Section of Pacific Boulevard to close for FIFA World Cup

The first World-Cup-related street closure comes into effect in downtown Vancouver on Saturday.

Pacific Boulevard will be closed for two months between Smithe and Carrall streets starting Saturday at 7 a.m.

“That’s because the way that they’re actually managing the stadium and the pre-show in the area in advance doesn’t really work with traffic flowing through there,” said Lon LaClaire, the City of Vancouver’s general manager of engineering.

The stretch of Pacific Boulevard will be put behind security fencing.

On the seven Vancouver match days, closures will be even more widespread in the area around the stadium.

The Skytrain will likely be your best way in and out of downtown, especially on match days.

“The big one for everyone is to build in extra time,” said Anita Bathe with TransLink. “Whether you’re going to a match on a game day, whether you’re going to the fan festival or whether you’re a regular user of our system trying to get from Point A to B, you need to build in extra time to make sure you’re on time for where you need to go.”

But if you’re going to a game, you are advised to go to the Main Street-Science World station, with Stadium-Chinatown not providing direct access to B.C. Place.

“If you do get off there for the match, you’re going to have to do a big walk around because of the city and FIFA’s closure for the security perimeter around BC Place,” said Bathe.

Another thing to factor in if you regularly take a bus downtown: a large stretch of Granville Street will be closed to vehicles throughout the tournament. It’s being turned into a pedestrian zone from June 11 to July 20.