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Vancouver city council voted unanimously Wednesday to spend $2.4 million over the next two years detailing just how the Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts will be torn down.
The vote immediately followed a public hearing the same day, attended by more than two dozen speakers largely in support of the plan.
Among those who spoke to council was Bob Laurie, executive vice president of Sequel Intergrated Resource Management, who spoke on behalf of the Vancouver Board of Trade.
While Laurie and the VBOT support the plan to tear down the viaducts, there were several conditions the group put forth.
One of those conditions included ensuring replacement infrastructure that provides sufficient capacity for the projected volume of traffic, while still respecting the needs of nearby residents and businesses.
However, the group also expressed concern about what they see as a lack of transparency by the city in relation to the project.
“We feel it is absolutely vital that the city of Vancouver use both traditional and non-traditional means of communication on this matter,” read a letter drafted by the VBOT to council. “This will help both business and residences respond in an informed way to both perceived and actual impacts anticipated from such significant change to the road system in the area.”
Riaan de Beer of Aquilini Development and Construction was also in attendance Wednesday, showing his company’s support for the plan to demolish the viaducts.
The Aquilini group, most well known for their ownership of the Vancouver Canucks, has already received the green light to begin planning for multiple residential towers directly adjacent to Rogers Arena.
With the proposed removal of the viaducts, the group will likely have to adjust their development plans, something de Beer said the company is happy to do to help build the “normal urban fabric” of the area.
“If you think about that area right now, it’s driven by vehicles. It has no sense of community or neighbourhood,” de Beer told The Province. “At Rogers Arena, we’re starting to stitch together the edges of this thing.
“It’s a harsh, unfriendly space at the moment and we’d like to see that change.”
If removed, the viaducts could free up seven acres of developable land within walking distance to the downtown core, as well as another three acres for park and green space.
Final cost of planning for the project would run about $3.5 million, while a four-year timeline is expected for detailed concept development and engineering.
Removal of the viaducts is also projected to cost about $120 million, but according to Coun. Geoff Meggs, a strong supporter of the project, the return benefit would be about $110 million in acquired land available for use.
Traffic from the viaducts would be relocated to a new version of Georgia Street that would run from a two-way Pacific Boulevard all the way to Stanley Park. The road would be built so that it could open as the viaducts come down.
Following the removal of the viaducts, proposed plans include ground-level retail with housing above, possibly with a social housing component of up to 20 per cent. Neighbourhoods like Chinatown and False Creek divided by the viaducts would be connected
vancityrealtor 