So whats up with the viaducts?
Are they coming down, or what?
Yes, Im talking about the Dunsmuir and Georgia viaducts.
Like many people Ive heard from and listened to in council chambers, I would have thought by now wed have an answer on the future of the hulking structures on the east side of downtown.
Strathcona residents circulated a rumour in the council chambers at last Wednesdays council meeting that a staff report on the viaducts would go before council June 26.
Finally, I thought, some progress.
But was it true?
If there was one guy who could dispel or confirm that rumour, it was the citys director of transportation, Jerry Dobrovolny, who happened to be in the council chambers.
So take it away, Jerry D.
I dont have a scheduled council date for that. When I attended the Strathcona Residents Association meeting last Wednesday night, I saw that that was the date [June 26] that they believed it would be going to council. I clarified that I dont know that.
All right, be coy if you will, but lets just say staffs recommendation will be to take the suckers down. So if that happens, when will Mayor Gregor Robertson get the green light to call in an air strike on the foreboding monoliths?
OK, maybe not an air strike.
How about a careful, environmentally friendly harvesting of the once-important pillars of a neighbourhood that previously meant so much to the good people of this city?
Dobrovolny made it clear and no doubt blew some minds as he did that it would take up to six years before the structures could be demolished. Yes six years!
Theres a number of discussions with property owners and moving property lines and looking at design issues and constructing new roads before tearing out the old roads, he explained.
Another big issue to consider will be what to do with a whopping 43,000 cars per day that use the viaducts! Yes, people apparently drive in this city.
And dont forget that about 2,000 cyclists per day, in the summer, use the separated bike lane on the Dunsmuir viaduct to get to and from downtown. Dobrovolny was at council to present a report that called for upgrades to the Adanac bikeway, a part of which runs along Union Street near the viaducts.
Some residents suggested council should hold off on deciding on the upgrades, which include separated bike lanes and a road closure, until the viaducts come down.
Council decided not to wait.
City staff have suggested with the viaducts gone the area would open up to allow more park space, greenways, more room for housing and offices and a new roadway linking Georgia Street to Pacific Boulevard.
Some of the land under the viaducts belongs to the city. Other parts are owned by developers, some of whom contribute big dollars to Vision Vancouver and the NPA. So far, its unclear whether the demolition of the viaducts would create more space to develop.
Knocking down the viaducts, however, would not entirely open up the area because there happens to be another hulking structure along that stretch called a SkyTrain track. Last time I checked, there was no appetite to build a tunnel for the train. Nor was there a pile of cash lying around that would pay for such a project.
Stay tuned.
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