VANCOUVER'S BIKE ROUTES INTRODUCTION PAGE

  Thanks to the leadership of the Mayor and city councillors over the past decade and the willingness of the local, provincial and federal taxpayers the City of Vancouver now has over 125 Km of designated bike routes and green ways and more are being introduced each year. While the Burrard Bridge issue is still unresolved - i.e. just how to enhance the cycling opportunities on this well used civic structure and the City hasn't yet been able to take out parking spots or traffic lanes in the downtown core - most of the rest of the City is well served by this designated routes and in many neighbourhoods local traffic calming - i.e. deterrents to short cutting rush hour traffic have created many other relatively safe biking areas.THERE ARE NOW TWO MORE BIKEWAYS OFFICIALLY DEDICATED AND IN USE: THEY ARE MOSAIC - A SHORT CONNECTOR ROUTE FROM THE ADANAC BIKEWAY THAT RUNS SOUTH TO CONNECT WITH THE BC PARKWAY AND LAKEWOOD BIKEWAYS NEAR TROUT LAKE AND PORTSIDE - THE MOST RECENT ROUTE OPENED OFFICIALLY IN JUNE 2000. IT RUNS FROM THE SECOND NARROWS BRIDGE AND CONNECTS WITH THE SUNRISE AND LAKEWOOD ROUTES - IT PRIMARILY FOLLOWS TRAFFIC CALMED WALL STREET THROUGH EAST VANCOUVER AND ON A CLEAR DAY TAKE A FEW MOMENTS AND STOP AT ANY OF THE NUMEROUS MINI PARKS AND ENJOY THE VIEWS OF THE HARBOUR AND THE NORTH SHORE MOUNTAINS.
        On the following pages will get a brief description of these routes - I have grouped most of them in three or four loops - this is definitely an arbitrary process and is done as this is the way that I usually do these rides.

        For the most part all trips will generally start in the Downtown core or from the nearby Science World site and will start in the north and head south and the east west trips in either direction - while all trips except the Seaside route which is flat have hills to climb - none are that difficult for even the most beginner or riders.

        All the designated routes now have cyclist operated traffic controls at most major crossings.

        Here is a listing of the various routes, their mileage, year constructed and estimated cycling time - all distances are in Kms and are one way .
 
 
 

ROUTE NAME

YEAR OPENED

DISTANCE (KM)

EST. TRAVEL TIME

BC PARKWAY *	1986	8.5	35 MIN
SEASIDE	1990	26.9	90 MIN
ADANAC	1993	5.7	25 MIN
CASSIAR **	1993	1.7	8 MIN
OFF-BROADWAY	1994	8.3	35 MIN
FRASER LANDS	1994	1.9	10 MIN
ONTARIO	1995	6.5	28 MIN
CYPRESS	1996	8.6	35 MIN
HEATHER	1997	3.0	12 MIN
LAKEWOOD	1997	1.9	10 MIN
SW MARINE DR	1997	5.4	20 MIN
MIDTOWN	1998	13.5	55 MIN
RIDGEWAY ***	1998	2.5	12 MIN
SUNRISE	1998	9.8	40 MIN

NOTES

1. * Vancouver portion only - this route continues all the way to New Westminster station along the route of Skytrain.

2. ** Short connector route from Adanac to the Second Narrows bridge.

3. *** Ridgeway follows the same route as Midtown for most of the way - mileage is for the separate east end portion - the western portion connection to Off Broadway is not yet finalized but is easy to follow.

4. Travel times are taken from the City of Vancouver biking guide - your actual ride will probably be longer .

Information complied here from the City of Vancouver Cycling guide - 1998 -1999 Guide.
 
 

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Composed by the urban trekker.com on March 13, 1999 and updated on JUNE 19, 2000

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