Topic
Love The Tyee? We need your support. Become a Tyee Builder for as little as $5/month.
Former city planner Larry Beasley joins chorus urging removal of freeway vestige that divides neighbourhoods.
The Georgia and Dunsmuir Viaducts: concrete vestiges of thwarted freeway system.
Removing leftover chunks of freeway could transform part of the city.
The demolition and removal of the Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts could begin in as little as five years, opening a wide swath of virgin land to public space and development -- and forming the eastern core of Vancouver's new 21st-century downtown.
The early results of a feasibility study unveiled Friday, April 7 at Simon Fraser University's Harbour Centre show that three "viaduct removal concepts" are currently being considered by the City of Vancouver, ranging from removing 20 per cent of the structures in five years to complete removal in 20 years.
The viaducts, which connect Vancouver's eastside to the downtown via raised concrete "bridges," are the only major pieces of Vancouver's abandoned 1970s freeway design ever built -- a plan that would have destroyed much of present-day Strathcona and Chinatown. At the time, a funding shortfall and an extremely effective grassroots protest ensured that the rest of Vancouver's freeway vision never materialized.
Now almost 40 years old, the viaducts have created an unusual opportunity, one which has city planners and developers collectively salivating: land equivalent to about five city blocks underlies the structures, which would reappear as if by magic if the viaducts disappear.
"Let's make a bold decision to get rid of the viaducts," said Vancouver's visionary former co-director of planning, Larry Beasley, one of five speakers at the capacity-filled event presented by SFU's City Program. "Then, convene a great international urban design competition to design the eastern part of the core. Let's decide to design our city."
Olympics were just a test
The 22-day closure of the viaducts during the Olympics was a test that has emboldened city engineers and planners to move forward. "Nothing fell apart, there was congestion but the system functioned," says Vancouver city engineer Peter Judd. "We always over-estimate the negative impacts and underestimate the resilience and intelligence of our residents."
The City of Vancouver has been looking at the viaducts since late 2009, when council, led by Vision Vancouver's Geoff Meggs, requested staff to report on the "potential costs and benefits" to the city of removing or converting the Georgia and Dunsmuir Viaducts -- including an examination of the financial impacts, urban design considerations, and need to ensure traffic could still flow. The first phase of a study started in June of last year. (See the latest staff update to council here.
A preliminary Transportation Review unveiled April 7 shows that almost half of the traffic on the viaducts originates within the city of Vancouver, and there is unused capacity on parallel arterial streets like Expo, Pacific, and Hastings -- which suggest traffic could be accommodated if the viaducts were partially or completely removed.
The Rise of the Eastside?
Not long ago, the Downtown Eastside was the heart of city business and social life; developing the land beneath the viaducts promises to shift some of that life back. Such measures would enable what Beasley refers to as a "web of urban activity from Stanley Park to Clark Drive, with the viaduct at the centre, not splitting it apart."
Beasley threw out a challenge to the younger planners in the crowd. "We need to do an urban design for the eastern end of our future downtown," he said. "The False Creek flats and viaduct lands are where Vancouver will be re-envisioned."
The potential benefits of opening this space are huge, he added. Viaduct removal will create new opportunities for housing and office space, which will further reduce the commuter trips into downtown; the availability of this new downtown land could also take development pressure off the Downtown Eastside.
Tearing down freeways
The first Georgia Viaduct was built in 1915, just around the time that automobiles were gaining a foothold in cities across North America. By the 1950s, most cities developed freeways as a way to move massive volumes of traffic from the new suburbs into city cores. "Freeways would have made this city a terrible place and the people here in this room [urban planners] could not have fixed it," said Beasley.
Video produced by Kurt Heinrich describes the city's current study of viaduct removal, and how some community groups have reacted to the idea.
Across North America today, in cities like Boston, San Francisco, Seattle and Toronto, planners are reconsidering their freeway experiments. The experience of Seoul, Korea, in particular, demonstrates what is possible. An inner-city, 14-lane expressway originally built over a river bed was removed (see before and after picture here) in 2005 and replaced by a 5.8-kilometre-long public space oriented around the daylighted stream; real estate values have jumped dramatically, crime and air pollution have dropped, and the removal of blacktop and traffic has lowered the downtown temperature.
