Last Saturday I dropped by four events all happening that afternoon. And I got there by heading up the first phase of the new Comox-Helmcken Greenway (the green line) to the Hornby cycle track (the red line):
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I’ve documented the construction of the greenway here and here. Yet I’ve still been surprised by some of the interventions, like this new connection (right) at the western end to Stanley Park and the tennis courts (so obvious, why didn’t we do it before!).
[It becomes all the more apparent, when one gets to the park road, how poorly the Park Board has responded to cycling demand. The one-way road forces those who want to go south to either cycle against traffic or use a sidewalk.]
For most of the blocks west of Denman, the only real change has been some bulb-outs at the intersections, new sidewalks and street furniture. Still, it seems sufficient to have made a difference as to how residents use and perceive the street.
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It was so easy just to stop and chat with those on the new benches, to engage in the conversation that we call ‘neighbourly.’ They were unanimous: the new greenway is a good thing.
Another indicator: residents are occupying the boulevard, and, Portland-like, doing their own landscaping as a continuation of their garden.
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Two blocks later, Denman Street – and a major intervention.
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It is no longer possible to drive further east on Comox (right-out only, same on the other side), while cyclists, once across Denman, are directed to a separated bikeway on the right.
When I first saw the proposal, I was sceptical: is this over-engineered? Will people really go where the designers think they should? And if the traffic has been reduced and calmed, why bother with separation for the cyclists at all?
But I was thinking of how I would feel. I failed to grasp, until attending a briefing by Active Transportation Manager Dale Bracewell, that a greenway is not like a traditional bikeway: it is designed for all modes, walking as well as cycling, and for All Ages and Abilities (that triple-A is the new mantra). In other words, would an eight-year-old feel comfortable on the route – or an eighty-year-old? It may be that there will be more electric scooters in the future (see above) than pedal-powered two-wheelers. The future has to be designed for that too.
Where the greenway crosses an arterial, therefore, there’s a need to create a discrete path that gives comfort to all, just not the more aggressive bikers who are used to traffic. (Which is the reason they don’t obey all the laws designed for cars, like taking a full stop at every sign. When you throw cyclists into such a car-dominant environment, the laws of physics are going to trump the laws of man. The separated routes actually encourage more obedience since it’s clear there’s respected space for everyone, and it’s more likely to get the scooters off the sidewalk, not to mention the bikes.)
Each block is designed to respond to conditions as they change. There’s a presumption that not everything can be signed for absolute clarity – but if the street responds to the intuitive needs of all users, including cars, it is possible for common sense and courtesy to prevail.
This is something new for Vancouver – and so it’s not yet clear that the greenway will work as designed. And this one has a couple of significant impediments – but more on that in a subsequent post.
I’m quite interested to see how this will connect further eastward through Yaletown, providing a parallel route to the quite-far-north Dunsmuir separated bike lane.
I guess I’d also note that we now have not one, but two incomplete east-west separated bikeways through downtown. Dunsmuir ends abruptly, and so does the Comox-Helmcken.
Those gardens have been there for years. In fact the greenway construction destroyed some guerilla gardens between the Chilco mini-park and the curb.
Why does the bike lane zig-zag all the way down Comox, from one side of the street to the other? Strange. Is the bike lane even needed?
The connection into Stanley Park is a good idea, just badly executed in my opinion. Ugly and too wide.
The water fountains are great.
Brian, an effective path for cyclists must be wide enough to allow two bicycles to pass. This means a minimum width of 3m and getting wider as use rises.
As a side note, I rode the Comox/Helmecken Greenway the other day when I came over. I liked the cycle track on Burrard St. where the Greenway turns. Keeps it all ages friendly with the barrier, although the intersections might still need more work here and there.
I don’t think the engineers or designers did the best job possible. Car traffic is & will be still too high for comfort, especially with the possibility of speed.
Car traffic is not deterred away from using Comox, other than the fact that drivers may not like driving beside bikes. For example, cars can travel from Broughton to Thurlow without stopping. Or they can go from Bute all the way to Nicola without stopping!
The biggest mistake the portion between Nicola to Broughton. Eastbound Bike riders must go uphill facing oncoming traffic on a narrow bike lane with only a line of paint of barrier! The block by block changes will create confusion, and is definitely not safe enough for an 8 year old.
In conclusion: good idea (creating a greenway), bad design and execution.
I’ve really enjoyed it as a walking route and find myself along Comox with the dog more often than before. But I sure wish the plan had been for an eastbound connection through to the Cambie St Bridge.
The Comox-Helmcken Greenway does not include an objective to improve cycling as transportation. Improving cycling as a mode of transportation for people of all ages and abilities shouldn’t be the only objective, but it should be an objective.
The most direct cycling route between anywhere on the downtown peninsula south of Robson and anywhere off the downtown peninsula east of Oak and south of Great Northern Way/the Grandview Cut goes over the Cambie Bridge. The cycling route east of Hornby is planned to detour to Drake instead of continuing down Helmcken, which increases the length of all these trips by 700 m. If the average person will consider biking 5 km, this detour effectively reduces that bikeable radius to 4.3 km. This represents about a 25% decrease in the area that a typical West End resident might consider biking to. This reduction in bikeable destinations most affects less experienced and less fit cyclists.
The City’s representatives claim that the problem is that the easement between Mainland and Pacific is too narrow. The easier, less steep, more direct connection to the Cambie bridge is on Homer, Hamilton or Mainland, though. The important connection to the seawall could be at Nelson or Smithe instead of on Helmcken or Drake.
Regardless, east of Hornby, the cycling greenway should be further north.