Quote:
Originally Posted by officedweller
The quote from Spacing that I quoted mentioned the 1954 establishment of a Technical Committee for Metropolitan Planning, which produced a 1959 plan that included an Arbutus Freeway. If the issue of freeways was prevalent enough in 1954 for the establishment of a Committee (and you know how slowly government works), then there would have been discussion about freeways for many years before that.
So as you, Stingray2004 and Aberdeen mention, in the 1950s, there would have been a general desire to accommodate future freeways, without there being a specific design or plan.
i.e. as you mention, like future rapid transit over the future Massey Bridge.
Another example would be the City of Vancouver's purchase of the Kettle of Fish building for a vehicle ramp from Burrard Bridge to Hornby St.
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Guess a very rough historical time-line on these matters might be apropos and further clarify:
1. Robert Moses - had influence in NYC area constructing `parkways` back in late 1940`s and early 1950`s;
2. The Pennsylvania Turnpike was constructed as a 4-lane rural roadway, with 2-lane sections such as tunnels, that was tolled back in the 1940`s;
3. When the Granville Street was designed back in the late 1940`s, it incorporated one-way connections with Seymour and Howe on the north side and Hemlock and Fir on the south side. Simply put, was a superb design back then... looking into the future. Back when Van City was still a way out there `hicksville`. So kudos to them. Without the one-way connections, the then new GSB would have been just a 6-lane bridge connecting Granville Street on either side.
4. Eisenhower, supreme commander in WW2 Europe, became U.S. prez in 1952. More importantly, he was very impressed with the German autobahnen during his military tenure. So much so, that he authorized the Interstate Highway System back in 1956. That`s where everything in terms of `freeways` in N.A. REALLY started and then took off. And where the terminology `freeway` began to become part of the public lexicon.
5. Back to Van City. A fella by the name of Gerald Sutton-Brown became head of Van City planning back in 1953. Sutton-Brown also formed and became head of the BC Planning Institute back in 1954 as well - which I suspect was the impetus for the 1954 establishment of a Technical Committee for Metropolitan Planning. Later Sutton-Brown became Van City commissioner (I guess the somewhat equivalent of city manager today) albeit an even more powerful position back then.
Sutton-Brown drove the entire freeway agenda in Van City from the mid-1950`s inclusive of the 1959, 1964, 1967, 1968, and 1970 freeway reports. I reviewed all of these engineering reports (numerous with even more numerous options for every routing) well over a decade ago. From today`s perspective, was mind-boggling.
Again, when the GSB was designed, `freeway` was not even in the public or engineering lexicon, back in the late 1940`s or early 1950`s in the then backwater of Van City. The GSB was just very well designed for future growth. That`s it. Nothing more than that. Certainly, much later, the GSB could have been perhaps incorporated into part of a future freeway system involving the Arbutus corridor.
And whatever happened to Gerald Sutton-Brown? He was turfed when the then long-time NPA council was defeated by TEAM (Mayor Art Phillips) back in 1972.
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