Amazingly, the entire project was planned and executed in six months -- the time it typically takes Vancouver to complete a traffic circle.
Voices of the people
On this night, talk of tearing down the last vestiges of the Vancouver's 1970s freeway misadventure clearly resonated with the crowd. The 1972 construction destroyed a poor black neighbourhood called Hogan's Alley; during public comments, one audience member insisted this very name must remain after the viaducts are gone.
Others in attendance had more practical concerns. Bev Davies, a punk rock photographer who fought against the original freeway (in particular, the plan to bore a tunnel beneath Burrard Inlet) wants the viaducts gone because more than 40,000 cars pass her front door every day at Princess and Prior streets. "I'm hoping for this [plan] or an earthquake," she said.
But the night's sober reality check came when anti-Gateway freeway activist Eric Doherty took the microphone. "There are viaducts and freeways being built all around Vancouver right now," he said. "The Georgia Viaduct is just a high value postage stamp." ![[Tyee]](http://thetyee.cachefly.net/ui/img/ico_fishie.png){kind=small}
21
Login or register to post comments
Grumpy
2 years ago
Sad fact is.............
...........Vancouver planners and engineers and the entire anti viaduct crowd don't realize, Vancouver is becoming a city to avoid, not visit. As we make the downtown core harder to access, it will become a no-go area.
If the destruction of the viaducts were to avoid major traffic difficulties, we must have a viable transit system in place - we do not.
Take off Vancouver's rose coloured glasses and what do you have? A rather boring downtown, populated by none too friendly people, who rather be in Hawaii or Palm Springs. We live in LA North and now the higher purpose persons want to ghettoize the downtown core.
The people who are smiling about this daft decision are the merchants in Burnaby, Richmond, and Surrey, who's places of business are easily accessible by car.
Bad transit, abetted by date planning, will make Vancouver a place to avoid. Hey, the Disney cruise lines are avoiding Vancouver after this year because the city is non children friendly.
zalm
2 years ago
Who owns the land...
...the viaducts sit on? The City, the province? Any private property owners? I'd just want to ensure the resulting dogfight over development isn't going to mean we have several players - perhaps one will want a casino, another a sports stadium for a soccer team, a third an industrial dump etc. all competing for the vision.
The taxpayers always lose out when that happens.
snert
2 years ago
Downtown Vancouver
In after 10:00 AM - out before 2:00 PM
Ahhh, Vancouver, the city who's flower should be the narcissus.
Might as well tear down some other "freeway experiments" like the Cambie and Granville St bridges. The Burrard St. bridge can be left for the cyclists.
marcerickson
2 years ago
And the current residents?
I'm dubious that the proposed redevelopment will help the poorest residents. For example - Nester's Market is the supermarket that moved into the new Woodward's development. Nester's is one of Jim Pattison's upscale chains - a better choice for the DTES would have been Buy-Low Foods. The poorer residents here can't afford to leave the neighbourhood like the condo purchasers can - most can't even afford transit and walk everywhere.
Another example: the Crosstown Liquor Store opened about a year and a half ago and does not carry any lower priced wines or cider and only one low priced beer. This seems to be a trend in the area - gentrification is proceeding and businesses are ignoring low income customers - and they won't be moving as most are living in limited income developments.
alive
2 years ago
Stay away, eh?
"40.000 cars pass her front door".
SO, what is the plan?
Ask people to not go to work anymore?
Or perhaps make them fight their way through the city on regular streets, not designed for high traffic?
For decades council has done its best to snarl any movement of traffic, maybe the goal is to put up a ringwall and a moat outside the boundaries?
marine1941
2 years ago
Removal of the Viaducts in Vancouver
I have lived in Strathcona for over 30 years, and DO NOT WANT THE VIADUCTS REMOVED.I can park at home, take transit, or a cab if I am working in the downtown.
