Vancouver city council has voted overwhelmingly to close two of the six lanes on the Burrard Street Bridge to motor vehicles – turning them into dedicated bike lanes.

The closure will begin next April on a one-year trial basis. But it will be reviewed after six months.




Council's decision follows a public hearing Tuesday morning which heard strong opposition to a city staff recommendation to widen the outside of the old bridge – to accommodate cyclists and pedestrians.

City council has struggled for years with how to make the Burrard Bridge safer for people on foot and riding bikes, who currently share the two sidewalks – with painted dividing lines to keep them separate.

The chair of the Transportation and Traffic Committee, Fred Bass, says this is his happiest day on city council. But he says he knows there will be complaints.




"There will be motorists who want to cut my throat, I'm sure of that. But I will say to them, that number one, we want motorists to move as smoothly as possible, as quickly as possible," he says.

"This is not to get in the way of motorists. But this is to make maximum efficient use of the roadway."

The same experiment was tried for several days in the 1990s. triggering a loud outcry from motorists.

City council is also considering widening sidewalks – either inside or outside the current bridge structure – at a cost of $13 million. But that decision is expected to remain on hold until council deals with the results of the lane closure experiment.