Group 1
Redacted to protect personal info
Group 2
After waking up too early for a Saturday morning, I went down to Devonian Park for the walking tour. Above is the notes staff took from two of three walking tour groups. While there were 3 groups of roughly a dozen people each, the tours were all the same. Afterwards, everyone was encouraged to either fill out a comment form on the spot, or to attend the open house later on in the day. One major fact I learned was that the counter-flow lane on Georgia is controlled by the city according to a timed schedule, while the Lion's Gate portion is controlled by the province and monitored so it can be switched to reflect traffic volume. There is also a counter flow lane for a short amount of space on Pender, which really just feels like an autobody shop had a hand in that design.
The agenda from the city seems to be the following:
No Roads being turned into bike lanes
1. Perhaps most importantly to some on here, there will be no closure of car/transit lanes to implement bike lanes. Rather, they will be located in setback for the streetcar. There will be a oneway bike lane on both the north and south sides of Georgia.
2.There's a clear awareness that there is too much signage, and that it needs to be cleared up.
Pender and Georgia intersection to Change
3.Another big change are the plans to alter the Georgia + Pender Street intersection. No longer will it be that silly triangular intersection. Rather, Pender will have a new elbow-turn to allow for a T-intersection, as well as additional space for the flag courtyard. Keep in mind, this is one of the worst intersections in the city, so it is likely anything will improve the situation.
4.The public space/access on the North side of Georgia, between Cardero and Denman, will be improved to create a better indication that it is actually public space.
5.The counter flow lane on Pender will be eliminated. Why this existed in the first place is beyond me!
The BIG ONE!
6.The counter-flow lane on Georgia Street will be eliminated.
Instead, the lane will be converted into an East bound HOV lane. I know this is going rustle feathers here, but I honestly feel it has the potential to allow for faster commutes, better transit stops, and a lowering of crashes. This should really help remove confusion and the distractions of this stretch of road. Bonus is that it will make this stretch more of a Gateway, as the view of the corridor will no longer be blocked by rows of counter flow indicators.
All of these ideas found support in the two groups whose opinions I was aware of. These groups were a mix of cyclists, pedestrians, and firmly committed single family car users. I think the general feeling was that this stretch of road is soo horrible, trying anything is an improvement over what currently exists.
Later I'll post photos of the comments from the open house, most of which expressed concerns related to personal complaints rather than a desire to improve the area.
Disclaimer: Remember, these were my impressions of the agenda of city staff. It is possible that I was given the wrong impression, and that the city isn't desiring these outcomes. Alternatively, it could be that I was sleep deprived and completely misread the tone of the event. In short, don't scream in joy or anger yet.