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People looking to walk, ride or roll between north and south Burnaby, B.C., now have access to the city’s first dedicated overpass over Highway 1.
The city officially opened the new $27.8-million piece of infrastructure on Monday, which is intended to bridge a key gap in Burnaby’s pedestrian and cyclist network.
The crossing links Burnaby Lake and its trail network with the Deer Lake Park area, and was built using naturally higher ground on both sides of the freeway in order to avoid steep approach ramps that could make it harder to access with wheelchairs or strollers.
“It looks amazing,” Jasper Tam, a committee member for advocacy group HUB Cycling Burnaby, told CBC’s The Early Edition on Tuesday.
Until the overpass opened, people looking to get from one half of Burnaby to the other had to use the Kensington vehicle overpass.
The Early Edition7:09Burnaby Lake Overpass for pedestrains and cyclists now open
We get a review from a Burnaby cyclist.
Despite having a multi-use path on it, Tam said that route involved a number of risky intersections and resulted in frequent near-misses for cyclists and pedestrians.
“If you think of Highway 1, it’s sort of like a concrete river that cuts Burnaby into two, so the north and the south,” he said.
“Having this overpass really gives a friendly option for people … to get from one side of Burnaby to the other in a safe environment.”
The new overpass’s southern landing is situated at the intersection of Claude Avenue and McCarthy Court, with its northern landing at the Glencarin Drive trailhead in Burnaby Lake Park.
The completed crossing now allows for a more direct car-free path between the Lougheed and Brentwood town centres on one side of the highway, and the Burnaby City Hall and Metrotown areas on the other.
Since the 72-metre crossing opened, Tam said it has been popular with commuters and with families.
“There’s still a long ways to go,” he said, saying the advocacy group was pushing authorities to connect gaps in infrastructure going forward.
“We’re hoping to see like more overpasses in the future crossing the highway … in order to bridge these connections.”
WATCH | Timelapse video shows crews moving new Burnaby overpass into place:
The project has been in the works since 2019, and hit a major milestone last November when crews lifted the overpass span into place during an overnight highway closure.
The City of Burnaby said the overpass includes a variety of safety features, including lighting integrated into its handrails that is designed not to project onto the highway below.
According to the city, the crossing supports a goal to reduce traffic fatalities and serious injuries by 100 per cent, outlined in the 2021 Burnaby Transportation Plan.
The federal and provincial governments contributed $3.75 million and $3.1 million, respectively, to the project.
Metro Vancouver’s transit authority, TransLink, contributed $8.6 million.
