bike lanes in downtown vancouver

As the weather has been nice and I've been back cycling again for a few weeks, I've been commuting downtown to work on a somewhat regular basis. It's between a 12 to 20 minute ride, depending on how hard I go and how challenged I am by Joe Commuter, looking to race me down Cornwall or up Burrard's little hill after you come off the bridge (on a good day I can almost make green-wave on the lights until Nelson).

Burrard has recently undergone a transformation and repaving, with the addition of a southbound bike lane appearing out of nowhere. They made the lanes skinnier all the way across et voila, we can now ride from Cordova at the north end all the way down to the Burrard Bridge in the (perceived) safety of a bike lane.

Northbound, Hornby St is home to a bike lane, running down to Hastings. The only problem with this lane is getting to it from the Burrard Bridge. You come off the bridge, hit a rough patch of paving, then have to dart across 3 lanes of traffic to get into the left hand turn lane (with filtered green light) before going up a little hill. Not ideal.


The Burrard Bridge/Hornby left-hander nightmare

Or you can come off the Burrard Bridge as normal, head up the hill to Drake, hang a right, then a left onto Hornby. Either way, it's nice to have an actual painted bike lane cutting through downtown Vancouver.

A detailed analysis of the Hornby St bike lane is available from the VACC. As is one for Burrard St.

Of course, the poop will really hit the fan (already has) when they turn the outer most lanes of the Burrard Bridge into bike lanes sometime in the near future. It's a gutsy move. I'll enjoy it when I'm riding, probably curse it when I'm stuck in traffic trying to get downtown on a day when I need my car, waiting for 30 minutes to get across a bridge that takes 15 minutes to walk across...