The experience of the Olympics was an eyeopener. We could not use the Viaduct for access to the Downtown, and it took well over half an hour for a cab to get me to Hastings and Burrard, rather than the usual 10-15 minutes( allowing for rush hour traffic which adds a whole 5 minutes to the commute) It also COST $12 to $15 to make a trip that currently, with tip, never costs more than $9.00
I live the privacy, and the ease of access to the downtown core. I park at home and take transit, or when I am working downtown, take a cab to get there....simply dont park in the downtown. For those of us who find Strathcona a wonderful place to live, taking out the Viaducts would REMOVE MUCH OF THE REASON ITS GOOD TO LIVE THAT CLOSE TO DOWNTOWN.
There is now another generation of adults from our family living in Strathcona,and we all agree that the traffic patterns that make this a remarkable place to live with access to the centre of town would disappear with removal of the Viaducts...
Jtogyi
2 years ago
A different approach
Why not do what New York has done recently with about three miles of unused rail line. Instead of tearing down the sections of line, they turned it into green space and park land (National Geographic, April 2011 - Miracle Above Manhattan). I don't live in the affected area, nor in the lower mainland, (think beyond Hope), however, visiting family in Vancouver, makes me realize the importance of well thought out green spaces. If these structures were to be taken out of service, why not use the structures above as well as below?
Just a thought,,,
realisticman
2 years ago
marcerickson
Nesters Market (a division of Buy-Low Foods Ltd.) Buy-Low Foods is a privately held company purchased by The Jim Pattison Group, Vancouver, British Columbia in 1995.
Lawrence
2 years ago
Too many people now...
Grumpy is dead on.
Vancouver needs less people not more;
developers have had their way with this town all my life and what we have is a sterile sea of glass boxes.
To put yet another clone of Yale Town into East Van would be doing Vancouver yet another disservice.
Oh I don't know how about a 5 block square area dedicated to a huge Summer/winter,farmers/craft market. Portland has one that size and it works well.
Portland and Seattle are far nicer cities to live in than Vancouver. They are cultured, Vancouver can't hold a candle to them.
Oh do something interesting with the land , and keep the soulless developers out of the area
Lawrence
2 years ago
Oh,Oh,Oh,
While I'm on an art rant, one of the silliest things I've heard of in a long time is moving our Art Gallery.
Great building with space to grow.
The contents are Lame Crap.
Keep the building.
Go look to Portland and Seattle and see what an Art gallery should look like.
I spent $20 to get in our gallery the other day and there was nothing in the whole building I would put on my walls.
This is a very anti-art province
Did you know the Vancouver Art Gallery wouldn't have artists on it's board for years; that rule may still be in place, for all I know.
southdeltawalker
2 years ago
Stop a Freeway Action-Friday April 22-Be There!
There will be a mass direct action against the proposed South Fraser Perimeter Freeway:
When: Friday Apr 22 Mother Earth Day & Good Friday.
Where: Meet at 10996 River Road Delta-Annieville market
640 Bus from Scott Road Station & Ladner Exchange
**Just announced-Buses leaving the Earth Day Parade on Commercial at 2 pm from Britannia area direct to the action.
We will be occupying a site on the proposed route of this freeway.
Also "green-safe zones" will be established.
We can stop this destructive expensive project-a climate crime.
"Join The Wave Against The Pave!"
All info:
http://stopthepave.org/wave
and facebook
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=116458755098130
southdeltawalker
2 years ago
Freeway action update
It starts at 2 pm and may continue over the weekend.
lessdriven
2 years ago
To Grumpy and the other armchair planners...
...the idea is creating 3 dimensional communities with a decent amount of density, where more people of different incomes can live, work, shop and play without having to get into a car. Properly done, these inner communities support a downtown core that is less a commuter destination for workers in the burbs. Yes and there will be fewer people from Burnaby, Richmond and Surrey coming into downtown, as they already have places of employment out there. Lets hope that those communities get their act together and plan for less car dependence before the price of oil really starts going up.
