The Viaducts Removal Plan

The Viaducts Removal Plan The City of Vancouver's Viaduct Removal Plan shows a direct road connection maintaining, not reducing, traffic onto residential Prior Street. There are no traffic-calming measures proposed for residential Prior Street in this plan. Strathcona demands immediate Prior Street traffic-calming. This must be included in any Viaducts plan. Strathcona Residents 01

The History of the Viaducts & Strathcona 1958 City planners declare Strathcona a slum. "Urban renewal" to demolish 600 homes and businesses and clear 30 acres to build a freeway and housing projects. Proposed Downtown Freeway STOP THE FREEWAY! 1968 Grass-roots resistance. Local residents form the Strathcona Property and Tenants Association (SPOTA) to fight City of Vancouver plans to build a freeway through Strathcona. They are joined by hundreds of Vancouver residents who successfully thwart plans to bulldoze large parts of Gastown, Chinatown and Strathcona. By this time, however, the City had already demolished 15 blocks of Strathcona. Federal funding is withdrawn from the freeway plan. The City of Vancouver proceeds with construction of the Georgia and Dunsmuir Viaducts anyway, ignoring Strathcona's concerns. 1972 The Georgia and Dunsmuir Viaducts are opened creating a 40 year traffic nightmare for Strathcona and a freeway to nowhere. Their construction eliminates Vancouver's historic black neighborhood, Hogan's Alley. 2010 The Georgia and Dunsmuir Viaducts are closed for Vancouver's Winter Olympics. Results are huge reduction of traffic on Prior; commuters and goods movement find alternate routes; evidence that Vancouver functions just fine without Prior Street. 2010 Councilor Geoff Meggs solicits Strathcona's support for a study on the future of the Viaducts. Prior Street traffic-calming is discussed as an expected outcome of removal or repurposing of the Viaducts. SPOTA members 2011 Strathcona is an active participant in The City of Vancouver's Viaduct and Eastern Core Process. Prior Street traffic-calming is brought up at every stakeholder meeting and community outreach event. 2012 The City of Vancouver reveals its Viaduct Removal Plan. It shows a direct road connection maintaining, not reducing, traffic on to Prior Street. There are no traffic-calming measures proposed. 2012 The Strathcona community is outraged. Strathcona mobilizes to demand of city staff and city council immediate inclusion of Prior Street traffic-calming in any Viaducts Plan. I couldnt understand why this huge freeway flew five blocks and landed at the doorway of our neighbourhood and pumped cars both ways. It amputated part of Strathcona. Councilor Geoff Meggs, former Strathcona Resident, Co-op Radio, June 26th, 2012 02

The Problem with the Viaducts Plan 40 years of unacceptably high levels of traffic directed along residential Prior Street creates danger, health risks, ugliness, and separation of Strathcona's geography. The City of Vancouver's Viaduct Removal Plan continues to maintain unacceptably high levels of traffic directed along residential Prior Street. What good is removing the Viaducts if their legacy of traffic, danger, noise, division, and ugliness is permitted to remain in Strathcona? Strathcona Resident's Association Letter to CoV, June 2012 03

What's Wrong? with the Viaducts Plan Shows traffic maintained, not reduced along Prior Street. Prioritizes traffic planning over the health, safety, and livability of Prior Street and Strathcona. Fails to act on Strathcona's repeated Viaducts and Eastern Core Stakeholder request for traffic-calming Prior Street as a condition of any Viaducts Plan. Shows wanton disregard for Strathcona's history of struggle against freeways, the viaducts, and traffic. The City's explanation that it "would not support an option that increases vehicles on Prior Street." is unacceptable. It does not acknowledge that the current level of traffic on Prior Street is intolerable. Fails to acknowledge that building the Viaducts created an intolerable traffic problem for Strathcona; removing them should solve it. Misses the opportunity to make good on 40 years of promises to provide traffic relief to Strathcona and Grandview-Woodlands. Missing important data. The Eastern Core Study must be completed before Council decides on the future of the road network and the Viaducts. Fails to design for transportation trends, fewer cars, and modal shift. Fails to be forward thinking: a road for today's traffic, not tomorrow's. Fails to implement important City policies that recognize the needs of people and community over automobiles. Some of these include Greenest City 2020 and Transportation 2040. Building the viaducts created the problem. Removing them should be the way to solve it. Strathcona Resident 04

