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More bike lane anguish, this time on Drake

October 14th, 2010 · 61 Comments

Some realized it early and others didn’t, but the Hornby bike lane also extends along Drake for a block to carry riders over to Burrard and then along Burrard to get them onto the bridge. As well, there are some streets that are not Hornby that will be impacted to get cyclists to the seawall.

We heard from businesses on Hornby. Now the anguish begins elsewhere, as evidenced by this email passed on to me.

I was shocked to learn that the bike lane being constructed on Drake Street, between Hornby and Burrard is being built on the south side of Drake Street. VR 1183, 950 Drake Street is a strata-title residential building of 150 suites that only has access for moving in and out of the building from the loading zone on Drake Street. If you take away our only access to the building there will be no way to move in and out. No loading zone for seniors either. If fact, access is already blocked by the construction crews on Drake Street. Somebody has made a huge error in the disclosure and planning for this bike lane. We must have access to the street to move in and out. It also appears that the bike lane will block access to the common area courtyard which various trades need access to for critical maintenance work and fire department may need access to for the whole Anchor Point complex, which is bounded by Pacific, Hornby, Drake and Burrard….Lawrence McGillivray, strata manager VR 1183, 950 Drake Street, Vancouver

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  • Lewis N. Villegas

    Political work is important, Bill. Good luck with that.

    However, we are still going to need a process that can deliver ‘reasonability’ (facts) in a ‘supportive planning environment’ (consultation).

    Can you imagine a 7-day charrette that involved the neighbourhoods or quartiers touched by the Hornby Bike Lanes, put the lanes on the table, as well as everything else?

    Not just that, but a process that brought together talented designers to work with a set of principles that had been vetted in advance with the community at large, and posted on a Bulablog-like site where we all could comment.

    At the end of the charrette a public presentation of concepts would take place.

    One month later when the “Urban Code” would be published, a community dialogue convened where 160 people could sit down in one room, community leaders and special guests included, cameras rolling, and discuss the plan in detail for a couple of hours.

    What are the odds we would get better results?

    We could do one for Marpole and put the Gateway Tower on the table, along with the other proposals at the Safeway site and up and down Cambie.

  • Bill McCreery

    @ Lewis 51.

    Something like that would be terrific but, don’t think it’ll happen with this Council.

  • Joe Just Joe

    Wonder if the following is part of the reason for the switch of sides. If so at least they are consulting with future residents. 😉 Sucks to be a current one though.

    “Proposed Application: Reliance Properties Ltd. and Jim Pattison Developments Ltd. are seeking to rezone 1252 to 1290 Burrard Street and 1229 to 1281 Hornby Street from DD (Downtown District) to CD-1 (Comprehensive Development) District. The proposal is for a 3-storey automotive dealership, 13-storey office building, and 2-storey retail building along Burrard Street, and two commercial and residential towers of 48 and 36 storeys with a 7-storey commercial and residential podium along Hornby Street. The proposal also includes a number of public amenities. The rezoning would increase the permitted density from a maximum floor space ratio (FSR) of 5.50 to 11.36. A maximum height of 466’ for the 48 storey tower is proposed.”

  • Resident of 950 Drake St

    To all those posting on here sarcastically commenting on a “freak out” of comments:
    I’d love to see your reaction if you lived in this buiding, a building where a fire truck will no longer be able to pull up, no longer will moving day be fun as they will not be able to pull up either. Perhaps the saddest scenario is the 4 elderly ladies who get picked up by the handi-dart to go to church several times a week and now have to walk a block and half to be picked up safely.
    l voted for Mayor Robertson this election but will not be doing so in the next one.
    To have a massive concrete barrier on a small residential street is insane- SHAME ON THE CITY OF VANCOUVER!

  • Richard

    @Resident of 950 Drake St

    Go look at Dunsmuir Street. There will be no massive concrete barrier, only a small curb. Fire trucks will have no problem pulling up or even driving over the curb if needed.

    Please learn the facts. If you are not sure, phone 311 and ask someone at the city.

  • Bill McCreery

    @ 950 54.
    Well said. Don’t take 55’s comment seriously, he’s just trying to minimize your comment. Your point is still valid concrete barrier or curb &, they’re not just curbs, they’re curbs combined with concrete planters.

