The City of North Vancouver has received $4 million in provincial funding, which allows it to proceed with the construction of the Casano-Loutet Overpass over Highway 1.
The long-awaited pedestrian and cycling overpass will break ground in early 2025 and will link the Loutet and Cedar Village neighbourhoods. Through public consultation efforts since 2017, the City has heard clearly from residents that Highway 1 can be a barrier to travel between neighbourhoods, pushing them to take more vehicle trips versus a quick walk, ride or roll. The $4 million investment from the Ministry of Transportation is in addition to earlier commitments of $3.5 million and $2.5 million from the City of North Vancouver and TransLink, respectively.
“We all want to move around the community as efficiently, and as safely, as possible,” said Mayor Linda Buchanan. “The Casano-Loutet Overpass will connect two communities in the City that were cut off from one another by the creation of Highway-1. The overpass will create a safe and active transportation connection that gives people options when deciding on how to get to school, work, shopping, and recreation destinations that has not been available to residents since the 1960s when the highway came to the North Shore. I thank the province and TransLink for their investments.”
Designed with a gradual, natural curving form that extends over the Upper Levels Highway between Loutet Park and the intersection of Casano Drive and Rufus Avenue, the overpass will be accessible to users of all ages and abilities. It will include seating areas with built-in lighting for comfort and safety. It will also provide a more direct alternative to Lynn Valley Road for those travelling north and south of the highway, including students attending Sutherland Secondary School.
“In addition to relieving traffic congestion, active transportation such as walking, cycling, or rolling is healthy, sustainable, affordable, and enjoyable,” said North Vancouver-Seymour MLA Susie Chant, on behalf of Rob Fleming, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure. “With this funding, our government demonstrates its ongoing commitment to working with communities to make it easier, safer, and more accessible for more people to choose active transportation, and brings us closer to our target of doubling trips by active transportation by 2030.”
The Casano-Loutet Overpass, which has been a priority project for the City of North Vancouver since 2017, will make existing active transportation networks such as the Green Necklace urban greenway more accessible to residents and will be an important link for future expansions such as the Upper Levels Greenway, CNV said in a press release.
“This pedestrian overpass will make walking and cycling easier for North Shore residents by bridging the gap between Lynn Valley and the Green Necklace Greenway,” said TransLink CEO Kevin Quinn. “We are committed to making sustainable transportation more convenient by annually investing hundreds of millions of dollars towards local infrastructure like the Casano-Loutet Overpass.”
