The Oak Street-Granville Street Corridor

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oak_Street_(Vancouver) , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXbUb7TMj6k

The Oak+Street-Granville+Street+Corridor are both 6 lanes wide for most of their lengths. Thus, this is mostly a 12 lane street corridor and is much less disruptive than if a 10-12 lane freeway had been pushed through in the 1950s or 60s.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granville_Street , https://storeys.com/vancouver-granville-street-entertainment-district-history-renewal-planning-program

The yellow line is set for 3 lanes each way. However, if it was moved over 1 or 2 lanes, then there could be 4 or 5 main lanes one way & 1 or 2 lanes the other way. 

The Oak+Street+Bridge+and+Granville+Street+Bridge are still part of an incomplete corridor.

An improved 8 lane Granville+Street+Bridge with double-width sidewalks could have still worked, if there had also been a wide bike & foot bridge built next to it. Then, a roughly new paralel bridge next to the 4 lane Oak+Street+Bridge could have allowed for an 8 lane crossing there. Four lanes of Granville_Street southbound over the Fraser River and 4 lanes of Oak_Street northbound.

Unfortunatly 2 lanes were removed from the Burrard+Street+Bridge (BSB), 2 lanes removed from the Granville+Street+Bridge (GSB) and 1 lane from the Cambie+Street+Bridge (CSB). That didn't have to happen if a bike bridge was built next to the BSB and the GSB. While the east side of the Cambie-Street-Bridge has a nice, wide sidewalk, there wasn't enough foresight to also have a wide sidewalk on its west side. However, that narrow sidewalk could still be built out to be nice & wide so that the CSB can be restored to 6 lanes. 

When a city & metropolitan region mostly has narrow bridges, removing lanes or not having enough is utterly foolish! Case in point... https://www.pattullobridgereplacement.ca Instead of 2 bus & 2 HOV lanes, everything will be initially funneled into just 2 lanes each way. https://www.pattullobridgereplacement.ca/about/projectoverview Two nice sidewalks & 2 nice bike lanes, but no emergency lanes or bus lanes, right from the start. Its another classic BC bottleneck in the making. Since the SkyTrain doesn't run on a 24hr basis, 24hr bus lanes are essential, but that would go against the congestive planning methodology that is backwards BC.

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Oak+Street+and+Granville+Street

Oak Street Bridge and Granville Street Bridge

While Oak+Street continues over the Fraser River as a bridge, there is no Oak+Street+Bridge (OSB) over F. Creek. The city foolishly never even allowed for future clearance for a bus & bike bridge over F. Creek. From the Fraser River to F. Creek, Oak Street should have been mostly for northbout travel.  

Right now, the Oak+Street-Granville+Street+Corridor has 12 lanes. That's because they are both 6 lane streets. Simply by moving the centerline over one lane, they each can provide 4 lanes one way & 2 lanes the other way. A reconfiguration of 4+2 lanes or even 5+1 lanes.

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Granville+Street+Bridge

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Oak+Street+Bridge

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Oak+Street+Bridge+and+Granville+Street+Bridge

North end of Granville Street Bridge

 https://canada.constructconnect.com/joc/news/projects/2024/09/north-end-of-granville-bridge-roadway-reopens

The 1950s Granville+Street+Bridge (GSB) should have at least had a provision for a lower deck.

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/granville-bridge-north-end-reopens-vancouver-connector

A lower deck would have been great for extra bus lanes and potential LRT, but this is backwards BC.

https://vancouversun.com/news/traffic-alert-north-end-granville-street-bridge-reopen-monday

Since no bus & bike bridge was even built right next to it, the bridge is being scaled down to 6 lanes, from 8. That might not have been necessary if there was an Oak Street Bridge (OSB) over F. Creek, not just over the Fraser River. An OSB over F. Creek could have been a bus & bike bridge with wide sidewalks as well.

https://vancouver.ca/news-calendar/north-end-granville-bridge-reopens-transit-into-downtown-sep-2024.aspx

The 8 lane GSB becomes a revamped 6 lane bridge with 2 bike lanes & 2 sidewalks.

https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/vancouver-granville-street-bridge-construction-detours-closures-timeline

If the bridge eventually has 2 express bus lanes, there will only be 4 general traffic lanes.

https://granvilleisland.com/news/transportation-updates-on-granville-bridge-city-of-vancouver

Unfortunately, the 8 lane Granville_Street_Bridge_(1954) wasn't designed to have a lower level. That wasn't the case with the 12 lane Ship+Canal+Bridge in Seattle. Fortunately, the Vancouver bridge was never connected to a city freeway, where as the Seattle bridge was. Vancouver should have opted for a better major street & bridge arrangement. 