    Are you in touch with your strata? Why don’t you all & 1333 Hornby, etc. come out to the 1304 Hornby 31 storey, 196 unit @ 75% parking just like we’ve got, spot rezoning hearing tomorrow night & let Council know what you think. Phone 873-7011 to get on speakers list.

  • Richard

    @Bill McCreery

    Well, first of all, the planters are plastic and movable if need be. I expect firemen would have no problem if they needed to move them.

    If the residents would rather not have the planters by the building, they could ask the city to remove them. It would be no big deal from a cycling point of view.

    Lets try and at least get accurate information out there Bill.

  • R.C

    Strata Council for the Drake Street address has already asked City Council to consider not putting in the planting boxes. In fact requested that they do not do so.

    The Strata council has also drawn up 3 alternative plans that they feel all residents could live with. These plans were submitted to City Council for review and all have been turned down to date.

    That strata is not against bike lanes, simply very unhappy with the way the street has been designed and how it has impacted the residents living along Drake Street. Members of the Real Estate community have already said this will make their job of selling a unit at 950 Drake Street much more difficult.

    Now that one is able to finally see how Hornby Street between Drake and Davie has come together, that design is a perfectly livable solution. Bike Lane, a row of parking and still allowing for the current two way traffic. Is that to much to ask.

    The Strata at 950 Drake Street is trying to work with the city, but do not seem to be getting anywhere.

    A huge point in all of this, is that that residents of Drake Street were NOT notified of a public hearing in regards to the development of this lane. Decisions were made without the input of 150 residential units that are directly impacted by it. The City says postcards were delivered to that address and this is simply Not True!

    In an issue this important to those residents one would have thought the city would have used Canada Post to post such postcards to each resident ensuring they got them, as was the case with the recent mailing of flyers for the Pattison Development.

    As one City Councilor wrote on Oct 13:
    “Thank you for your letter. I am unaware of a bike lane on Drake but will look into it with our Engineering department. I agree, one cannot block the loading zone if one indeed is going there!”
    Warm regards,

    And on Oct 15:
    “I do have the Council report with the correct information that was voted on. The confusion was that the engineering drawing on the website was not updated to take into account the change.”

    City Council voted on this project. There is concern over the actual plan they approved.
    City Council looking an an outdated plan!

    This is a city council elected by the residents of this City. And a city council that seems to have selective hearing.

    As previous stated:
    “The current Council is not interacting with the communities throughout the City in a ‘reasonable’ manner & are not providing a ‘supportive environment’. In our democratic system the constructive way to improve that @ the point of constipation we currently find ourselves is to engage in the political process.”

  • Bill McCreery

    Rik 57, sorry, a planter is a planter, concrete or tacky, ugly plastic & it’s the same physical barrier. You’re playing with words again.

    Another point in all this is that these ‘temporary trials’ are being done with jackhammered poured concrete curbs, hardly what one would use for a ‘trial’ if one were doing a ‘trial’. Precast concrete parking stops would do the job for a real ‘trial’ quite nicely @ a fraction of the cost. This is just another example of the insulting insincerity of this Council’s entire conduct in this matter.

  • R.C

    One of my huge concerns is simply feeling the tax payers of Vancouver have no voice. The Mayor says he wants to hear from us, but the I come across this link:

    http://www.citycaucus.com/2010/07/vision-vancouver-arrogance-exposed-in-off-guard-moment

    Have a look at that link, and watch the video. It is hard to believe. Seems this went viral very quickly but if I had not seen it before many others have not seen either I am sure.

    This is beyond belief.

    http://www.citycaucus.com/2010/07/vision-vancouver-arrogance-exposed-in-off-guard-moment

  • Another Redident of 950 Drake

    Knowing that the bike lane was proposed to be on the north side of Drake St.and changed without notice to the residence of Anchor Point sounds a little fishy, now after receiving in the mail today a proposal of rezoning for a new build of Two New High Rises from 1252 to 1290 Burrard St. and 1299 to 1281 Horby St (aka Jim Pattison Toyota lot). Proposed by Reliance Properties ltd and Jim Pattison Development Ltd? Just makes me wonder how much did the City Gov. know about this and is that why the small guys again have to suffer for the Big Corporation? Not only do we get a bike lane we didn’t want, now the city will be taking away our Privacy and Views.

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