As for the High Line in New York Jtogyi, this is a linear park in the old meat packing district where there are no parks. Not so the case in north False Creek where there are plenty of parks now and possibly in the future with the removal of the viaducts.
Grumpy
2 years ago
@ Rob Grant
We do have the density to support a diverse downtown culture; what we do not have is viable transportation.
The entire density debate is a SkyTrain debate and Vancouver's hang-up with density is all about building a mini-metro on routes that do not have the ridership to sustain it!
The result: civic and provincial governments have jumped on the density bandwagon, by up-zoning properties to increase density, in a desperate hope that the increased density translates into higher ridership on the metro. The result is a two edge sword, that 1) higher densities do not create more livable neighborhoods and 2) With higher density, auto use increases on a per capita basis, as more people in the higher density areas bring their cars.
Vancouver presently has adequate density and any talk of increasing density is nothing more giving developers windfall profits.
Point of logic - If modern LRT costs up to one tenth of that of light metro to install, yet can carry the same volumes of ridership, then the density needed to sustain light rail could be up to one tenth of that needed by SkyTrain.
Again I state, the density issue is a SkyTrain issue and the Vancouver viaducts are needed to ease traffic flows into the downtown because our metro/bus system is unable to attract the motorist.
Build affordable, customer friendly transit, then talk about dismantling the viaducts. to date we are not doing that and this is a mere distraction to hide the real issue.
Kaz
2 years ago
Peddling gentrification
What exactly is supposed to happen to the people who live in the area already? Do we want to follow the model of Seoul's expressway removal, which the article itself implies is entirely a-social:
"...real estate values have jumped dramatically, crime and air pollution have dropped, and the removal of blacktop and traffic has lowered the downtown temperature." This says nothing about the people who lived there before, or about the people who moved in afterwards.
I'm with Lawrence, Vancouver is overly yuppified as is, which I realize is almost inevitable in a city of its size. We emphatically do not need more Yaletown-like pseudo-gated communities. Maybe the viaduct ought to be removed, but if it is, I'd for once I'd like to see planners attempt to restrain gentrification, rather than promote it like crazy.
Id_rather_be_sailing
2 years ago
Viaducts
Good on you Bev. ". . . a punk rock photographer who fought against the original freeway (in particular, the plan to bore a tunnel beneath Burrard Inlet) . . . Wow, you must have been pretty young! . .
The late Warnett Kennedy and I were urban design consultants to tunnel/bridge engineers, Swan Wooster, for the Coal Harbour approaches 1968+/-.
Actually the freeway debate was the tag end of a three pronged regional TX plan: via ducts, crossing (bridge/tunnel) and Chinatown freeway. Brutalism at it's worst!
Here's why . . .
http://ir.lib.sfu.ca/bitstream/1892/7278/1/b15296714.pdf
Warnett and I did not see eye to eye: we ended up, literally, in a no holds barred shouting match in the middle of Water Street.
The rest of Vancouver was not too happy, either, seeing the plans unfold. So, when the impact of the Chinatown part dawned we rock and rolled all the way to the QE Theatre.
And I'd like to see us do it again.
I never could see the logic of the two suspended viaducts.
As of now . . . for one thing the city is in no financial shape to tackle such a pricey project: I suspect Clr. Megg's feel good stuff is electioneering: after November forget-it!
And, of course, all the usual suspects are getting in on the action. I am glad Larry Beasley is enthusiastic so long as keeps hands off: his record in Central area and Concord's False Creek . . .
http://www.theyorkshirelad.ca/6urbandesign/2010.pdf
. . . is there to see and "we are not amused."
The same applies to his friends Price and Cameron who do not have to drive the Mary Hill by pass with four kids because they can afford to live in . . . errrr . . our World Class Paradise!
"Let's make a bold decision to get rid of the viaducts," said Vancouver's visionary former co-director of planning, Larry Beasley.
Visionary?
No. Let's NOT!