Street Design What about trends? Walk Bike Transit 33% 2040 33% 34% Drive Driving is declining at a faster rate that predicted. To reflect transportation trends and CoV policies, Prior Street should be designed for pedestrians, bikes, transit, and reduced car traffic. Vancouver City Council Transportation Policy: "City council has set a list of transportation priorities...in the following order: pedestrian, bicycle, transit, movement of goods, and private automobile." The CoV's Transportation 2040 Plan acknowledges that car traffic into downtown has been steadily decreasing over the past 20 years, transit trips have risen 50% in ten years, and that 2/3 of trips will be by foot, bicycle, or transit by 2040. The Viaducts Plan proposes maintaining current car traffic volumes on Prior Street. Why? City of Vancouver, Transportation 2040 City of Vancouver, Transportation 2040 Traffic across the Georgia and Dunsmuir Viaducts has been declining for 15 years. www.geoffmeggs.ca The number of vehicles entering downtown has declined to 1965 levels. CoV Transportation Engineer, Steve Brown, http://pricetags.wordpress.com We've been planning as though we can't live without cars. We have almost killed our cities in the process. Peter Newman 05

Un-safe Street Prior Street carries 15,000-25,000 vehicles per day. Prior Street was not designed; it just happened. Prior Street is a residential street. Residential streets typically have only 1 lane of traffic and 2 parking lanes. Prior Street has 4 lanes of traffic. This comes at the expense of any green verge. Prior Street has sidewalks that are too narrow. Prior Street has sidewalks that are located too close to traffic. Prior Street motorists routinely exceed the speed limit. Prior Street motorists routinely run red lights. Prior Street motorists routinely lose control of their vehicles. Prior Street cyclists' and pedestrians' lives are at risk. Prior Street has dangerous intersections and road configurations causing considerable loss of life, injury, and property damage. Prior Street is home to 3 seniors residential facilities. Prior Street must be crossed by children, families, and seniors to access Strathcona Park and Strathcona Community Gardens. There have been 177 casualties on Prior Street between 2007 and 2011. ICBC data, casualty = deaths and injuries 06

Un-healthy Street Air pollution from busy roads linked to shorter life spans for nearby residents. Truck traffic linked to childhood asthma. The quality of our air affects the health of our community, particularly young children, pregnant women, seniors, and other vulnerable populations. The City of Vancouver Greenest City 2020 Action Plan Lung function reduction among children more likely if living near truck traffic. Asthma more common for children living near freeways. Pregnant women who live near high traffic areas more likely to have premature and low birth weight babies. Traffic-related air pollution associated with respiratory symptoms in two year old children. People who live near freeways exposed to 25 times more particle pollution. Children living near busy roads more likely to develop cancer. Most traffic-related deaths are due to air pollution, not traffic accidents. Emissions from motor vehicles dominate cancer risk. Georgia St Prior St Malkin Av Cancer risk higher near major sources of air pollution, including highways. Compiled by the Environmental Law and Policy Center and the Sierra Club 250 yard health risk zone. 2000 people at risk. Children living within 250 yards of streets or highways with 20,000 vehicles per day are six times more likely to develop all types of cancer. Pearson et al. (2000) Journal of Air and Waste Management Association 07

