The city improves accessibility as the area becomes increasingly residential
Sun
CREDIT: Mark van Manen, Vancouver Sun City crews direct traffic off Cambie Street south of Georgia. Cambie is one of three one-way streets in the downtown area that change to two-way traffic on Saturday.
VANCOUVER – Increasing residential density in the southeast corner of downtown Vancouver is behind the switch of three streets from one-way to two-way traffic, effective this weekend.
The longest stretch of new two-way will be Homer Street, with seven blocks between Pacific Boulevard and Georgia Street opening up. Homer was previously northbound only.
Five blocks of Beatty Street between Nelson and Pender — also previously northbound only — will become two-way, while four blocks of Cambie Street between Dunsmuir and Nelson — previously southbound only — get the two-way treatment.
Signs noting the upcoming changes were posted April 29 and will remain in place until Aug. 31.
Downtown transportation engineer Doug Louie said Monday the changes are part of the city’s downtown transportation plan, and are aimed at improving the livability of the area.
“More people are living downtown, so the streets are becoming more residential,” he said. “Because of that, it’s not simply the fast movement of vehicles across these particular streets that is necessarily key to the health of the area.
“If you have friends coming over, they should be able to get to you as conveniently as possible, and two-way streets would do that for them.”
Last year, three Gastown streets — Cambie, Abbot and Carrall — were converted to two-way use, and Louie said no problems or accidents ensued.
“It was well-received, and things went smoothly,” he said. “We expect the same thing this time around.”
He said the city has been getting the word out with advertising and the increased signage to alert motorists, cyclists and pedestrians to the changes.
© The Vancouver Sun 2005