The City of Vancouver is planning to engage the public on the redesign of the Granville Bridge.

The do over will reallocate up to four of the eight lanes of the bridge for cycling, walking, and other forms of non-motorized transport.

“Preliminary analysis shows that the existing traffic could be accommodated by two lanes in either direction, however further analysis is underway,” Paul Storer, manager of transportation design, wrote in a report to council.

The new pathway will occupy the centre lanes of the bridge.

“This project would aim to create a centre path for people walking, rolling and cycling across the Granville Bridge by reallocating travel lanes,” Storer wrote.

According to Storer, the path will feature a “physical buffer from vehicle traffic and be elevated above the remaining motor vehicle traffic lanes to ensure a safe and comfortable experience, with unique views and placemaking opportunities”.

Storer also noted that $25 million has been earmarked in the city’s 2019-2022 capital plan to deliver the  project, called the Granville Bridge Connector.

“The goal of this project would be to create a safe, comfortable, accessible and enjoyable walking, rolling and cycling experience across the bridge, which would seamlessly connect major destinations and link to the city’s broader network,” the transportation design manager wrote.

Storer recalled that the Transportation 2040 Plan adopted by council in 2012 identified the three False Creek bridges as priority for improving walking and cycling options.

Burrard Bridge was the first of the three to be improved, and construction was completed in 2017. Cambie Bridge followed, and a number of improvements were made in 2018.

Granville Bridge is the last of the three bridges to be addressed, according to Storer.

“Seamless connections at either end of the bridge would conveniently connect the path to the walking and cycling network at both ends and link major destinations including Granville Street downtown, the South Granville shopping district, the Seawall, the Arbutus Greenway and the future Broadway SkyTrain station at Granville; it would also improve connections to Granville Island,” according to Storer.

Storer pointed out that the 1954 bridge was “designed to connect to high-speed, high-volume freeways that were never built”.

“As a result the bridge has significant excess road capacity; even if each of the streets feeding the bridge were full, the bridge itself would be relatively empty,” the transportation design manager stated.

In his report included in the council agenda Wednesday (January 30), Storer recommended that consultations begin in February.