My hot take with all these Brentwood and Metrotown projects is that some of their main/anchor roads are getting pretty “
stroad-y” now. As in, those are officially recognized dense urban centres by the City of Burnaby and deserve “complete streets”. Brentwood is centred around Willingdon Ave and Lougheed Hwy. Metrotown got Kingsway. You have a lot of parking lots, street crossings and side parkings around those roads that they have lost their purpose as being efficient fast roads for cars. Fast car speed and healthy dense urban centres simply don’t mix based on every researches done in this area. So I truly think it is time for Burnaby to start considering turning some of those car lanes into dedicated bus lane, bigger pedestrian, bike, plaza, whatever people-oriented things surrounding these urban centres. Lougheed Hwy is certainly not a highway once you get to around Holdom station from the east. Willingdon Ave north of Hwy 1 are now popping with more and more density. Quite frankly, Kingsway is kind of always uncomfortable to drive on for the majority of it and showcased often with accidents on
Vancouver’s Worst Drivers. I think it is time to turn them into proper streets instead of their current “stroad” condition. Slow cars down, have dedicated bus lane and give more spaces to people. Make these official Burnaby town centres more walkable, bikeable and people-friendly.
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