New pedestrian and cyclist bridge above railway proposed for Brentwood in Burnaby

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/burnaby-brentwood-pedestrian-cyclist-overpass-proposal Not just in backwards Vancouver, but throughout the Greater Vancouver Region, is a lacking of bike and foot bridges. Of course there also needs to be a regional network of bus and HOV bridges. So many of the existing bridges are too damn narrow. 

Bus, Bike and Footbridges

 https://www.tbtechno.com/en/portfolios/pergola-viaduct-of1-4b-bus-hov-lanes/ 

https://stvinc.com/project/verrazzano-narrows-bridge-bushov-lane-implementation-design/ 

https://seattletransitblog.com/2025/01/29/wsdot-hov-overview/ 

https://bikeportland.org/2017/05/11/is-it-time-for-more-bus-only-lanes-in-portland-228020

https://vancouver.ca/streets-transportation/bus-network-improvements.aspx

https://ipvdelft.com/bicycle-bridges/

https://www.arch2o.com/10-amazing-bridges-passageways-bikes/

https://hansonthebike.com/2017/07/11/dutch-bike-bridges/ 

https://mtc.ca.gov/operations/regional-trails-parks/san-francisco-bay-trail/explore-trail/bridges-bay-trail 

https://mtc.ca.gov/operations/programs-projects/bridges/san-francisco-oakland-bay-bridge/bay-bridge-east-span-path

https://www.curbed.com/2021/04/brooklyn-bridge-bike-lane-narrow.html 

https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/the-brooklyn-bridge-is-finally-getting-a-bike-lane-before-the-end-of-the-year-040921

https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/tri-city-news-archive/news/new-bridge-bike-path-needs-better-access-hub-3014166

https://www.asiarealestatesummit.com/pedestrian-bridges-and-infrastructures-that-connect-public-spaces-and-other-stories/ 

https://www.benesch.com/project/43rd-street-pedestrian-bridge/

https://surfarchitecture.com/a-new-suspended-pedestrian-bridge-over-the-water-in-toronto

https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/581364-longest-enclosed-pedestrian-bridge 

https://www.mediaoffice.ae/en/news/2025/september/14-09/rta-builds-six-new-pedestrian-and-cyclist-bridges-across-major-dubai-roads

https://www.conteches.com/bridges-structures/truss-and-girders/continental-pedestrian-bridge/

Gentala Arasy Pedestrian Bridge

 https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g297724-d8822261-Reviews-or10-Gentala_Arasy_Pedestrian_Bridge-Jambi_Jambi_Province_Sumatra.html 

Another nice type of bridge that would be great in Vancouver, but isn't allowed.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=6381435988563389&set=p.6381435988563389&type=3 

Vancouver, Burnaby and NW all should have have at least 1 of this type of bridge.

https://www.indonesia-tourism.com/forum/showthread.php?52240-Gentala-Arasy-Bridge-Jambi 

Why build a few bridges like this in Vancouver when lanes can be removed from the existing bridges?

https://elements.envato.com/moving-drone-footage-gentala-arasy-pedestrian-brid-WXCLQPZ

Pedestrian bridges are great, but bus, bike & foot bridges are even better. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jambi_(city)#Transportation

Bike and Pedestrian Bridges

 https://www.cnv.org/streets-transportation/transportation-projects/casano-loutet-overpass 

https://www.fastepp.com/portfolio/kingsway-pedestrian-bridge/

https://www.burnabynow.com/local-news/19m-highway-1-pedestrian-bike-overpass-in-burnaby-nears-construction-7522221 

https://www.burnabynow.com/local-news/burnaby-shows-what-highway-1-pedestrian-cyclist-overpass-will-look-like-5254294 

https://www.burnabynow.com/local-news/burnaby-planning-for-pedestrian-bridge-over-highway-1-3099072

https://vancouverbikeguide.com/top-five-vancouver-cycling-bridges A regional network of foot, bike & bus bridges would help to reduce the strain on the mostly narrow bridges of Greater Vancouver.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/pedestrian-and-bike-bridge-proposed-for-false-creek-1.800643 Unfortunatley, this never happened. Apparently, it was better to remove 2 lanes from the Burrard Street Bridge instead. 