If this ever gets off the ground let's take a measure, incremental, autochthonous approach free of all this arms length international mumbo jumbo.
Let's be radical. Let us design a city for ourselves: appropriately scaled, humane local use.
Let's plan for us, for a change!
Cool Hand
2 years ago
Keep 'Em...
Firstly, the viaducts are relatively new infrastructure and have traffic volumes of ~43,000 vehicle/day.
Take them down and the main east/west corridor into the neck of the downtown peninsula vanishes. Just put up "Road Closed" at the top of the escarpment on both Georgia and Dunsmuir streets?
The traffic would then flow along Pacific/Expo Blvds. through the future Northeast False Creek neoghbourhood. That will severely impact the future liveability of that neghibourhood with an additional 43,000 vehicles/day mixing in with pedestrians and cyclists.
Dave Turner, the city's transporation consultant, has all but confirmed that:
http://www.vancouversun.com/Forum+mulls+fate+viaducts/4580141/story.html#ixzz1IxES4Jhd
And the proposed Malkin Connector, a city priority, would connect the viaducts to Clark Drive removing further traffic from Strathcona. The city has described same as "Highest Potential for Community Benefit". That ain't gonna happen with the removal of the viaducts.
http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/currentplanning/fcflats/pdf/oct08railcorridorstrategy.pdf
BTW, the viaducts are part of the Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority (Translink) "Major Road Network". Since that's the case, the City of Vancouver cannot remove same without GVTA approval and it ain't gonna happen.
PhilS.
2 years ago
A lot of potential
The before/after pictures from Seoul are amazing. I hope we can see some visual illustrations here soon of possibilities for the area without the viaducts.
Crass
2 years ago
my 2 cents... For a city
my 2 cents...
For a city that proposes itself to be a 'green' energy conserving city, then it would seem to make more sense to re-purpose the enormous amount of labour and resources put into building these structures.
I'm sure there are multiple ways to use these structures, perhaps in a modified way, that would take advantage of the resources used to build them in a creative way. Perhaps utilize them as shelter for farmers/flea markets below and bike/green transportation thoroughfares.
With all do respect to Bev Davies, then I want to tear up Hastings Street because I don't like all the traffic on it. Why did Bev Davies move into that residence then complain about it? Sounds like all the other NIMBYS who moved into the downtown core, then proceed to bitterly complain about all the noise and people. Give me a break!
This proposal is more the sound and spectacle of drool dripping down developers chins, as they become entranced of the potential win fall in profits something like this might produce for THEM. Then they mobilize to attempt to neutralize resistance by saying that a local high profile counter-cultural figure is ALSO for tearing down these monstrous structure..."because more than 40,000 cars pass her front door every day at Princess and Prior streets."
Well, you know too bad! Move!
Plunger
2 years ago
Don't Remove Without Replacing Capacity
If you're going to take the viaducts from those of us living in inner urban neighbourhoods (like Strathcona and Hastings Sunrise) then you must replace their capacity (both car, bus and bike) with other transit options.
Give us a streetcar up Hastings, or a Westcoast Express Station in East Vancouver -something to replace the amount of near-distance travel those bridges provide.
They are important for simple commerce and I believe they tie, not divide the community - East and West.
They may be a lucky-to-have failed highway project from the seventies, but in their current use as bike lane and two lane street they work great.
Can we make them better, greener? Sure! Let's!
marcerickson
2 years ago
And impossible access to downtown
@realisticman: I'm not sure what you're point is. While I wasn't aware of the specific corporate structure, I knew that both chains were owned by Mr. Pattison - and the corporate structure doesn't reflect the chains' pricing policies.
As others have commented here, removing the viaducts will make access to downtown from the east very difficult. My concern isn't how people are going to get in - it's how will goods. Trucks bringing the goods we buy will find it harder to get into downtown and this will eventually be reflected in prices. I'm a cyclist and a professional driver, and while the traffic slowing changes in downtown has made it friendlier to cyclists, they've made it more difficult for trucks and buses.
I think that the changes have gone far enough - removing the viaducts would be too much.