anticipating "significant traffic congestion" in either direction as a result of the upgrade work, which is expected to be completed in fall 2024.

"Traffic's still going to flow into and out of downtown," Storer told reporters at a briefing Wednesday. "Because we have quite a wide bridge, we're going to be able to keep two lanes open each way during construction."

The crossing is busier than either the Burrard or Cambie bridges, according to the city, accommodating around 65,000 vehicles per day prior to the pandemic. While usage has not quite returned to normal, Storer said it is close.

"All of that traffic can more or less fit into two lanes,” he added. “It would be tight, but essentially two lanes could hold the traffic.”

The onramps and offramps on the Granville Bridge are a relic of the city's original plan to have a freeway run through the downtown core, which was scuttled 50 years ago in the face of public outcry.

Storer said the ramps don't "allow for good urban development," and assured drivers they would still have easy access to the bridge after the ones on the downtown end are removed.

"Drivers heading west on Pacific (Street) can still get onto the bridge, but instead of doing it through a highway-style ramp they would do it through three right turns," he said.

CONSTRUCTION PHASES

The city is breaking up construction into several phases, easing into the project using lessons learned from the Burrard Bridge upgrade, Storer said.

The east offramp to Seymour Street will be closed this winter, followed by the west onramp from Howe Street in the spring. A temporary Granville Street closure will be implemented, with a detour, from summer into fall.

Sidewalks on both sides of the bridge and both north-side ramps will remain open "as much as possible" throughout the upgrade work, the city said in a news release.

Vancouver owns the land underneath the ramps, and Storer said it would be eventually used for "social housing and a number of other city priorities."

The cost of removing the ramps accounts for the bulk of the project's budget, at $31 million, with the remaining $19 million going to the new bike lane and pedestrian path, both of which will be connected to the Arbutus Greenway.