Final designs for 10th Avenue to be presented to council

The final designfor acontentious transportation re-vamp on 10th Avenue will be presented atcity council today.

The corridor spans Oak Street to Cambie Street and serves as a critical access route to Vancouver General Hospital. It's also the second busiest bike route in the city according to the City of Vancouver, 500,000 cyclists use it every year. It's alsoa well-used walking route.

Initial proposals for the stretch included a separate bike path along the route, but seniors and disability advocates said such a lane would eliminate much needed metered parking in the area.

After consultations, the city has come up with a revised proposal that Councillor Heather Deal says will make the route safe for everybody.

"Our staff has spent a lot of time and come up with a design that not only got the approval of the health authorities but also of our city advisory committees on disability and for seniors."

Colleen McGuinnesswith the Seniors Advisory Committee for the City of Vancouver was initially critical of the project, saying it put the safety of cyclists ahead of the safety of patients trying to get to the hospital and nearby clinics.

She says she's pleased with the changes.

"We know that they've come a long way and we're hopeful with good design elements that this will be an area that continues long into the future as a medical precinct."

The plan currently includes the following:

• Create a specific "hospital zone" through signage and pavement markings.
• Install new sidewalks, shorter crossings, marked crosswalks, lighting and other improvements.
• Create better pick-up/drop-off areas for patients.
• Improve the area's general visitor parking.
• Increase the number of disabled parking spots.
• Improve alternate bike paths so people have reasonable ways to bypass the hospital zone.
• Install raised uni-directional protected bikes lanes on both sides of 10th Avenue.
• Create a one-way block from Cambie Street to Ash Street to reduce vehicle volume.
• Install new bus stops for the #17 bus.
• Retain permit parking and where possible reassess this block to Oak West residential parking permit zone.

If approved, construction is scheduled to begin during the fall and winter 2017.

Listen to Councillor Heather Deal on CBC's The Early Edition