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/granville-connector-bridge-walking-cycling-pathways

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=bike+and+pedestrian+bridges

The South Bow River Bridge in Calgary

https://www.alberta.ca/south-bow-river-bridge Being from backwards Vancouver, its difficult to grasp how Calgary was able to twin the South-Bow-River-Bridge. Not only are there 8 lanes, but at least 2 emergency lanes. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoney_Trail#Lane_count In BC, it was tough enough just to have 2 waggon roads side by side. Then to eventually have a bridge the width of 4 waggon roads or 4 carriageways, was amazing. Fortunately, Calgary has progressed so far beyond the 1800s & the early 20th century.

https://www.alberta.ca/calgary-ring-road , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dhrataYz5E

https://majorprojects.alberta.ca/details/Stoney-Trail-SE-Bow-River-Bridge-Widening-Pedestrian-Bridge/4312 There have been a lot of complaints as to why it took so long to compleate this project. While backwater BC notoriously takes longer to get things done than Alberta usually does, there might have been an issue with the river. Still, after any environmental assessment, the construction project should have gone faster.

https://www.on-sitemag.com/bridges/alberta-to-spend-70m-to-replace-south-bow-river-bridge-in-calgary/1003970064/

https://www.renewcanada.net/south-bow-river-bridge-project-receives-70-million/

https://www.on-sitemag.com/construction/alberta-awards-contract-for-final-277m-segment-of-calgary-ring-road/1003968938/

https://westringroad.ca/bow-river-bridge , https://calgaryringroad.com/tag/alberta-highway-201

A fantastic foot and bike bridge is close by and unlike in Vancouver, lanes were added, not removed. Indeed, the Calgary footbridge and The+Helix+Bridge in Singapore were never used as an excuse to remove any lanes from other bridges. The same for the Jubilee+Bridge.

https://www.highway99tunnel.ca/frt-current-work The environmental assessments while necessary, have pushed this BC infrastructure project to at least 2030. https://www.highway99tunnel.ca/project-overview-frt Several decades ago, another tunnel or bus & bike bridge should have already been built. https://www.highway99tunnel.ca/transit-cycling Unfortunatly, when the first tunnel was built, there was no concept to have 2 bus & 2 bike lanes with 2 protected walkways. No need to have 2 wide emergency lanes with a future clearance to allow for 2 truck lanes, given that this is supposed to be a major seaport region. Just funnel everything into 2 lanes each way, whenever possible.

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

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=bike+and+pedestrian+bridges

A proposed car-free transformation of the Granville Entertainment District

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/granville-strip-entertainment-district-master-plan-vancouver-proposal

This was supposed to be a surface transit mall, but now there is a desire to just have it as a pedestrian mall.

https://storeys.com/vancouver-granville-street-entertainment-district-history-renewal-planning-program/

Granville_Mall should have been designed to eventually have an underground bus, streetcar or tram-train level, several decades ago. The current GSB should have been modified to have a lower transit deck. Unfortunatly, each version of the GSB wasn't designed to have a lower deck. 

The First Granville Bridge: 1889-1909:

Just getting a basic bridge across the creek was challenging enough. Thus, there was no reason for the-first-Granville-Bridge to have a provision for a lower level for such a provincial backwater.

The Second Granville Bridge: 1909-1954:

The 21st century was too far away for backwards Vancouver to think big, so the 2nd Granville-Street-Bridge was also designed with no provision for a lower deck & wider sidewalks.

