A vertical connection between Granville Street bridge and Granville Island

Situated within Vancouver’s False Creek neighborhood, beneath the Granville Street bridge, Granville Island is home to a bustling public market, local food and drink venues, unique retailers, park space, and arts and cultural attractions throughout the year. Serving as both a major tourist attraction and a local destination for Vancouverites, visitors travel to the Island using a variety of modes including walking, cycling, transit, passenger ferry, and – most predominantly – by personal automobile. Technically a peninsula, the island faces a unique set of challenges for improved access by more sustainable modes, including a single access point for vehicles, limited on-site parking, indirect access via transit, and circuitous routing for pedestrians and cyclists travelling to the Island via the Granville Street bridge.

In an effort to increase accessibility to Granville Island and to better align visitor travel behavior with long-term local and regional transportation objectives, the City of Vancouver has appointed Steer to lead a multi-disciplinary team to study the feasibility of a direct vertical connection between the Granville Street bridge and Granville Island. The connection, consisting of elevators and stairs, will be accompanied by transit stops on the bridge deck, and will be complemented by the City of Vancouver’s planned walking and cycling greenway on the bridge. Taken together, these measures will drastically improve access to the island by transit, walking, and cycling, in addition to serving as a new destination and attraction in and of itself.

Drawing on our extensive expertise in travel demand modeling and multi-modal planning, Steer has estimated passenger flows to and from the island via the new vertical connection. In collaboration with the City of Vancouver, TransLink, Granville Island, and other stakeholders, Steer is leading work to identify potential ‘landing’ spots on Granville Island, in addition to determining the spatial requirements for elevator and stair infrastructure, passenger waiting and amenity space at ground and bridge-deck levels, and to ensure a safe and seamless connection with the planned greenway and existing and future transit services operating on the Granville Street bridge.

This project presents the City and Granville Island with a rare opportunity to provide a truly unique and functional experience for both Vancouverites and tourists alike, while simultaneously making more sustainable travel choices more convenient. Steer is excited to be partnering with the City of Vancouver and we are keen to share our experience and insight to this innovative project.