In 2016, after a four-year engagement process, the City approved a community plan for the area – which included specific directions that aimed to “keep the vibe of the Drive.” Central among these was a policy to develop a “complete street” that would better serve – more safely, more equitably – the needs of all modes of travel. Following the adoption of the Plan, the City started to undertake work to implement it – though the process was put on pause.

This coming week, a motion on the floor of Council seeks to roll-back this important policy and replace it with something crafted by the local Business Improvement Association.

While there is merit in some of the ideas contained in the motion, much of what’s being asked for is already accounted for in the approved policies. So what is the difference? Without explicitly saying as much, the BIA concept erases the proposed north-south protected bike lane contained in the approved community plan.

This isn’t the first time the BIA has tried to challenge city policy on this item. However, where their previous efforts were tied to a questionable survey, the latest effort reflects a subtler attempt at erasure – one that is branded in aspirations for a “pedestrian first” experience on a “European style street.”

We think the motion, as it currently stands, is problematic. Last week, the VPSN Board of Directors wrote to Mayor and Council to suggest key ways that the motion could be strengthened – by prioritizing the implementation of existing policy, sharing City work to date… and, yes, drawing on relevant ‘complete street’ precedents from Europe and elsewhere.

An excerpt of the letter, outlining the VPSN’s recommended amendments is found below. You can also find the Council motion here.

Recommended Amendment #1:
Prioritize the implementation of the approved Complete Street policies for Commercial Drive

There is no need to reinvent the wheel on Commercial Drive. After 4 ½ years of engagement and deliberation, the City produced a solid and defensible policy for the street as part of the Grandview-Woodland Community Plan. Included were a series of directions related to reimagining Commercial Drive as a “Complete Street.” These policies sought to balance objectives related to local and destination shopping, city-wide and neighbourhood transportation needs, safety for vulnerable road users, and the importance of public space and public life.

Notwithstanding its focus on pedestrian life, the current motion would effectively dial back the approved policy and replace it with something less safe for cyclists, and potentially less viable from a transit perspective. The accompanying cross-section in – ironically, in a neighbourhood that has one of the highest proportions of cyclists in the city.

Cross-section from BIA Proposal

Of course, improving pedestrian infrastructure, and ‘re-scaling’ the south half of the street are important objectives, but they are also accounted for in the approved policy. Improvements to the Drive need to support all modes of transportation, while prioritizing north-south connections for walking/rolling and biking and transit along the length of the street.

In summary: The BIA vision should not supersede the City’s own work in this regard. Sections A and B of the current motion should be amended in order to prioritize the implementation of the City’s policy – including reactivating work that was paused in recent years.

A busy Commercial Drive sidewalk. (Photo: Kimba Howard)

Recommended Amendment #2:
Provide an overview of the work completed to date – including options for Complete Street designs

As noted by the previous General Manager of Engineering Services, engagement was paused so that “City staff could undertake further technical analysis and technical design development of a Complete Street” (Link). This additional work was intended to respond to goods movement considerations, questions about parking, and other concerns raised by the BIA.

The present motion provides a clear opportunity to showcase the work that has been undertaken. While early engagement presented some general ideas and principles around the implementation of a Complete Street, it is clear from the City’s communications that initial work to develop design concepts has been started. A report-back that shares these materials would help Council – and the public – to understand the various considerations and trade-offs that exist, and allow a fulsome discussion to take place. This report back could also provide a means to showcase some of the more recent interventions that have been delivered as part of the City’s COVID response – including temporary patios, Room to Queue, and other initiatives.

In summary: Council should add an additional section to the current motion requesting a report back on the work undertaken by staff – including technical analysis and concept designs – related to the Commercial Drive Complete Street policies.

The Commercial Drive neighbourhood is home to lots of cyclists. Photo by Roland Tanglao

Recommended Amendment #3:
Seek opportunities to celebrate Italian culture and/or “create a European-style street”…by looking to actual multimodal European streets

Commercial Drive is an eclectic, multicultural neighbourhood, but we understand that one of the intentions of the motion is to further support earlier work around both the Little Italy designation, the “Italian piazza” motion (which we supported), and the opportunity for “a European-style street.”

We feel that one merit of this aspect of the motion lies in its the opportunity to explore European precedents that support slow streets, improved public life, and a safer experience for visitors and locals alike. (We note, though, that there are other national and non-European international complete streets precedents that could also be investigated).

