Agenda Index City of Vancouver

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

TO:

Standing Committee on Transportation and Traffic

FROM:

General Manager of Engineering Services

SUBJECT:

Trans Canada Trail - Portside Bikeway/Greenway

 

RECOMMENDATION

B. THAT, commencing in 2001, the following budgets be increased, without offset, as listed:

$1,000 - Streets Operating Budget for Horticultural Maintenance
$4,000 -Streets Operating Budget for Path Maintenance
$2,000 - Street Cleaning Program - Leaf Removal
$1,000 - Traffic Operating Budget for Bike Routes

POLICY

PURPOSE_

The purpose of this report is to seek approval and funding for the easterly extension of the Portside Bikeway and the completion of the final portion of the Trans Canada Trail connecting to Burnaby.

BACKGROUND

The Trans Canada Trail Foundation, a non-profit registered charitable organization, was founded in 1992, during the 125th anniversary of Canadian Confederation. The Foundation's goal is to connect Canada's three Oceans by a shared-use trail that would be off-road as much as possible by the year 2000. In urban areas, such as Vancouver, the trail would primarily accommodate pedestrians and cyclists, using existing and planned greenways and bikeways. A map showing the Trail across Canada, is included in a brochure attached as Appendix F, original on file in the City Clerk's Office._

On January 6 1998, Vancouver City Council supported a report committing in principle to the development of the Vancouver portion of the Trans Canada Trail. On February 2, 1999, Council adopted the final routing of the Trail, illustrated in Appendix A, and also the Portside Bikeway as a link between Lakewood and Kaslo. On November 30, 1999 Council then approved a submission to the Cycling Network Program for funding of the Portside Bikeway Eastern Extension as part of the route for the Trans Canada Trail. A detailed chronology of events related to the Trans Canada Trail is attached as Appendix B.

DISCUSSION

The development of the eastern extension of the Portside Bikeway/Greenway will complete the route through Vancouver and will provide cyclists and pedestrians with convenient access under the Second Narrows Bridge. It will connect with Burnaby to the east and with the existing Lakewood Bikeway to the west.

The recommended design will extend east from Kaslo Street along Wall Street to New Brighton Park as an on-street Bikeway, and existing sidewalk. East of New Brighton Park, there will be a shared, off-street pedestrian/bicycle path adjacent to Bridgeway. At Skeena Street, the shared pathway will follow a service road towards the CNR tunnel below the Second Narrows Bridge. There, a crossing will be constructed to go over the tunnel and link to Burnaby's Heights Trail and Montrose Park. See Appendix C for the specific route.

The shared path along Bridgeway will be 4 m wide, as recommended in Geometric Design Guide for Canadian Roads (Transportation Association of Canada, April 1995). At some locations, the path is narrowed to avoid obstacles and utilities. As well, portions ofBridgeway are narrowed and some existing, on-street parking regulations altered. Landscaping will be added in areas where space is available.

In response to concerns from businesses about changes to street parking regulations and future availability, a parking area will be developed east of the Bridgeway/Skeena intersection as part of the Trail construction. This will provide overflow parking for the local businesses and a staging area for Trail users.

In order to complete the path under the Second Narrows Bridge, the trail must cross over a Canadian National railway tunnel. This crossing will make use of a soil bench that covers a GVRD sewer main but is partially interrupted by the tunnel (see sketch, Appendix D). The intent is to build a mechanically stabilized earth wall on either side of the tunnel. Both the GVRD and Canadian National Rail have been involved in the planning to date and support the concept of the trail and the tunnel crossing.

The Federal Government would like to complete the construction of the Trans Canada Trail by September 2000.

CONSULTATION

In completing the design for the proposed route, meetings were held with property owners along Bridgeway and several options were presented to them. Their primary concerns were with road widths and parking availability. After hearing their concerns, the Trail design was modified and the final design represents a compromise between their concerns and the necessary components of the Bikeway and Trail.

There are essentially two sections of the Trail on Bridgeway. On the eastern portion of Bridgeway, the Trail is north of the existing curb and the road will be narrowed a maximum of 0.6 m, at one point, to allow clearance from utilities. Because of this, on-street parking arrangements will not be changed with the exception of removing 6 spots in order to improve existing clearances for trucks at the corner of Bridgeway and Skeena and at the entrances to two of the buildings north of Bridgeway. On the western section of Bridgeway, construction of the shared, off-street path will narrow the road by 3 m This is necessary as the boulevard behind the curb is not wide enough, in this section, to accommodate the Trail. Currently, parking in this section of Bridgeway is allowed on both sides of the street in some spots, one side in others and is disallowed altogether in some spots. The Trail design, in this section, allows for approximately 28 parking spaces on one side of the street, resulting in no net loss of parking. The addition of the overflow parking lot east of Bridgeway and Skeena will allow for approximately 12 parking spaces to further reduce the impacts of changing the parking arrangements along Bridgeway.

In addition to concerns about the design of the Trail, the Bridgeway property owners also expressed concern over the impact of the Trail on the existing Light Industrial businesses and the Port Terminal. In particular, they are concerned that increased public access to the area may lead to zoning changes that would affect their businesses. This zoning of this area, including the waterfront, is covered by the Industrial Lands Policies, adopted by Council in March 1995. This policy states that all industrial land on the Burrard waterfront is to be retained for port and port-related industries. In fact, the light industrial and port activities may be an interesting feature that trail users themselves may want to retain. There will be no restrictions on business operations as a direct result of the trail.

