Fall Bicycle Scenes in Vancouver
With senior ISL staff in Vancouver for the management retreat, it was an opportunity to take some time out and show Dan Zeggelaar, our Sustainable Transportation Lead in Edmonton, around some pedestrian and bike-related things old and new in Downtown Vancouver. We ticked off a number of protected bike lanes and intersections of course, the Granville Bridge bike lane (and benches), and some local street bikeways and the plazas along them…
We began our walk leaving the Hyatt past the Hornby Street bike lane, one of the originals, and still working pretty much the same today as it did back in 2010… Maybe with a few more intersecting facilities these days… But in this location, the many planter boxes were doing their job and separating people on bicycles from those driving…
We were walking along Dunsmuir Street, another of the originals, but today they’re no longer just bike lanes… Scooters are becoming just as popular…
Especially with Lime now being present in the City… I’ve probably shared the docks before, but Vancouver is the first to have docked scooter share…
Build a network of safe and comfortable bike lanes that provide the fastest way to get around the City and delivery companies will start to use it…
We headed further down Richards Street…
We were primarily walking, and you see things you don’t see when biking… Like this explainer on the green rainwater infrastructure…
More Richards Street…
Bike share still being used on this often wet day…
The park at Richards and Smythe is a great amenity and affords different perspectives of the bike infrastructure… The protected intersection corner of two one-way streets removes a lot of traditional conflicts at a signalized intersection…
There are a lot of one-way streets downtown… If you’re driving…
Pizza delivery by trike…
Granville curb extensions… Wasn’t the day for sitting on patios…
It was the day for waterproof everything…
The now infamous Granville benches… We debated the need for two pedestrian areas walking up to the crest of the bridge, but it seems like the right amount of space to allow two people walking side by side to comfortably pass two others in the opposite direction without resorting to single file… One could make an argument that all sidewalks should allow that…
Quick build… Maybe not as pretty, but still effective… I would never have biked over this until the bike lane went in…
Drone like shots passing over Granville Island…
The False Creek sea wall…
Never walked across the Granville Bridge before… The sidewalk presumably built at a time before accessibility was as important a consideration…
Turn lanes for bikes at Burrard and Cornwall…
The Burrard Bridge bike lane… Again, quick build, but effective…
And views through the bridge structure… No fenders… Wouldn’t be me…
Although this has the lanes to allow a dedicated right turn phase, the flashing LED’s activate only when a bike comes through, helping improve driver awareness… Like the Dutch ‘Let Op’ flashing sign…
Bus stop tactile treatments… Feels like we’re still figuring this one out in many places, bus stops and elsewhere… Which country has the best TWSI guidance? We were doing it pretty well in the UK back when I started my career in around 2000 although didn’t have floating stops at that time… Japan maybe?
There are quick ways to get around the city… And there are slower ways to get around the city…
Detour into the west end to check out some local street bikeways…
Dan approving of the plaza at Davie and Bute… This one was built in 2016 and perhaps provided inspiration for other such plazas elsewhere in the city… On what is a largely residential corridor, this commercial node provides space for people and reduces through traffic…
Feel like I need to spend more time here exploring all the little laneways… This one felt Woonerfy… I’m surprised the signs are even needed to be honest. It feels tight and I imagine uncomfortably to drive fast…
Not his usual bike, but Dan managed a quick spin around the neighbourhood…
One of the older plazas on the Bute Street bikeway… Interestingly, I’d never noticed this before, designated as a park with hours of operation…
This was something I was keen to see for the first time, some of it is still under construction, but some complete…
Originating from a COVID-era temporary plaza to permanent… It’s got a lot of interesting urban design elements… I’d rather see a continuous sidewalk along Robson, but other than that, keen to come back on a nicer day when it’s finished and a bit more lively to see how it’s functioning…
On Robson itself, the on-street parking has been removed in this section, creating a much nicer environment and much more space for pedestrians… Traffic looks bad here, but only as they were following a protest march…
That was all… It was good to see plenty of people still getting around by bike on this frequently wet fall day…