Both prior to, and now in response to the pandemic, numerous cities in Europe have focused efforts on the creation of safer streets for pedestrians and cyclists. The effort here is to create greater mobility equity for residents, while providing improved opportunities for mental and physical health, access to daily needs, and safe commuting.

While cities like Amsterdam and Copenhagen are already well-known in this regard, other cities like Paris, Berlin, and Barcelona have come to the fore for their efforts to improve conditions for people walking, rolling and biking. There is also important work being undertaken in Italian cities. Rome and Turin are two examples that are now making their ‘temporary’ walk/bike improvements permanent, and Milan has, via its Strade Aperte initiative, has initiated one of the most ambitious road reallocation projects in Europe – with a proposed network of over 35km of bike lanes, expanded sidewalks, and gathering areas. The initiative is being implemented in a number of areas across the city, including key shopping streets like Corso Buenos Aires and Corso Venzia.

Diagram from Milan’s Strada Aperte (Open Streets) policy.

Our point? If the City wants to support an Italian or European-style “corso” then let’s at least make it one that follows contemporary approaches to transportation and public space planning in Italian and other European cities. (Side note: as someone of Italian heritage, and who has spent a lot of time in Italy, I can tell you that cycling is a deep and meaningful part of Italian culture – and this cultural connection to la bicicletta could – and should – be a major selling point of a street redesign that includes infrastructure for walking, biking, and public gathering). How about the Commercial Drive Strada Completa?

In summary: Council should amend the motion to direct staff to explore Italian (and European) precedents for complete streets as part of overall project design and implementation.

Bike lane in Utrecht, Netherlands (Photo: Melissa & Chris Bruntlett)

Recommended Amendment #4:
Include other public space and mobility organizations in future information sharing and consultation

Component “C” of the current motion calls for staff to support the BIA proposal with a variety of partners. We feel that staff should, instead, use this opportunity to affirm support for the priority implementation of approved City policy with these partners.

As further stakeholder and community engagement on this will be required, we support outreach to the organizations named in the motion, but request that the list be amended to include our organization, as well as other organizations that have important perspectives on sustainable transportation, and the opportunities presented by the Commercial Drive Complete Street Project.

In summary: Council should (a) amend part C of the motion to reference support for the approved Commercial Drive Complete Street policies, and (b) where additional outreach and engagement is required, also include the following organizations:

• Vancouver Public Space Network
• Car Free Vancouver
• HUB Cycling
• Better Environmentally Sound Transportation (BEST)
• Commercial Drive Streets for Everyone

In our opinion, the proposed Framework actually helps to ground earlier policy found in the City’s Transportation 2040 Plan (2012), it’s Renewable City Strategy (2015), and, more recently, neighbourhood planning initiatives such as the Grandview-Woodland Community Plan (2016). Still, despite the fact that the Complete Streets approach makes a lot of sense (for health, safety, economy and environment… to name just a few of the reasons), the concept is still one that has generated debate in some neighbourhoods.

With that in mind, we took the opportunity to write to Mayor and Council, again offering our support for this work – along with a few suggestions on ways to tighten up the document. An excerpt of our letter follows.

[We are] writing … to offer our support – and three suggestions – related to the Complete Streets Framework.

As an organization, we believe wholeheartedly in the idea of streets as places – that is, streets that are as much about getting from point A to point B, as they are about opportunities for lingering, gathering, strolling, people-watching and more. Given that the average city devotes about a third of its land base to its street network, this makes the question a particularly significant one from a public space perspective.

The idea of “complete streets” is not new. Cities around the world are taking a second look at how streets are being used, how different modes of transportation are emphasized (or not), and what this means for questions of equity around the allocation of space. One of the key realizations is that, in many cases, the scales have been tipped disproportionately in favour of automobile use. The challenge this poses for pedestrians is illustrated rather poignantly by Swedish artist Karl Jilg (see feature image).

The same sort of illustration might also be rendered for cyclists or public transit users.

We support the Complete Streets approach because we think it helps address a fundamental question of rebalancing road space. We want to be clear about one thing though: this is not an “anti-car” stance; rather it is a pro-equity position.

However, we would offer the following suggestions for improving the Framework and Principles discussed in the Council report:

1. Further emphasize the importance of streets as public space. This principle needs to foreground the discussion – because this ensures that streets are seen as sites of vibrant cultural possibility and thriving public life.
2. Ensure a specific reference to supporting goals of social justice. Complete Streets need to be accessible and inclusive to everyone – regardless of economic status, life circumstances, etc. The phrase “all ages and abilities” only goes part way to meeting this need – particularly in a city were more people are on the streets because that is the only choice they have.
3. Include reference to the support system that enables streets to function as public places. Complete streets need seating, water fountains, bathrooms, weather protection, and other infrastructure to support public life.