Un-Livable Street By maintaining arterial traffic flow onto Prior Street, the Viaduct Plan makes "traffic manageability" a priority over "livability". The City of Vancouver's Greenest City 2020 Action Plan states: "Streets, public spaces, and neighbourhoods should be vibrant places that are alive with people, plants, and activities...cities that focus on moving people rather than cars have more vibrant public spaces, which provide richer cultural experiences and more opportunities for social interaction." Ugly. Prior Street has none of these qualities. It is a dangerous, dirty, ugly street dominated by traffic noise. Busy streets routinely produce noise of 80 decibels or more. That is 100 times as loud as normal speech. Sustained exposure to 100 decibels can result in hearing loss. Canada Mortgage and Housing (CMHC) considers outside noise levels above 55 decibels to be unacceptable for housing. Interior noise levels above 35 decibels is considered unaccceptable. Noisy. It is not possible to converse normally within 50ft of Prior Street. Prior Street residents cannot exercise their "right to the peaceful enjoyment of their property". Studies have linked excessive noise to: Dirty. Decreased wellness. Chronic stress / anxiety. Chronic sleep deprivation. Impared attention, memory, and cognition in children. Decreased productivity. Heart disease. High blood pressure. Stroke. Prior is a residential street - a loud, dirty, ugly dangerous residential street. Strathcona Resident 08

The Solution An Incremental Approach Strathcona recommends that The City of Vancouver immediately undertake a process to provide Prior Street traffic-calming. The process would establish priorities, studies, planning, budgeting, and completion dates. Traffic-calming Prior Street has always been linked to the completion of the Malkin Connector. But after 40 years, the Malkin Connector is still not built. It is time to abandon this failed all-or-nothing approach. COST Strathcona recommends the adoption of an incremental approach made up of a series of steps where cheap and easy steps would come first. Traffic relief would come to Strathcona almost immediately. Other traffic-calming and amenity improvements would follow incrementally over the next months and years, culminating in the completion of the Malkin Overpass and the Malkin Connector. An incremental approach would allow parts of the proposed Malkin Connector to be built now, providing an alternate route for goods movement and east-west traffic. No step in the process would preclude, or be dependent upon, the uncertain future construction of the $50M Malkin Overpass. PARKING 30Km/h ZONE TRIAL CLOSURE MOVE TRUCKS ALTERNATE ROUTE BIKE ROUTE BULGES MALKIN AVENUE GREENWAY MALKIN OVERPASS TIME Restore human legs as a means of travel. Pedestrians rely on food for fuel and need no special parking facilities. Lewis Mumford, Sociologist and Urbanist 09

Step 1 Re-instate Parking short term (weeks) Key Benefits: Cheap and easy. Reduces traffic speeds and volumes. Every time we have set a target for reduced vehicle use, we surpass it sometimes decades ahead of time. Gordon Price, City Program Director SFU, Former Councilor, City of Vancouver 10

Step 2 30km/hour Zone short term (weeks) Key Benefits: Cheap and easy. Reduces traffic speeds and volumes. Precedents: School zones, Bike routes, Hastings Street. Slow down, you move too fast. Simon & Garfunkel 11

Step 3 Trial Curb Lane Closure short term (weeks) Key Benefits: Cheap and easy. Reduces traffic speeds and volumes. Tests efficacy of 2 traffic lanes, greenway. Precedents: Olympic Lane Closures, Dunsmuir Bike Lane, Hornby Bike Lane. Whenever we reallocate road space to other modes - bikes, pedestrians, transit - bad things fail to happen. Gordon Price, City Program Director SFU, Former Councilor, City of Vancouver 12

Step 4 Move Truck Route short term (weeks) Key Benefits: Cheap and easy. Recognizes the need for goods movement. Puts the truck route where the trucks are. Reduces noise, pollutants, and danger on Prior. ON PRIOR ST. ON MALKIN AVE. Trucks in Strathcona, Michael Alexander, May 2010 Community members have brought forward a terrific idea which is to see if truck traffic can go to Malkin now... we could see traffic relief with very modest investments while we wait for senior funding to do the (Malkin) overpass. Councilor Geoff Meggs, Coop Radio, June 26, 2012 13

Step 5 Alternate Route National Ave. medium term (months) Key Benefits: Cheap and easy. Recognizes need for traffic flow. Utilizes existing street grid. Reduces noise, pollutants, and danger on Prior. Main St Raymur Av Clark Dr Prior St National National Avenue Looking East to Clark Drive There's a very simple solution a couple of hundred yards away. Strathcona Resident, Reclaim Prior, June 26, 2012 14