There was never any follow-up to have a new and improved Fraser+Street+Bridge (FSB). A modern FSB could be a nice bus and bike bridge with wide sidewalks & a potential for streetcars. Unfortunatly, backwards Vancouver, BC seems uninterested in building something like the Tilikum+Crossing in Portland.

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Oak+Street+and+Granville+Street

Several Vancouver narrow bridge issues

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/metro-vancouver-bridge-cyclist-wire-allegations

Someone might have been very angry with bike people and not with car, bus & truck people. The real problem is that so much of the older BC infrastructure just wasn't designed to be more of a multi-modal crossing. The+Lion+Bridge+and+The+Iron+Bridge have no rail rapid transit crossings to help them.

The Ironworkers-Bridge is so narrow for a highway bridge in that location & wasn't designed for substantial future capacity. When it was initially designed in the 1950s, there was no concept to have 2 bus lanes, 2 HOV lanes, 2 truck lanes & 2 emergency lanes for a port city. Plus, at least 2 general traffic lanes each way & a provision for 2 train tracks. Thus, the 6 lane bridge is so overwhelmed, because it just can't do the job of an 8-10 lane wide bridge. While the Iron Bridge has 2 improved bike+lanes, they are part of the sidewalks.  

The former 8 lane Granville+Street will have 6 lanes, while the  & Oak+Street only has 4 lanes. The inadequate Oak+Street+Bridge (OSB) should have opened with at least 8 lanes, instead of only 4. Plus, 2 wide emergency lanes & 2 wide sidewalks. There still should be a new southbound OS Bridge, but the city would be against it. A narrow 4 lane bridge just doesn't have the space & capacity for 2 express bus lanes, 2 HOV & 2 truck lanes. Apparently, it's better to just funnel everything into only 2 lanes each way.  

The OSB should be twinned or replace with something like the Samuel-De_Champlain_Bridge in Montreal. The largest city in Quebec is allowed to have a nice wide bridge & long metro trains, because Quebec isn't bound by anything like the backwards BC mentality. 

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-montreals-new-44-billion-champlain-bridge-opens-to-traffic-for Fortunatly, the Vancouver mentality wasn't able to ever reach back to Montreal & prevent such a nice modern bridge from being built there. https://www.flatironcorp.com/project/champlain-bridge If you are from Montreal & have visited Vancouver, you will be surprise to see how much shorter an underground Vancouver train station is than what is allowed underground in Montreal, Toronto, Edmonton, Seattle, SF & LA...

https://vancouver.ca/streets-transportation/granville-bridge-connector.aspx A bike & foot bridge should have been built next to it decades ago. Then the Granville Bridge could have 3 general lanes each way, plus a bus & HOV lane each way. Instead, if 2 bus & HOV lanes are designated, there will only be 2 general lanes each way in the downtown core.

The Burrard Bridge should have had a bike & foot bride next to it. Instead, it was reduced from a 6 lane crossing to a 4 lane bridge.

The very narrow Oak+Street+Bridge & the Knight Street Bridge, should have had bus+and+bike+bridges built next to them decades ago. 

Most bridges in Vancouver & the metropolitan region just weren't designed with that much future capacity in mind, especially for buses & HOV lanes. Thus, it's a travesty that by now, almost every crossing should have had bus & bike bridges built next to them. 

https://vancouver.ca/streets-transportation/walk-bike-and-transit.aspx Unfortunatly, provisions for bus & bike lanes just weren't the thing to do several decades ago in BC.  

A truck lane is just as important as a bus & HOV lane. That's because freight should be efficiently & easily be transported in any major urban region.

https://vancouver.ca/streets-transportation/trucks-commercial-and-oversize-vehicles.aspx

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Oak+Street+and+Granville+Street

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Iron+Bridge 

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Lion+Bridge

From Granville-town to Vancouver City

Somehow Granville was never allowed to become much more of a grand street downtown. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granville_Street#History

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/Streetcars_at_Granville_and_Robson.jpg

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-then-and-now-granville-street-photos

https://heritagevancouver.org/top10-watch-list/2010/4-downtown-granville-street/

https://onthisspot.ca/cities/vancouver/granville

There should have been a wide Granville+Street+Bridge over the Fraser River, in addition to the GSB over F. Creek. Then 4 lanes of Granville+Street could be for southbound traffic and 4 lanes of Oak+Street for northbound traffic.

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Granville

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Oak+Street+and+Granville+Street

A Richmond encampment under the Oak Street bridge

 https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2025/11/19/growing-calls-to-clear-richmond-encampment 

Of course any neighborhood will be concerned when a bunch of people are living under a bridge and wandering around.

Living under a bridge is hardly affordable housing. There needs to be proper secure housing with plenty of security and staff to help people who are stuck living outside. 

That bridge is so narrow and inadequate. 

