A stunning visual portrait of the new bike route from Burrard Bridge to Point Grey Road, by Kathleen Corey and Brian Gould – this time with extra drone!
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“World premiere” – is that a bit much? Well, the politics of PGR alone makes it of international interest. But the design of the project, particularly at the south end of Burrard Bridge, is an achievement of transportation engineering worthy of wide recognition. So pass along this link to friends and contacts around the world: http://vimeo.com/kathcorey/seacycles
There’s also another reason to help spread the word, and the video.
Price Tags has devoted a lot of pixels to the “New Point Grey Road” in the belief that capturing its success visually would ensure its survival, even in the face of political promises that the project would be ‘reviewed’ to make it “accessible to all Vancouverites” – which can only mean opening it to through traffic.
This video, I think, captures something so beautiful and powerful that such a change to the ‘New Point Grey Road’ will never be seriously considered.
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False Creek’s oldest bridge, Seaforth’s spreading trees. Joined by paths like those between Jericho and Kits Beach.
Pocket parks sewn into a ribbon – Tatlow stitched to Volunteer. Ride a tandem by the seashore, run your fingers ‘long the seam.
A dozen cars for every bicycle? A dozen bikes for every car. What was louder than the waves is but an eddy in the wind.
Gentle ripples lapping at the wall, trickles open up a crack. The waves were out there waiting, and now they’re rushing through.
As the ships sail Burrard Inlet, the seacycles ply Point Grey.
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Music: Dexter Britain, The Time to Run (Finale)
Waves: Tim Kahn, Arcadia Beac
Wow! Spectacular. Please use a big screen and quality audio.
That video almost brings tears to my eyes! Bravo!
I love it. Those drone shots are amazing. Now we know what the world of birds involves.
The cynical side of me initially felt that the music was “too triumphant”, I mean it’s just an extension of the seawall, but then thinking again, it truly is a triumph that it happened and that even with all the changes to accommodate various stakeholders, it’s still of a very good design.
Bravo to the city and to all the citizens who spoke up about it. Even those who were at one time against it, even they were helpful as that might have been part of why it had to be so good. That in the future nobody could deny how good of a thing this project is. And aren’t they now saying that “bike lash” is a sign of effectiveness
The best part of both the video and the project is the intersection of Burrard and Cornwall. It’s probably a first for North America to have such a well designed intersection. It was such a mess before that anything would have been an improvement but they didn’t stop at simply improving it, they redesigned it thoroughly and did a very good job of it.
Gorgeous! With Corey/Gould and Bruntlett/Chu is Vancouver becoming a hub for inspirational bike videos?
Great video. I certainly hope that the NPA reverses its commitment to return the corridor to its previous condition should they win election. This is demonstrably better infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists; the city’s highest transportation priorities. The fact that through traffic can no longer use a residential side street as a short-cut between arterials is not a sufficient reason to tear out these improvements.
Two years ago I rode my bike with visitors from overseas and two kids in the trailer down Point Grey to get home fast along a flat route after playing all day at Stanly Park and the beaches. The visitors were completely shocked at the appalling cycling conditions.
Last weekend my 4yo rode his own bike all the way from home (almost actually, loaded the little one and his bike into my cargo box for the ride down from UBC to Spanish Banks because MOTI does not believe in making roads safer for cyclists) to the Aquarium. Seaside along Spanish Banks, Jericho, Pt Grey, Kits, Burrard, Hornby, Seaside, Stanly Park. Unimaginable even just 2 years ago.
Pt Grey and the Burrard connections were the important missing link. Well, and then there is still MOTI…
Very impressive work!
Burrard and Cornwall now works very well for all users. I still think it’s wrong to force all the pedestrians onto the west sidewalk, however. It forces people to cross the street at one or both ends of the bridge. While more expensive and temporarily more disruptive I would have preferred both sidewalks be used for pedestrians and the bike lanes placed on the main roadway. I’d also have chosen to do something about the expansion joints that threaten to destroy every vehicle, human powered or motorized, that dares cross them.
I’m a big fan of the relatively minor changes made on York. Moving some stop signs and instituting a couple of alternating one-way sections has made it really pleasant for cycling, at least in the downhill direction. I think it proves that one doesn’t have to spend a lot of money to create good cycling infrastructure. It’s not as 4-year-old friendly as the separated paths, but my 7 year old has ridden on much scarier routes (16th to UBC being one of them).
Progress on behalf of the city.
Perhaps too much confidence on behalf of the cyclists, few if any ‘shoulder checks’ at intersection nr Burrard.
Incredible video. I think we will look back on this years from now as a turning point for cycling in Vancouver. No motorist can say now nobody cycles and these lanes are a waste of money.
The video captures the route, changes, accessibility, popularity and on-going regular usage well. It also captures some of the minor flaws that the City is still working on. In short, it is breathtakingly beautiful and real.