The City of North Vancouver is moving forward on a project for a land bridge over Highway 1 at Lonsdale Ave.
CNV has issued an RFP and is seeking a consultant for the project, which is the brainchild of Mayor Linda Buchanan. The proposed project aims to reconnect neighborhoods divided by the highway and improve access to green space.
The city is looking for consultants who are experts in planning, feasibility, design, and cost estimation for land bridges, also known as highway lids or caps. The highway’s construction in 1964 separated the Tempe and Westview neighbourhoods from the rest of the city. Mayor Buchanan first outlined the vision for a land bridge in a 2021 op-ed in Vancouver Province. The ‘cap’ on a portion of the highway would be built with park space. Similar land bridges have been built in cities across North America, including Seattle, Boston, and Dallas.
The city’s project aims to:
- Reconnect communities split by the highway.
- Improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists at Lonsdale Avenue.
- Expand green spaces and reduce pollution.
- Promote active transportation to cut emissions.
- Boost social and economic benefits.
- Align with new community projects like the Harry Jerome Centre and Upper Levels Greenway.
In addition to the land bridge concept, the study will consider two alternative solutions that at least partially meet the project’s goals. Potential options could include constructing new pedestrian bridges at Chesterfield and St. Georges avenues, expanding the Lonsdale Avenue bridge to incorporate landscaping, or installing decking along portions of the existing infrastructure.
CNV expects the consultant to provide a final report by July or August 2025.
Having looked at the artists rendering from the Vancouver province article I think it’s a pretty cool and forward thinking idea. It will certainly give the people stuck on the freeway some shade relief while they’re waiting to get down the cut on a daily basis in the summertime.