City of Vancouver opens public discussion on future of Broadway corridor

The City of Vancouver launched a two-year consultation process Wednesday to gather public input on the future of the Broadway corridor as it plans to build anew subway line.

City planners said the building of theBroadway Subway provides significant new opportunities for redevelopingthe neighbourhoods and streets around the busy thoroughfare.

"By putting the heavy mover of people under the surface we have an opportunity to reinvent what Broadway itself looks like as a major street," said Gil Kelley, the city's general manager for planning.

Construction of the subway line connecting VCC-Clarkstation to Arbutus Street is expected to begin next year and last five years. The line will then be extended to the University of British Columbia.

Broadway Plan

Planners will use public feedback tocreatea long-term plan for the area ranging east-west from Clark Drive to Vine Street and north-south from First Avenue to 16th Avenue.

Kelley said the exact nature of the plan is undetermined at the moment, but priorities for the city includebuilding new market and below-market housing, protecting existing rental stockand enhancing opportunities for local businesses.

"We have no preconceptions about what the plan ought to be except that it needs to acknowledge there will be a subway in that corridor," said Kelley.

"So the engagement is quite wide open."

The consultation begins with an online survey and five open houses to be held over the next two weeks. The open houses will be held at the following locations:

• March 7, 3-7 pm at City Lab, 511 West Broadway
• March 8, 3-7 pm at City Lab, 511 West Broadway
• March 9, 12-4 pm at City Lab, 511 West Broadway
• March 13, 3-7 pm at Kitsilano Neighbourhood House, 2305 West Seventh Avenue
• March 14, 3-7 pm at Kingsgate Mall, 370 East Broadway

Economic opportunity

Jerry Dobrovolny, the city's lead engineer,says thesubway line connectingVCC-Clarkstation toArbutusStreet will unlock economic opportunities for businesses in what is the second largest population and employment centre in B.C.

"We've known for over a decade that transportation was really constraining us," saidDobrovolny.

When the subway opens sometime in 2025, it's expected to carry the equivalent of 24 lanes of street traffic, said Dobrovolny.

Some in the city have expressed concernabout the impact ofincreaseddensityon things like rental prices.

"One of the chief concerns is how we protect renters and how we protect rental stock even as we add more," said Kelley.

There are already protections in place for rental buildings but Kelley saidthere's room to get tougher with policies placing conditions on future development.

"There's a potential to go quite a few steps beyond where we are now," said Kelley.