Agenda Index City of Vancouver

POLICY REPORT
URBAN STRUCTURE

TO:

Standing Committee on Planning and Environment

FROM:

Director of Current Planning and the General Manager of Engineering Services

SUBJECT:

The Silk Road and the Downtown Historic Trail

 

RECOMMENDATION

GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS

COUNCIL POLICY

Council has approved policies on an on-going basis (1991 Central Area Plan, 1995 CityPlan) that encourage enhancements to the public realm and street environment.

In July 1995, Council approved the Vancouver Greenways Plan, which illustrates fourteen proposed routes that make up the City Greenways network. One proposed route is the Downtown Historic Trail that will link Chinatown, Gastown and Yaletown (as indicated in Appendix A).

In May 1997, Council approved the City of Vancouver Transportation Plan. Section 3.7 of the Plan sets out policies that emphasise walking, cycling and transit in the Downtown. Specifically, policy 3.7(5) calls for improvements to pedestrian connections and facilities.

In June 1999, Council approved the work program and public consultation program for the Downtown Transportation Plan. Amongst other recommendations, the Plan will set forth "pedestrian first" policies to improve walking environments in the downtown.

In November 1999, Council resolved to create Vancouver's Silk Road, a pedestrian alignment that would link the western portion of Chinatown to Library Square via the Keefer Street spine. Staff were directed to convene a task force to bring together the many community groups interested in reinforcing the connection between Chinatown and Downtown. Council also asked staff to identify other opportunities for improving pedestrian connections to nearby destinations.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this report is to update Council on the recent developments concerning the Silk Road pedestrian route and to seek the adoption of the Silk Road as the first segment of the Downtown Historic Trail.

This report also asks that Council instruct staff to convene a task force to assist in developing the remaining segments of the Historic Trail, namely a north-south pedestrian connection to Gastown and Yaletown.

BACKGROUND

Commencing in January 2001, staff worked with the Chinatown Business Improvement Area (BIA) and other interested community organizations to convene the Silk Road Task Force. The Task Force endeavored to design and implement a banner program that would physically identify the chosen alignment as a walking route. Due in a large part to the fund raising and promotional efforts of the Task Force, the Silk Road was officially opened in April 2001. The Mayor, several members of Council, the Consul General from the People's Republic of China, the sponsors (Henderson Development Ltd. and the Vancouver Chinatown BIA Society), representatives of various Chinatown organizations and the public attended the inaugural walk along the route.

Since its launch, the Silk Road has become a successful and contributing project in both local communities, but especially to Chinatown. The Silk Road has served to unify in the public's eye many independent initiatives, such as the Millennium Chinatown Gate, the Commemorative Bell from Guangzhou, China and the redevelopment of Shanghai Alley. The Vancouver Public Library has also utilized the Silk Road as a program base, using it to encourage school children to walk and read at the Library. The success of the Silk Road has received both national and international media attention.

DISCUSSION

Silk Road and the Downtown Historic Trail
With its launch, staff and the Silk Road Task Force began working on means to ensure that the Silk Road would remain a permanent pedestrian link between Chinatown and Downtown. In doing so, it was acknowledged that the Silk Road closely parallels an east-west portion of the proposed Downtown Historic Trail set out in the Greenways Plan (as shown in Appendix A). Staff and the Task Force see a practical public benefit in consolidating the two alignments and providing a consistent pedestrian focus for the area. Planning and Engineering staff, therefore, recommend that the Silk Road be adopted as the first segment of the historic route through the Greenways program.

It is expected that the public realm treatment and design for the Downtown Historic Trail would go beyond what is currently presented along the Silk Road. That said, staff and the Silk Road Task Force maintain that efforts should be made to preserve and incorporate the Silk Road's present identify, including its logo and colour scheme. Possible design enhancements are numerous and may include, but are not limited to, sidewalk treatments, improved signage and way-finding, landscaping, enhanced pedestrian lighting and public art. Staff, together with the Silk Road Task Force, plan to elicit participation from the adjacent communities in determining a finalised design concept, all of which will be reported back to Council.

As with existing Greenways, the development of the Silk Road into the historic route will be funded through approved Greenways funding and contributions from neighbourhoods, local businesses and other sponsors.

Next Steps: Linking Gastown and Yaletown
Implementing the Silk Road raised the question of applicability to other neighbourhoods. Accordingly, members of the Gastown and Yaletown BIA's have expressed an interest in pursuing a similar initiative as both areas rely heavily on pedestrian access, promotion and the presence of street-level public amenities. While in the past these two historic areas have implemented banner programs and other efforts undertaken for the Silk Road, they have lacked the comprehensive framework that the Silk Road brought to Chinatown.

Beginning in June 2001, members from the Gastown and Yaletown BIA's, the Silk Road Task Force and other interested parties met on several occasions to elaborate and discuss a proposal for a walking route that would span north-south across the downtown. The group undertook preliminary efforts to obtain comments from within the respective communities and was asked to act as a stakeholder group in the Downtown Transportation Plan public review. A presentation was also made to the Gastown Historic Area Planning Committee (GHAPC) setting out the proposal for a north-south route. It was resolved:

"THAT GHAPC support and encourage the integration of Gastown into the proposed neighbourhood to neighbourhood historic walking route".

Given that, staff recommend that Council approve the formalisation of a community task force, to participate in the design and development of a north-south pedestrian extension that would create stronger links between the downtown, Gastown and Yaletown. As with the Silk Road Task Force, the new task force, working together with City staff, would be responsible for coordinating community interests amongst the local organizations and residents and bringing forward to Council its recommendations on alignment options as well as how to best achieve the goal of identifying the route.

In light of the above mentioned work being undertaken by staff and the Silk Road Task Force, it is anticipated that once completed, the north-south route would add to the further development of the Downtown Historic Trail. At that time it is likely that the separate task forces will merge to provide a coordinated community voice into future pedestrian and public realm improvements that will continue to enhance the connectivity of the City's three historic areas.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

Recommendations for a Downtown Transportation Plan will be presented to Council in the near future, setting forth a network of great streets, Greenways and pedestrian routes to promote a walkable downtown. As other downtown neighbourhoods have begun to also express interest in developing initiatives similar to the Downtown Historic Trail, further walking routes would take into consideration the recommendations included in the Downtown Transportation Plan. Staff will continue to investigate opportunities to implement pedestrian routes in other communities, as well as in general, promote walking in the downtown.

CONCLUSION

The overwhelmingly positive response to the Silk Road provides evidence of the impact of enhanced pedestrian linkages and way-finding measures. Formalizing the Silk Road as a part of the Downtown Historic Trail will ensure that it remains a viable and recognizable connection between Chinatown and Library Square. Further, with the north-south pedestrian extension proposed within this report, together with the existing east-west alignment of the Silk Road, a comprehensive network of walking routes begins to emerge that will enhance the public realm and benefit pedestrians in this part of the downtown.

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APPENDIX A
Page 1 of 1

The Silk Road and the Downtown Historic Trail

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