UPDATE: Much to my disappointment, I found on my ride this morning that the report below is wrong. No changes yet. In fact, no new signage at all.
And that’s what I find infuriating: no signs to inform cyclists of the (inadequate) bypass. There are a few signs for wheelchair users, but nothing to let eastbound bikes on the Coal Harbour seawall know that they should detour well before they get to the stairs leading up to the convention centre and a connection to to the Hornby Cycle Track.
I am at a loss to understand why the Vision Council hasn’t been pushing staff to at least put up adequate signage, much less get a resolution to the blockage. (It is after all in their political interest to get more cycling traffic on Hornby.) To me it says that nobody actually cares enough.
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Now there’s a headline that should attract readers from CityCaucus.
But in this case: true. Just heard that – at last – a connection has been made between the Coal Harbour seawall and the ramps on the Convention Centre, though the float-plane terminal.
Better late than never, which I was beginning to think was the fallback option. Now they just need to reinforce the connection between the Hornby cycle track and the seawall.
Speaking of which, Dave Godin sent in the following pic:
A large commercial vehicle, a food service delivery truck, illegally parked at the foot of Burrard Street and in the process blocked the bicycle lane that connects the Seawall to the Burrard section of the Hornby Street cycle track. As I passed by I was gratified to see a by-law enforcement officer roll up on their bike to write a ticket. I also recalled that I have observed trucks of the same delivery company routinely park late at night in the Dunsmuir Street cycle track while servicing the A&W or the Tim Hortons on the corner of Seymour. …
I seem to recall that the plan for vehicles servicing the convention centre would be that they would use Waterfront Road, which is beneath Canada Place Way, and in the process keep the latter free of commercial loading vehicles. I don’t know if in practice it is proving to be an unrealistic requirement for the commercial vehicle operators due to any number of factors, or perhaps that aspect of the convention centre site planning was simply overlooked, which seems doubtful.
The conflicts between commercial vehicle operators and the preferred road users of the Convention Centre precinct is only going to become more pronounced as more businesses open at Seawall level, as the tourism culture of hop-on/hop-off buses matures and bus movements increase, and especially once the missing piece of the Seawall is completed and cyclists and pedestrians are drawn right to the foot of Burrard.
Ah, the problems of success.
If your report is true then it’s good news indeed! I found it supremely annoying that I had to take a detour and carry my bike up and down a long set of stairs because of the obstruction. I was a mystery to me as to why some sort of pass-through couldn’t have been accommodated far earlier. I understood that providing a passage was one of the conditions for them getting their temporary permit extension last year.
Every time I read about the beefs that the floatplane operators had regarding the new terminal at Canada Place it reminded me of their intransigence on this issue, and that pretty much cancelled out any sympathy I might otherwise have had for them.
I’m so glad to hear that this has finally happened!
I am also glad that there is way to pass through that barier, but I am not sure thatit is good thing, politically, in terms of getting the float plane terminal problem resolved and the permanent seawall connection completed.
As long as the disconnect is there, the pressure will be on all parties to reach a resolution. With a temporary connection in place, the pressure is relieved.
I am curious as to why you use the term “cyle track” in refernce to the Hornby Street and Dunsmuir Street cyle lanes. They are not race tracks. They are multi-use areas.
As to the truck loading docks at the lower level of the convention centre west, they are indeed there. When you are on the walkway on the north side of the new convention centre, at the lowest level next to the new float plane terminal dock entrance, look through the windows facing Coal Harbour and you will see the truck docks.
As to the trucks up on Burrard and Canada Place Way and Hornby, I would guess that they have to be there, but one could ask the delivery company themselves to respond.
In my understanding, a “cycle track” is the term for a physically segregated, on-road facility primarily for bicycles (but also for skateboards, inline skates etc…), whereas a “bike lane” consists of mainly of non-segregated painted lines on the street, and a “bike path” is completely off-road.
You could also call it a “separated bike lane”, but that’s a little long and awkward to say or write. Cycle track rolls right off the tongue.
In French, we call it a “piste cyclable”, literally: cycle track.
Aha, updated just as I was testing the theory myself.
Unless this is not /brand/ new, they did open up the section along the west face of the convention centre, but only as an access ramp to both float plane terminals. There is no notice that it is closed up ahead, or a message to detour, but there is a little sign indicating that bikes should yield to peds (i.e. that bikes are okay to be there in the first place) on that upper level that people use as a bypass. Unfortunately, the restaurant patio is back open at the foot of Bute.