You dont have to bumble very far back through the blogosphere to find critics of the plan to remove Vancouvers viaducts. Heres how Grumpy leads off: What a colossal waste of the taxpayers money. The Vision(less) Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Council, nor do city bureaucrats have a clue what they are doing. Where will the cars go?
That was typical of the ridicule Vision Coun. Geoff Meggs attracted back in 2009 when he first took the lead on the removal of these two remnants of a previous councils attempt to run a freeway through the heart of the city. But in those few years, public attitudes have changed or at least matured. Of the 600 comment sheets left at open houses on the issue, 69 per cent supported the concept of removing the viaducts.
Meggs became interested in the impact of the viaducts when he lived in Strathcona back in the 80s and the neighbourhood created a community garden south of the heavily travelled Prior Street. Most of the residents lived to the north.
Years later, Meggs recalls, he was working for former mayor Larry Campbell and spoke with city planner Larry Beasley, who considered the viaducts and their impact a regrettable problem that was basically a lost cause.
Not long after that, architect Big Thom put together a daylong workshop of experts looking at the viaducts who concluded there was no good reason to leave them standing.
During Meggss first term as a councillor he flew a trial balloon in the form of an article in the online newspaper the Tyee advocating their removal and the rest, as they say, is history.
City staff that was at first skeptical now exudes enthusiasm. A plan that was considered, at best, something to consider 15 years down the road was framed by staff in a presentation to council this week as something that can be proceeded with immediately. And as for that plan; it was originally considered something that would affect a few short blocks but now is seen as a catalyst for the future of Vancouvers eastern core, which includes Chinatown, Strathcona and Grandview-Woodland.
It is described as a project that will reconnect neighbourhoods, advance the citys goals of creating more affordable housing, support the expansion of green space and move people from cars into what are preferred modes of transportation including biking, walking and public transit.
Opponents may have viewed the council presentation as a done deal. It is far from that. Although, while the chronic kvetchers in Strathcona will persist, regardless of when and if the viaducts come down, that neighbourhoods main complaint will be resolved with a number of traffic calming strategies. We will see a Malkin connector that will divert traffic not just from Strathcona but also from Grandview-Woodland.
The sea change in thinking is rooted in the results of a competition run by the city during the last civic election to re-think the area around the viaducts. Experts were brought in to judge the entrants and the public also voted online. The clear winner was a submission that included input from Beasley and the late Vision councillor Jim Green. The big idea that turned city staff on was their proposal to remove the viaducts and connect Georgia with Pacific Boulevard.
The city also knew that when the viaducts were closed for two weeks during the 2010 Olympics, traffic actually ran better, to say nothing of the relief on Strathcona and Grandview-Woodland, and neighbourhoods to the east.
There are still a lot of unanswered questions. Thats why city staff and council have a delayed a decision until the fall. It will give everyone time to catch their breath and gather more public input for what will be the most significant development decision in the citys recent history.
And while Grumpy will still be grumpy, you can bet Meggs is feeling pretty good about it.