The Third Granville Bridge: 1954 – Present"

The 3rd Granville-Bridge also had no provision for a lower deck for public transit in the 1950s. Since it was intended to be an expressway bridge for a cancelled city freeway plan, there was no need to have wide sidewalks and a lower-deck for streetcars or tram-trains. Unfortunatly, no one seriously considered that the 2nd Granville-Bridge should have been kept as a streetcar or bus and bike crossing, with widened sidewalks. Indeed, the two bridges could have worked well together.

https://placesthatmatter.ca/location/granville-st-bridge 3 strikes & this Vancouver bridge is out, not quite. The reconfigured GSB loses 2 lanes, but gets 2 bike lanes & wider sidewalks. Unfortunatly, still no lower deck for a potentially revived streetcar line. Vancouver was one of the first cities to get rid of its streetcars in the 1950s and will be one of the last cities to revive them. Of course Seattle & Portland would reinstate some of their streetcars long before slow-moving Vancouver ever will. 

The inadequate Queensborough Bridge in BC

 https://x.com/DriveBC/status/1523759813179494401 

Just another backwards 4 lane BC bridge with narrow sidewalks & no emergency lanes. There is no traffic safety divider or barrier & of course no provision for bus & HOV lanes. Thus, its a classic bottleneck or choke point. If such an inadequate bride were in Australia or the US, it would have been duplicated or twinned by now.  

Two 4 lane bridges would allow for 2 lanes each way, plus 1 bus lane & 1 HOV lane each way. A newer bridge would also have enough room for a wide bike path as well as wide sidewalks. This really should be a 10 lane crossing, bust at least 8. Only for lanes today is such a sad joke.

Fortunately, the NYC QB was built on a grand scale, right from the start.

The Queensboro_Bridge, or the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge in NYC, is a fantastic 9 lane wonder from 1909. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queensboro_Bridge#Description

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queensboro_Bridge#Levels

https://www.ascemetsection.org/committees/history-and-heritage/landmarks/queensboro-bridge

https://www.webuildvalue.com/en/infrastructure/queensboro-bridge.html

https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2023/05/23/not-again-queensboro-bridge-pedestrian-path-delayed-til-mid-2024 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0Ivfo0DCpw

If the QB only had four lanes, it would have been twinned decades ago.

Cool Pedestrian and Bike Bridges

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibbs_Street_Pedestrian_Bridge Portland 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helix_Bridge Singapore

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provencher_Bridge#The_pedestrian_bridge Winnipeg

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=bike+and+pedestrian+bridges

foot and bike bridges

 

https://www.austintexas.gov/page/mopac-mobility-bridges , https://www.traillink.com/trail/mopac-mobility-bridges , https://thedailytexan.com/2017/07/28/mopac-bike-bridge-stunning-but-plays-hard-to-get-to

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Mopac+Mobility+Bike+and+Pedestrian+Bridge/@30.237778,-97.8112173,653a,35y,39.18t/data=!3m1!1e3!4m13!1m7!3m6!1s0x8644b599a0cc032f:0x5d9b464bd469d57a!2sAustin,+TX,+USA!3b1!8m2!3d30.267153!4d-97.7430608!3m4!1s0x865b4b195cfe9cfd:0xc2243e2695a7f1b2!8m2!3d30.2427204!4d-97.8106504  

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=bike+and+pedestrian+bridges

Bike and Pedestrian Bridges

 https://www.canadianconsultingengineer.com/tag/pedestrian-bridge BB & PB

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montopolis_Bridge Austin, TX 

The bridge was decommissioned for vehicular traffic on October 8, 2018,^[5] and was subsequently converted to a bicycle and pedestrian bridge as part of the Bergstrom Expressway Project.^[6]

https://www.statesman.com/story/news/local/2019/10/16/montopolis-bridge-in-east-austin-gets-facelift-before-opening-for-hike-and-bike-trail/2497819007/

