Metro Vancouver Bike/Pedestrian Discussion

[SFUVancouver]

(Mark Forsythe/CBC)

Vancouver's Hornby bike lane gets green light
Last Updated: Wednesday, October 6, 2010 | 8:02 AM PT
CBC News | Source


Vancouver city councillors voted unanimously on Tuesday night to build a second downtown bike lane along Hornby Street, after a marathon public hearing.

The vote came late in the evening after the council spent much of the day hearing from dozens of residents, riders, and business owners about the plan. Just before midnight, the councillors voted to spend $3.2 million to build the two-way separated bike lane.

The plan calls for barriers to divide the lane from vehicles, new traffic and bike signals, and more passenger and loading zones for vehicles. It is the final phase of a plan to connect the Burrard Bridge bike lane with the Dunsmuir Viaduct bike lane with a separated route through the downtown core.

“The fact is Vancouver has just 0.5 per cent of its roadway dedicated exclusively for cyclists,” said Mayor Gregor Robertson in a statement released after the vote.

“We don’t have the capacity to accommodate more car traffic in our city. We don’t have room for new roads. The shift we’ve seen over the past decade is towards transit, cycling and walking, and this new bike lane reflects that,” he said.

Councillors also said opinion polls show the majority of residents support the plan, and most shoppers already either walk or take public transit to reach Hornby Street.

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