The Portside Bikeway design was reviewed at an informal meeting of the Bicycle Advisory Committee. The Committee had concerns over the potential conflict between bicycles and cars in the New Brighton Park parking lot and suggested appropriate signage to warn motorists of the presence of bicycles. This will be incorporated into the sign plan for the Bikeway.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

The total estimated cost of extending the Portside Bikeway/Greenway and completing the Trans Canada Trail through the City of Vancouver is $450,000 This includes constructing the off-street path, re-locating utilities, marking the bikeway with the appropriate signage and clearing and surfacing the overflow parking lot. Also included in this estimate is $110, 000 for the design and construction of the rail tunnel crossing. This is based on the construction of an earth filled structure although other designs will be pursued if the cost is within the allocated budget. See Appendix E for a full explanation of the costs.

In addition to the capital costs for this project there will be some maintenance costs associated with the Bikeway/Greenway. It is recommended that the Streets Operating Budget be increased by $4,000 for path maintenance and $1,000 for horticultural maintenance, the Traffic Operating Budget be increased by $1,000 for bike route maintenance and the Street Cleaning Program for leaf removal be increased by $2,000.

Funding for this project is requested to be shared between Streets Basic Capital Unappropriated Account No. 30000130 - Bicycle Network and Streets Basic Capital Unappropriated Account No. 30000134 - City Greenways. Funding from the Bicycle Network account is requested in advance of approval of the 2000 Streets Capital Budget so that construction of the Trail can begin as soon as possible in order to meet the Federal deadline of September 2000. In addition to this funding, requests have been made to the Provincial Cycling Network Program, the Trails Society of BC and the Community Infrastructure and Accessibility Program for a total of $260,000 to share the cost. Approval from these funding sources will be announced this Spring and the costs would be reimbursed upon completion of construction.

CONCLUSION

This extention of the Portside Bikeway will complete the Trans Canada Trail through the City of Vancouver. It will also extend the Portside Bikeway and provide cyclist and pedestrian access to Burnaby under the Second Narrows Bridge. The design of this portion is intended to address the concerns raised by the Stakeholders while still providing a safe and efficient bicycle and pedestrian route. The total cost of the project, to the City of Vancouver, will be decreased should funding be approved by other sources.

* * * * *

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APPENDICES A, C & D ON FILE IN THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE

APPENDIX B

Chronology of Events - The Trans Canada Trail through Vancouver

1994 Trails BC was formed in early 1994 by representatives of trail user organizations to develop the Trans Canada Trail in BC.

May 27, 1997 Trails BC and GVRD hosted a Greater Vancouver Route Selection Workshop at the Metrotown Holiday Inn. Trail options were presented derived from a consultation conducted by the Trails BC prior to this date. The role for the municipal and GVRD staff members was to work towards consensus on a route or dual routes for this region.

July 14, 1997 Janine Robinson, Trails BC, writes to Mayor and Council generally outlining the proposed route through Vancouver.

Jan. 6, 1998 Council unanimously approved the following recommendations:

April 6, 1998 Meeting with Templeton School staff, board, student reps. and the TCT.

April 1998 Public Open Houses were held on the evenings of April 22, 1998 at False Creek Community Centre and April 27, 1998 at Templeton School. Letters of invitation were distributed 3600 residences where traffic calming was proposed as part of the new bikeway implementing the TCT. Standard city ads were in the Courier and the Echo the week before. Articles on the trail appeared at that time.

Mid-1998 Cypress Environmental Youth Team, Native Indian Youth Advisory Society, conducts preliminary trail clearing west of the CNR train tunnel.

Oct. 6, 1998 A public open house was held at Kiwassa Neighbourhood House, in the evening, on Wall Street Neighbourhood Traffic Calming and the Trans Canada Trail.

Oct. 12, 1998 The opening of the TCT Marker Pavilion at Alder Bay, built by the Granville Island administration, was held.

Feb. 2, 1999 The following recommendations were adopted by Vancouver City Council:

Jan. 25, 1999 The Vancouver Park Board unanimously approved the proposed route through Vancouver park land, on existing pathways, for the Trans Canada Trail. The Trail will be signed along the entire route, but in parks will be restricted to a symbolic decal on existing signage.

Mar. 23, 1999 Presentation to Chinatown Historic Area Planning and Advisory Committee on TCT alignment and signage.

April 6, 1999 Strathcona Linear Park meeting of Strathcona Residents Association and staff at 11:00 at Strathcona Community Centre to discuss TCT through Strathcona.

Fall 1999 Trans Canada Trail through Templeton School substantially complete, including the landscaping and public art, Trail Mix, by Philip and Kirsty Robbins.

Nov. 30, 1999 Meeting of Wall Street neighbours at 7:00 at Kiwassa House to discuss TCT project ideas along Wall Street.

Jan. 4, 2000 Meeting with Bridgeway property and business owners. Letters mailed to owners and hand delivered to businesses.

Jan. 19, 2000 Meet with Bridgeway and property owners to review design changes made as a result of January 4th meeting.

APPENDIX E
Estimated Capital Costs

The following is a summary of the expected capital costs:

Trail Surfacing $210,000

Drainage $18,000

Gravel Surfacing $30,000

Landscaping & Fencing $45,000

Signage & Traffic Control $10,000

Tunnel Crossing $110,000

Utility Re-location $27,000

TOTAL COST $450,000

Funding from Streets Capital $450,000

Potential Reimbursment

Total Potential Reimbursment Up To $260,000

APPENDIX F

Trans Canada Trail Brochure on file in City Clerk's Office

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