To this end, we wish to reiterate our support for the City’s work to support Complete Streets policy on Commercial Drive (Grandview-Woodland Plan), in the new False Creek Flats Plan, and in other planning programs currently underway.

Lastly, we recognize that re-balancing the scale towards a more just allocation of road space will take many years, requiring both incremental improvements on some streets and more significant design changes on other streets. We are in support of associated changes to the Street and Traffic By law, where they help facilitate local and incremental improvements, advancing towards a more complete street network. This can help enable and expedite infrastructure improvements dedicated to people walking, taking transit and cycling. These activities, however, should always be done in consultation with the local community and other stakeholders that may be affected.

The VPSN has been involved since the beginning – participating in workshops, presenting to the Citizens’ Assembly, and monitoring the way in which public space issues were being handled throughout the plan. (In the interests of disclosure, we’ll note that VPSN Director Andrew Pask was also the lead City planner for this initiative, so we were fairly certain that public space issues would be on his radar!)

In advance of the Plan going to City Council, our Board of Directors met to review the draft document. We prepared a letter outlining our support of key policy initiatives around complete streets, streets as places, and the creation of new and enhanced plazas and parks. An excerpt of the letter follows.

The Vancouver Public Space Network was a contributor to the development of the Grandview-Woodland Community Plan during the community plan team’s outreach on the topics of transportation and public realm. We’d like to briefly touch on parts of the plan which hold promise and which we feel will benefit current and future residents both in this area and of the city generally.Complete streets

Complete Streets

The VPSN has previously appeared before council to support Transportation 2040, the plan update to the City of Vancouver’s 1997 Transportation Plan. We are glad to see that the Grandview Woodland plan reflects Transportation 2040’s commitment to supporting active transportation through emphasizing complete streets in Grandview Woodland. The principle of complete streets ensures that the balance between different modes of travel, the varying needs of members of the community, and the role of the neighbourhood within the region can be addressed while also addressing the risks associated with using our roads.

Protected Cycling Facilitiesling Facilities

Given the important social, economic and environmental benefits of higher levels of cycling, and the significant mode share already found in Grandview Woodland, we commend the City’s continuing commitment to completing the City’s protected bike network to better connect cyclists with destinations like Commercial Drive. We urge the City to continue its work in mitigating conflicts between different road users while also building infrastructure that makes safe travel for all ages and abilities using active modes convenient, enjoyable and efficient.

Where possible, we also encourage the City to partner with local business owners and members of the community to continually gauge and quantify the impact in a holistic fashion, and to share this information as much as possible with the public and other neighbourhoods as we continue to pursue our Greenest City and Green Mobility goals.

Streets as Places

Given the important civic role they play, VPSN is heartened to see streets recognized as places.

This important type of public space has been undervalued over the past half century; major commitment will be necessary to renew it. Further, we support the development of the innovative “shared spaces” strategic streets. The fact that the plan also accounts for the potential that these spaces become car free is a resilient strategy. VPSN also finds the plan’s focus on placemaking encouraging. The gateway features are a smart way to encourage a greater sense of place, while the enhancement of streetscapes in shopping areas are likely to improve the public realm and support local merchants. We also strongly endorse the support for community initiated public spaces and look forward to the outcomes.

A commitment to increasing the number of street trees is a valuable first step; we recommend further setting a clear target in the number of trees planted to add clarity and certainty to this effort. The mention of laneways of places is also promising; similarly, we welcome a stronger assertion of the importance these spaces play in the larger overall vision of public space for Grandview Woodland, as well as the other contributions they might make to social life and local economic activity in the area.

Plaza and Park Improvements – Grandview-Woodland Plan.

Plazas and Parks

The emphasis on quality of plazas and other public spaces is another positive aspect of the plan. Quantity is not the only metric on which to measure the success of public space. In Grandview-Woodland, there is a need for more public space, but there is also great demand for greater quality in these spaces. Having noted this, we also find the commitment to create new plazas to be a very positive step as well. We hope that all five new plazas suggested in the plan come to fruition.

[…]

The long journey to this final draft of the Grandview Woodland plan is one more milestone in the broader unfolding story of this dynamic area. We welcome the opportunity to work with the City as it moves to put into action and bring to reality the ideas put forward in this plan.