City of Vancouver staff have unveiled their designs for temporary paths that will be built throughout the Arbutus greenway in the coming months.
When work crews started to pave the former rail corridor this summer, the city was slammed with criticism by some residents who decried the use of asphalt in the green space. Jerry Dobrovolny, the city’s general manager of engineering, halted the effort and sparked a consultation process.
Two months and five workshops later, the plan is still to pave the greenway. But it’s not quite that simple.
The corridor will now be split into five sections and each will receive one of three configurations of walking and biking paths.
For example, the sections from Fir Street to West Broadway and West 16th to 33rd will each get a four-metre-wide asphalt path with a painted line to segregate cyclists and walkers. But they’ll also receive a two-metre bark mulch path for pedestrians who don’t like walking on pavement.
Staff plan to consult on the longer-term future of the greenway in December.
