RT @theemilyjackson: Giant chandelier approved for Granville Bridge. Sources say Burrard Bridge is totally jealous. https://t.co/upqC5Mh2TX
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Remove the power pole and transformers,
Replace the parking stalls with benches,
Paint a Persian carpet on the pavement,
Park a food truck in the shadows.
All of that, yes. And traffic calm the intersection fully, as was started on Beach Crescent just east of Granville in the photo, to reduce the vehicles rat running along Beach.
Instead of a chandelier, why not have a ped and bike bridge there ? Why are there no low level bridges, for bikes and peds, across False Creek ? We value 10 sailboats in the summer with their high masts more than 10,000+ people that would use it ? The bridges could open for sail boats on command, or via a toll, or every 1/2h for 5 minutes.
Granville and Burrard bridge could easily hang a lower bridge platform below the massive car structure above.
Pictures of London https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?p=london+foot+bridge and Calgary foot bridges here, https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?p=london+foot+bridge , for example !
Thomas: “Why are there no low level bridges, for bikes and peds, across False Creek ?”
At that point, probably because of vessel traffic, including commercial vessels. You can watch boat traffic in that area all day long. You are not correct in your assertion that there are 10 boats per day going through there, and only in the summer.
I used to sail out of False Creek in the days that the railway bridge near Granville Island was still there. We had to wait for it to turn. Glad those days are gone.
Cambie is a low level bridge. It will be better once the shared pedestrian/bike path is expanded. Granville will be fine for grade, especially since many users will climb the hill on the south side anyway, once protected lanes are installed. And with so many surplus vehicle lanes on that bridge, it shouldn’t be difficult to find the space.
High enough for motor boats. What commercial boats ? Yes, high enough for the fishermen, say 6-10 m. Like Cambie. Not exactly ped or bike friendly. Unclear to me why this is not a priority, say over the costly Viaduct removal, with so many tourists and locals inconvenienced trying to cross the chasm between south and north False Creek closer to English Bay. An attractive low level bridge would be a major draw & benefit for the allegedly greenest city.
That is why we have two companies providing passenger ferry service across the creek, with some vessels carrying bikes as well. Very popular.
Good suggestion. However, Burrard and Granville bridges are not onerous for those riding bikes since Burrard provides a link from sea level to a higher level at the north end and Granville does not have significant slope. some years ago, Mayor Roberstson floated the concept of a ped/cycle bridge from near Aquatic Centre, however this would only be mostly useful for recreational users. Now a proper ped/cycling route from Georgia alignment and connecting to Columbia alignment via a low level bridge would be extremely useful.
There are two things that are (I think) planned. The Drake Greenway and the Granville Bridge centre park-path concept. The two together would be a way for people to walk and cycle across. And it would be using existing unused space on the bridge. No need to make a whole new bridge.
I vote for all of the above!
The third thing planned is a dedicated cycle track across the Cambie Bridge in one direction, providing more space for pedestrians on the current multi use path which would then only have cyclists travelling in one direction.
As shown in the 2012 Transportation Plan, there is a proposed Granville Bridge Greenway on the books for the centre two lanes of the overly wide bridge deck. I hope that this development is contributing $$ to that worthy initiative.
I lived a 5-minute walk from the Granville Island Market for a decade and can testify that there are often 50 boats a MINUTE on the Creek during the busiest weekends, everything from kayaks to 90-foot party boats. The ferries and pleasure boat traffic is puncuated by tugs & barges delivering aggregates to the Ocean Cement docks under the bridge.
Correct, but most are NOT that tall and not sailboats.
Keep in mind these bridges were designed when false Creek was a commercial hub, lumberyards, saw mills etc .. Neither Granville nor Burrard bridge in its current form would be designed like that today. I am surprised that one hasn’t been removed yet. A more pro-ped or pro-bike approach would be useful rather than climbing up a long bridge built in the 1930s .. Burrard looks like it has a railway bridge designed within. See here, there once was a (now defunct) railway bridge under car deck: http://www.miss604.com/2010/10/vancouver-history-burrard-bridge.html or here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burrard_Bridge
Perhaps it is time to re-activate that older proposal from the 1990’s to add a lower deck surface for bikes and peds here.
The clearance below the Burrard and Granville bridges do allow the passsage of tall sailboat masts.
Thomas: “Burrard looks like it has a railway bridge designed within. See here, there once was a (now defunct) railway bridge under car deck”
What you are likely looking at are the trusses that support the vehicle deck.
The bridge piers have openings designed to accomodate a low level rail bridge. That rail bridge, complete with a lift, was never installed. Instead, they carried on using the existing rail trestle to Kitsilano.
Good history of the rail trestle here:
http://www.exporail.org/can_rail/Canadian%20Rail_no373_1983.pdf
Yes, I was referring to the holes in the concrete pillars, the one where there was a plan to put a railway in. Why is this not an idea worth pursuing for a ped/bike path crossing today .. 80 years after they opened the bridge ?
Yes, the Burrard Bridge’s piers were designed with archways for a low level lift bridge for rail traffic (i.e. from the paved area next to the Aquatic Centre), as opposed to a rail bed within the square cantilever trusses.
Hi Ken: Can you call me about my editing stint in January? Thanks, p.
Peter Ladner 604-760-1445 (cell/text) @pladner
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What, no chaise lounge? Or Chanel-scented car exhaust? How about a pair of oversized stuffed red high heeled shoes doubling as armchairs on the boulevard? Or a weekend dance floor on the road surface?
The project cost is $1.2 million. Hopefully there’s a reserve to clean the bird poop off of it (or maybe it’ll be studded with spikes).
The bird poop will fling off the crystals every evening when it twirls around. The thing is self-cleaning!