Step 6 Connect Malkin Avenue medium term (months) Key Benefits: City's preferred route and alignment. Facilitates construction of Malkin Overpass. Recognizes need for traffic flow. Utilizes existing street grid. Reduces noise, pollutants, and danger on Prior. Main St Malkin Av Raymur Av Clark Dr Prior St Malkin Avenue Looking East to Clark Drive It is appropriate and timely for residents to push for increased traffic calming and clarity on the Malkin Avenue option. Councilor Geoff Meggs, Letter to Libby Davies MP and Jenny Kwan MLA, June 29, 2012 15

Step 7 Adanac Bike Route to Prior medium term (months) Key Benefits: Moves bike route off of design-challenged Union Street. Moves bike route on to Prior Street. Facilitates construction of Greenway. Reduces noise, pollutants, and danger on Prior. We are also proposing sufficient right of way along new Pacific and the widened portion of Prior from Main to Gore, to accommodate a potential future relocation of the separated bike facility from Union/Adanac to Prior/Venables, allowing for a possible greenway on Venables. CoV, Prior FAQs, June 2012 Main St Prior St Union St Raymur Av Clark Dr The City prioritizes cycling, walking and public transit as preferred modes of transportation. City of Vancouver 16

Step 8 Pedestrian & Bus Bulges medium term (months) Key Benefits: Well understood by engineering. Reduces traffic speeds and volumes. Prioritizes pedestrians and transit users safety. Facilitates construction of Greenway. Beautification. Portland, Oregon, Green Streets Program City of Vancouver Green Streets Program, Blenheim Street Bulges are one of the tools available to the City and the community to control vehicular traffic and increase safety to pedestrians by reducing the crossing distance between curbs. City of Vancouver City policy is to make cycling and walking more safe and convenient and to support fast, frequent and reliable transit service. City of Vancouver 17

Step 9 Prior / Venables Greenway long term (years) Key Benefits: Well understood by engineering. Supports modal shift to pedestrians, bikes, and transit. Reconnects Strathcona to its park. Provides amenity to Strathcona, Grandview, the City. Reduces noise, pollutants, and danger on Prior. Beautification. CoV Goals of a City Greenway are: Make walking more interesting Make cycling safer and more convenient Reduce the impact of the car Make the Greenway "greener" Use public art to make the Greenway more interesting Proposed Prior Street Greenway Proposed Venables Greenway, GWAC 2005 Vancouver's Greenways are pedestrian and cyclist corridors through the city that connect parks, nature reserves, cultural features, historic sites, neighbourhoods and retail areas. City of Vancouver 18

Step 10 Build the Malkin Overpass long term (years) Key Benefits: Completes the Malkin Connector. Provides traffic and goods movement. Provides traffic relief to Strathcona and Grandview. Main St Clark Dr For Comparison - Powell Street Overpass Total project cost is estimated to be $50 million Funding provided as follows: Prior St Port Metro Vancouver - $19.5M Transport Canada - $18.5M CP Rail $4.5M TransLink - $3.75M City of Vancouver - $3.75M Malkin Av Malkin Overpass The Malkin Overpass has been talked about for years - nobody knows when it will be built. Gerry Dobrovolny, City of Vancouver, Director of Transportation 19

To Council Strathcona Demands That That That That That That That That That Prior Street be made safe. Prior Street be made healthy. Prior Street be made livable. the Eastern Core Study be completed and the Viaducts Plan be revised to include its findings before Council makes a decision on the Viaducts. Prior Street traffic-calming be included in any Eastern Core Plans. Prior Street traffic-calming be included in any Viaducts Plans. Prior Street traffic-calming begin now. No more waiting for the Malkin Connector or Malkin Overpass to be built; get the work done in steps. Council direct staff to adopt an incremental approach to Prior Street traffic-calming per Strathcona's "Reconnect Strathcona - ", and that council include this work in the next capital budget. Council move the Malkin Connector up the City's agenda and include it in the next capital budget. We can't afford to keep sacrificing the assets of the City for the sake of traffic. Arthur Erickson, Architect, 1967 20