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=bike+and+pedestrian+bridges

bike and foot bridges

 

https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/south-bay/highway-101-pedestrian-bicycle-bridge-opens-in-palo-alto/2737501/

https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/2021/11/22/williston-road-south-burlington-walk-bike-bridge-interstate-89-federal-grant/8717079002/

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Mopac+Mobility+Bike+and+Pedestrian+Bridge/@30.2414535,-97.8107348,218a,35y,39.38t/data=!3m1!1e3!4m12!1m6!3m5!1s0x0:0x8ae827dd1ff5e0ed!2sCircuit+of+the+Americas!8m2!3d30.1345808!4d-97.6358511!3m4!1s0x865b4b195cfe9cfd:0xc2243e2695a7f1b2!8m2!3d30.2427204!4d-97.8106504 , https://www.google.com/maps/place/Mopac+Mobility+Bike+and+Pedestrian+Bridge/@30.2427204,-97.8106504,3a,75y/data=!3m8!1e2!3m6!1sAF1QipNhdcj5qqk2WHQVF2b09t5z2gelVV2u4sgmdc-g!2e10!3e12!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNhdcj5qqk2WHQVF2b09t5z2gelVV2u4sgmdc-g%3Dw152-h86-k-no!7i3840!8i2160!4m12!1m6!3m5!1s0x0:0x8ae827dd1ff5e0ed!2sCircuit+of+the+Americas!8m2!3d30.1345808!4d-97.6358511!3m4!1s0x865b4b195cfe9cfd:0xc2243e2695a7f1b2!8m2!3d30.2427204!4d-97.8106504

https://vancouverbikeguide.com/top-five-vancouver-cycling-bridges/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9ESzjP_jKE Vancouver-Richmond North_Arm_Bridge 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Arm_Bridge#/media/File:NorthArmBridge.jpg

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=bike+and+pedestrian+bridges

Deep Cove and Belcarra, BC

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Cove,_North_Vancouver  

While the locals would be freaked out if a highway bridge was ever built between Deep Cove and Belcarra, a bus+and+bike+bridge should be considered. Such a typical bridge should have 2 bus lanes and 2 emergency vehicle lanes, plus 2 bike lanes and 2 sidewalks. Then, even a provision for a lower deck to accommodate an LRT line. Unfortunatly, the Greater Vancouver Region doesn't have such a proper bus and bike bridge network.  

The inadequate Iron+Bridge should have had a bus+and+bike+bridge built next to it several decades ago. The joke that is the Lions+Gate+Bridge should have become a bus+and+bike+bridge several decades ago, if an 8 lane tunnel had been built. Such a tunnel could have 3 lanes each way with the 4th being an HOV lane. Then, the very narrow bridge could just be a nice bus, bike & pedestrian crossing.

While the Pitt_River_Bridge is designed to potentially accommodate 8 lanes and 2 LRT tracks, even it should have a parallel bus and bike bridge. Then, an 8 lane Pitt_River_Bridge could have 3 general lanes each way with the 4th being an HOV lane. Then the SkyTrain could easily be extended to Pitt_Meadows and eventually, Maple_Ridge. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belcarra

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buntzen_Lake 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Arm 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Arm#Buntzen_Generating_Station , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKXHGD5Xvus , https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/buntzen-lake-powerhouses , https://montecristomagazine.com/community/the-buntzen-lake-powerhouses# , https://evelazarus.com/the-buntzen-power-stations-on-indian-arm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burrard_Inlet

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anmore 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burrard_Generating_Station 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Moody  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Vancouver_(district_municipality) 

Switzerland can fit into British_Columbia almost 2 dozen times. Yet, BC doesn't even have the population of one CH. 

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-housing-affordability  

Backwater BC is so far behind with several things. Proper urban and transportation planning is one of them.

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=bus+and+bike+bridges

Road, bike and pedestrian bridges

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@59.4688404,-135.3027692,3a,75y,178.35h,79.58t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s740Sae44Mm0MfW7C_8q8Yg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=bike+and+pedestrian+bridges