Granville Street Bridge
The Granville Street Bridge or Granville Bridge is an eight-lane fixed cantilever/truss bridge in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, carrying Granville Street between Downtown Vancouver southwest and the Fairview neighborhood. It spans False Creek and is 27.4 m (90 ft) above Granville Island. The bridge is part of Highway 99.
Granville Street Bridge | |
|---|---|
The modern Granville Street Bridge | |
| Coordinates | 49°16′21″N 123°07′59″W / 49.272551°N 123.133049°W |
| Carries | Eight lanes of British Columbia Highway 99, Granville Street, pedestrians, and bicycles |
| Crosses | False Creek |
| Locale | Vancouver |
| Maintained by | City of Vancouver |
| Preceded by | Granville Street Bridge (second) |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Cantilever/truss bridge |
| Total length | 1,171 m (0.73 mi) |
| Clearance below | 27.4 m (90 ft) |
| History | |
| Opened | February 4, 1954 |
| Statistics | |
| Daily traffic | 65,000 |
| Location | |
History edit
First bridge (1889) edit
The first Granville Bridge opened in 1889, crossing from Beach Ave to 3rd Ave and was part of the scheme to clear Granville Street through to the North Arm of the Fraser River, where a bridge crossed to the farming community of Eburne. Granville Street was called Centre Street south of False Creek (until 1907) and the new slit through the forest heading south was initially known as North Arm Road. The 2,400-metre (7,900 ft) long, low timber trestle bridge opened on January 4, costing $16,000 to build, and was designed by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). It had a swing span near the downtown side, was wide enough for two wagons, had a 4-foot (1.2 m) wide separated path on the west side for pedestrians, and was barely above high tide – children swam from it in the summer.[1]
Two years after it was built, the CPR cleared the Fairview Slopes and opened them for settlement; the street railway company (predecessor of the BC Electric) ran a single-track on a trestle on the east side of the bridge for the "Fairview Belt Line" which connected Granville Street, 9th Avenue (now Broadway) and Main Street with downtown, hoping it would help spur development, which it did.
Second bridge (1909) edit
The second bridge was completed in 1909. It was a longer, medium-level steel bridge with a through truss swing span. During World War I, on April 29, 1915, a fire broke out on the bridge that was thought to be an arson attack. Four Germans were arrested.
Third bridge (1954) edit
On February 4, 1954, the current Granville Street Bridge opened to traffic after five years of planning and construction; its dedication ceremony was attended by 5,000 spectators after it had been delayed a week due to heavy snow.[2][3] The Vancouver Sun arranged for the first driver across the 1909 bridge, Sidney Annoot, to repeat her feat in 1954.[4] The city government self-funded the bridge project, which cost $16.5 million (equivalent to $166 million in 2021 dollars),[5] with "no formal assistance given by any other government body" according to mayor Frederick Hume.[6] A million vehicles crossed over the bridge in its first month.[7]
The eight-lane structure was constructed from 1951 to 1954 on the same alignment as the first bridge. Steel plate girders salvaged from the second bridge were made into barges for constructing the foundations of the Oak Street Bridge.[citation needed] Initially only four lanes were open to traffic until the completion of the loop ramps on the north side on July 16.[2][8] The bridge's wide design was meant to accommodate a future freeway that would serve downtown;[2][9] those plans were cancelled in the 1960s.[10][11]
Recent improvements to the bridge include increasing its earthquake resistance, and installing higher curbs and median barriers.
21st century edit
In December 2017, Vancouver City Council approved a plan to remove the "Granville Loops" - a pair of cloverleaf off-ramps connecting the bridge with Pacific Street - and open up the land to redevelopment.[12]
The Granville Street Bridge underwent a seismic retrofit that began in late 2018 and was completed in September 2021.[13][14]
In January 2019, Vancouver City Council announced a plan to improve pedestrian and cyclist access to the bridge from the surrounding neighbourhoods by creating a new separated bike and walking path located in the centre of the bridge roadway.[15] The plan was opened up for public comment in April 2019[16] with the project approved.[17] Construction on the pedestrian and bicycle lanes began in February 2023 and is expected to take two years to complete.[18]
Gallery edit
- Original bridge in 1888
- Second bridge under construction, c. 1908
- The Granville Street Bridge from the Burrard Street Bridge
- Southwest view along Bridge into city centre, Winter 2006
- View of downtown
- The modern Granville Street Bridge, with downtown and the North Shore mountains in the distance
See also edit
Resources edit
- History of Metropolitan Vancouver
- Granville Street Bridge at Structurae
References edit
- ^ "Granville St. Bridge • Vancouver Heritage Foundation". Vancouver Heritage Foundation. Retrieved May 14, 2023.
- ^ a b c Broadfoot, Barry (February 4, 1954). "Thousands See New Span Opened". Vancouver Sun. pp. 1–2. Retrieved August 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Mackie, John (January 30, 2014). "This Week in History: Five thousand people celebrated the 1954 opening of the Granville Bridge". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
- ^ Hazelwood, Jim (February 4, 1954). "Woman Helps Open Bridge Second Time". Vancouver Sun. p. 2. Retrieved August 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ 1688 to 1923: Geloso, Vincent, A Price Index for Canada, 1688 to 1850 (December 6, 2016). Afterwards, Canadian inflation numbers based on Statistics Canada tables 18-10-0005-01 (formerly CANSIM 326-0021) "Consumer Price Index, annual average, not seasonally adjusted". Statistics Canada. Retrieved April 17, 2021. and table 18-10-0004-13 "Consumer Price Index by product group, monthly, percentage change, not seasonally adjusted, Canada, provinces, Whitehorse, Yellowknife and Iqaluit". Statistics Canada. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
- ^ "Mayor Says: 'We Are Entitled To Crow'". The Province. February 4, 1954. p. 3. Retrieved August 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Constable 'Tags' Driver as Millionth Over New Bridge". Vancouver Sun. March 6, 1954. p. 3. Retrieved August 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Munro, Ray (July 15, 1954). "You Could Go Round 'n' Round On New Granville Bridge Tomorrow". The Province. p. 1. Retrieved August 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Thacker, Dory (August 2, 1958). "Freeway Network Planned for City". Vancouver Sun. p. 21. Retrieved August 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Granville Bridge plan changes gears". Times-Colonist. January 20, 2020. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
- ^ Elsie, Bud (June 14, 1967). "Wraps are off freeway plans". The Province. p. 1. Retrieved August 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Vancouver City Council approves $18-million plan to demolish Granville Loops | Urbanized". dailyhive.com. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
- ^ "Granville Street Bridge undergoing $34-million seismic upgrade". dailyhive.com. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
- ^ Tenpenny, John (September 1, 2021). "Seismic upgrades and repairs start on Cambie Street Bridge". ReNewCANADA. Vancouver, British Columbia. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
- ^ "City Council approves next steps for Granville Bridge bike and walking path". dailyhive.com. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
- ^ "Public consultation launched for Granville Bridge's new bike and walking path". dailyhive.com. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
- ^ Chan, Kenneth (March 24, 2022). "City of Vancouver moving forward with Granville Bridge loops demolition this year". Daily Hive. Vancouver, British Columbia. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
- ^ Chan, Kenneth (February 8, 2023). "Construction begins on new walking and cycling path on Granville Bridge". Daily Hive. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
External links edit
- Granville Connector project website
- Footage of the demolition of the second bridge and construction of the third Granville Street Bridge, 1954, City of Vancouver Archives
- 1954 film clip taken from a car driving over the bridge