ACTION: Broadway Plan Survey Feedback

The City of Vancouver has issued an interim report on the Broadway Plan, entitled Emerging Directions.
 
This plan recognizes the importance of reimagining Broadway as a Great Street that supports healthy transportation options following construction of the new Broadway Subway.
 
The plan refers to reducing vehicle travel lanes, improving walking access and the great number of destinations along Broadway. 
 
However, there is currently no plan for incorporating cycling infrastructure on Broadway itself.  This will result in people cycling and riding scooters on the sidewalk, or in the vehicle lanes, particularly to reach the planned bicycle parking at the new stations.

 

The time is now to plan to do better. 

Share your thoughts on the Emerging Directions for the Broadway Plan with the City of Vancouver NOW!  Your feedback will be used to shape the content and create updated, Refined Directions for the Plan. 

The HUB Cycling Vancouver/UBC Committee is calling on all those who live, work, shop, or travel along the Broadway corridor to support calls for the City to create a more complete street, for users of all modes. This includes protected cycling lanes in addition to the wider sidewalks. 

Please submit your feedback to the city via this survey and let's ensure that this corridor is accessible and safe for all ages and abilities.

For further information on the Broadway Corridor plan, please see below HUB Cycling Vancouver/UBC Committee letter to the City of Vancouver or reach out to the HUB Cycling Vancouver/UBC Committee.

 

February 22, 2021

Re: The Broadway Plan Emerging Directions
Broadway Plan Team (broadwayplan@vancouver.ca)

Dear Team

We write today in response to our review of the Emerging Directions materials recently published. Congratulations on the work done to date and we appreciate being able to provide feedback at this time.

Our Local Committee of HUB Cycling was involved in the Great Streets work for North East False Creek and learned a lot about the potential of Great Streets through that process and its workshops. We were also part of the Transportation 2040 Stakeholder Group that met regularly with City staff, and this included the early planning stages for the Broadway Subway. We participated in the public engagement sessions for the Broadway Plan, sitting on the Business and Community Advisory Group, attending the Transportation Workshops, and the Transportation Stakeholder workshops. We contributed to the development of the guiding principles, including the importance of providing and supporting healthy transportation options and enhancing Broadway as a Great Street.

With that involvement to date, we were extremely disappointed to see a key principle being abandoned. We fully support reimagining Broadway as a Great Street, and as a more complete street. This is an incredible opportunity for our City, and one that reflects changes around the world to make Great Streets in other major metropolitan cities. We support the expansion of space for walking, and public gathering. We support reducing vehicle travel lanes to create more space for healthy transportation options. However, we do not understand why that does not include space for unidirectional protected cycling lanes along Broadway, providing a buffer between people walking and vehicles, and providing direct access to key destinations such as the new subway stations, businesses, restaurants, offices, and medical offices. Not including this critical infrastructure will simply encourage people on bikes and using stand up scooters to use the sidewalks, particularly to reach the subway stations, or to avoid Broadway altogether. This will inevitably lead to conflicts and safety concerns. Plans to improve the surrounding cycling network are noted and are important, but these routes are largely commuter routes and bypass those key destinations. Great Streets should not be great for just a segment of the population and from the initial consultation it’s clear that the people of Vancouver want better than what is presented in the current vision. With a reduction in vehicle lanes, there is room for both expanded walking space, along with safe and comfortable space for cycling.

Including dedicated cycling infrastructure is consistent with our Climate Emergency Action Plan, existing City policies on creating more complete streets, and Vision Zero injury reduction targets. Not including cycling infrastructure on Broadway is in opposition to those plans, and we ask that this be reviewed by the project team. It is not consistent with the approach being taken downtown. In particular, if the Central Broadway Corridor is to be considered (as the plan states) Vancouver’s second downtown (or “Uptown”), then it seems strange that it is not being treated the same from a cycling infrastructure perspective. We know from other cycling infrastructure projects (including those in downtown Vancouver) that it can be challenging to retrofit cycling lanes on built streets. The time to do this is up front, when the streets are being built, not later when it is clear that demand for safe cycling infrastructure requires adding the lanes.

We see a lot of good work in the Emerging Directions, but we ask that the potential of Broadway as a Great Street be more fully achieved, by designing for all street users. We are available to meet and discuss this in more detail at your convenience and look forward to the discussion.

Sincerely,
Jeff Leigh
Chair, Vancouver UBC Local Committee, HUB Cycling
Vancouver@bikehub.ca