I spent this morning driving, roughly:
- Lions Gate to Mount Seymour on highway/Mt. Seymour Parkway.
- Mount Seymour to Deep Cove on Mt. Seymour Parkway
- Deep Cove to Lonsdale on Dollarton/Main st/Low Level Rd/Esplanade
- Lonsdale to Park Royal on 3rd/Marine dr.
So, mostly on the southern/coastal parts of north shore. Holy traffic!! I don’t know how anyone could stand to drive this everyday. It’s just a giant parking lot, once you’re west of the Second Narrows.
Some observations:
- Cycling infrastructure is scary AF. Sharrows that disappear, giant trucks, narrow lanes, nothing separated. & yet counted some 50-odd cyclists braving the roads I drove today.
- There’s some really interesting mid-rise densification happening everywhere west of Second Narrows (apart from along Low Level Rd)
- The current streets appear to be full already: I don’t envy transportation planners on the North Shore.
- Lonsdale itself is just BEGGING for better mixed-use infrastructure: a cycle track, a street car, something. It’s a beautiful street, only way too car-dominated for what should a be a slow, shopping/ambling street.
- There seems to be both enough density & more importantly a hugely dense commercial base to warrant some sort of LRT between Lonsdale & Park Royal: streetcar? Tram? Something. Maybe take out a lane of traffic, or street parking (most mini malls appear to have that) & add in rails & a cycle track? Open the city to more exploration!
- Entering/exiting at the bridges has VASTLY improved compared to just a few years ago.
- Busses must suck: I saw 3 the entire width of the north shore & all were just as stuck in traffic as I was. Bus lanes?