SW-Vancouver needs a proper transportation upgrade. Granville Street should be extended across the Fraser River on a parallel bridge to the Oak Street Bridge (OSB). Then, the 2 bridges could provide 4 general lanes each way. Plus, another 4-lane parallel bridge to accommodate 2 BRT lanes and 2 HOV lanes. 

Or, a totally built a new version of the Oak+St+Bridge that could provide 6 lanes northbound. Then, a Granville Street extension could provide 6 southbound lanes onto a new OSB. Four general lanes each way, plus a rapid bus lane each way & 1 HOV lane each way. 

For the most part, the Oak+Street-Granville+Street+Corridor has 12 lanes. A yellow paint strip designates 3 lanes each way. Instead, Oak could have 6 northbound lanes and Granville could have 6 southbound lanes. The 5th & 6th lanes could be for the Oak & Granville BRT lane & HOV lane on complete one way streets.

Unfortunately, the OSB remains as a 4 lane traffic bottleneck or chokepoint. 

The 2009 Canada (embarrassment) Line is still only using 2 car trains in 2025. A proper big city YVR-Canada Line should have been started with 5 car trains. Unfortunately, this joke of a train is only designed to ultimately run a 2.5 car train, someday. 

This stunted infrastructure approach is so absurd. Transportation planning in the most populated parts of BC is so inadequate, but its all part of backwards BC symbolism. The symbolism is all about showing a thwarted or watered down a city can be. Narrow bridges and short trains are some of the best ways to increase congestion and inefficiency in backwater BC.

The narrow bridges of Vancouver, Canada

https://montecristomagazine.com/community/forgotten-bridges-vancouver

The LGB just wasn't designed with any future capacity in mind. 

History of the Lions Gate Bridge https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHqi7Kijedw 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lions_Gate_Bridge#History

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/Lions_Gate.jpg 

The inadequate 3 lane LGB is currently the most narrow road bridge in backwards & stubborn Vancouver. It's been in that category since the removal of the 2 lane Fraser Street Bridge in the 1970s. There was a refusal to twin the absurdly narrow LGB between the 1950s & 1970s. By the 1980s there should have been a subway tunnel and an 8 lane tunnel. Then two of the lanes could have been for buses. Georgia+Street is 7 lanes wide as it gets closer to Stanley Park. Thus, the main part of a tunnel through the park could have provided 3 general lanes each way & a bus lane each way. Instead, the 7 lanes of the westernmost part of Georgia Street are funneled into a 3 lane causeway & a 3 lane bridge. The LGB would be fantastic as just a bike & foot crossing, with train, bus & road tunnels well beneath & beside it.    

The Burrard_Bridge, BB or  BSB opened with 6 lanes, but now it only has 4 lanes. There are 2 bike lanes & 2 sidewalks. Had a parallel bike-bridge been built, the BB could have still had 6 lanes. While the BB has a lower level provision for streetcars or tram-trains, Vancouver did its damndest to phase out streetcars well before the 1960s. 

The Ironworkers_Memorial_Bridge has 6 lanes, but should also have had 2 wide shoulders & 2 very wide sidewalks. Unfortunatly, there was no provision for a lower deck, as is also the case with all of the other Vancouver  bridges. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ironworkers_Memorial_Second_Narrows_Crossing

Any replacement of the inadequate Ironworkers+Memorial+Bridge should be on the scale of what Perth, Seattle and Montreal have done.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granville_Street_Bridge#Third_bridge_(1954)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=vPSdF0jRTC4 The Granville-Bridge or GSB is the widest bridge in the city limits. It opened with 8 lanes, but is being transformed into a 6 lane bridge with 2 bike lanes & 2 sidewalks. Had there been a paralel bike & foot bride, the GSB could have still been 8 lanes wide. Then there could have been 2 exclusive bus lanes.

https://vancouver.ca/streets-transportation/granville-bridge-connector.aspx

The Oak Street Bridge should have been 8 lanes wide, with 2 wide sidewalks.

The Knight+Street+Bridge should have been 8 lanes with 2 wide sidewalks. Instead, its a 4 lane chokepoint.

The Arthur+Laing+Bridge should have been at least 6 lanes with 2 proper bike lanes & 2 sidewalks.

If the Cambie_Street_Bridge had 2 very wide sidewalks, then its likely that it would still have 6 lanes instead of 5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambie_Bridge#The_present_bridge

Unfortunatly, bottleneck or chokepoint planning is part of the Vancouver & BC mentality.

Of course BC & the Metro+Vancouver Region just hasn't put enough funds and effort towards proper big-city planning & infrastructure development. 

If Perth+and+Seattle had to conform to the extremely restrictive Vancouver approach to things, those cities would be in a perpetual state of chaos. Fortunately, nothing like the BC Mind Virus has ever reached WA.

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Oak+Street+and+Granville+Street