A controversial plan to remove one traffic lane on the Burrard Bridge to make more room for pedestrians and cyclists has been approved. Vancouver city council voted 7-3 in favour of converting one of the three northbound lanes into a bike lane on Wednesday evening. The east sidewalk, which is currently for cyclists only, will then be given back to pedestrians. “We know the number of people using that bridge for walking and cycling are going up very rapidly, and drivers are actually decreasing,” Vision Vancouver Coun. Heather Deal said before the vote. “So this actually accommodates the changes we’re seeing in traffic flow.” But not everyone agrees. NPA Councilor George Affleck said he’s concerned the new design will cause a bottleneck. “Staff are confident this won’t cause a problem, but I understand bottlenecks to be bottlenecks for a reason,” Affleck said. “We’re growing at 5,000 people a year, so I have a real problem with the narrowing of our bridges and making it harder and making it more difficult to get around in our city.” Though the plan eliminates one northbound lane into the downtown core, it also adds a second right-turn lane at the intersection of Burrard and Pacific streets to improve traffic flow. That intersection has been a real concern for the city; at 140 collisions at year, it’s the second-highest crash location in Vancouver. Officials promised it will be overhauled as part of the bridge upgrade. Council also approved suicide barriers for the bridge, though the design hasn’t been finalized yet. Deal said the city is adamant the feature will be compatible with the bridge’s heritage look. “We're going to be working really hard with the heritage community and others to ensure that the design is as compatible as possible with bridge,” she said. The new design cost is estimated at $35-million, and construction is expected to take 18 months. With a report from CTV Vancouver’s Maria Weisgarber
