41st Avenue and Arbutus Greenway intersection in Kerrisdale to see new design | Daily Hive

41st Avenue and Arbutus Greenway intersection in Kerrisdale to see new permanent design

Concept for the new design of the Arbutus Greenway intersecting with West 41st Avenue in Kerrisdale. (City of Vancouver)

The section of the Arbutus Greenway where it intersects with West 41st Avenue — in the heart of the Vancouver Westside’s Kerrisdale retail village — is set to undergo significant changes next year.

The City of Vancouver is currently seeking a construction contractor through a bidding process to carry out the work.

This includes reconfiguring the intersection and a portion of the greenway’s pedestrian and cycling pathways, and creating new public spaces and various other street design changes in the immediate area.

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As part of the redesign, the greenway’s pathways will shift slightly east next to East Boulevard — creating a new long curved approach for pedestrians and cyclists heading toward the intersection, and effectively encouraging pedestrians and cyclists to slow down well before arriving at the intersection. The greenway’s north-south crossing will similarly be realigned with a widened crosswalk positioned next to East Boulevard.

In addition, over a two-block span between West 40th Avenue and West 42nd Avenue, the greenway will see a widening of its pathways, along with new physical separation between the two pathways for pedestrians and cyclists to enhance safety and comfort.

Existing condition:

arbutus greenway 41st avenue kerrisdale vancouver

Existing condition of the intersection of Arbutus Greenway and West 41st Avenue in Kerrisdale. (Google Maps)

Future condition:

arbutus greenway 41st avenue kerrisdale vancouver design

Concept for the new permanent design of the intersection of Arbutus Greenway and West 41st Avenue, and other area changes. (City of Vancouver)

A new bus bulb sidewalk extension will be added at the westbound bus stop at the intersection, which is located outside the McDonald’s restaurant. This bus stop is served by the R4 41st Avenue RapidBus and No. 41 Crown/Joyce-Collingwood Station bus route.

This particular bus bulb improvement will give public transit riders more space to wait and enable buses to stay in the travel lane — improving both speed and reliability by eliminating the need to merge in and out of traffic.

To enhance traffic flow on West 41st Avenue, a new eastbound left-turn lane will be introduced at West Boulevard. The westbound curb lane at this intersection will be designated as right-turn only. To accommodate these changes and the new bus bulb, approximately 11 curbside parking stalls along West 41st Avenue will be removed.

Concept for the new permanent design of the intersection of Arbutus Greenway and West 41st Avenue, and other area changes. (City of Vancouver)

A key traffic change will see north-south vehicle movements on East Boulevard across the intersection prohibited. This is intended to reduce delays for buses, improve overall vehicle flow on West 41st Avenue, simplify traffic movements, and enhance safety.

Other area improvements include new sidewalks, landscaping, and seating along the greenway, as well as new greenwater infrastructure.

Visuals of the selected design concept show the existing “Welcome to Kerrisdale” signs at the intersection will remain in place.

Concept for the new permanent design of the intersection of Arbutus Greenway and West 41st Avenue, and other area changes. (City of Vancouver)

This project has been years in the making, since before the pandemic when the City and TransLink began planning new bus priority measures along 41st Avenue to aid the more efficient movement of the R4 RapidBus and other bus routes.

Bus-only lanes were implemented along much of the 41st Avenue corridor before the 2020 launch of the R4 RapidBus, but the Arbutus Greenway and West 41st Avenue intersection changes were pushed to a later date due to added complexity and the need to perform more design work and consultation.

The intersection redesign project now moving forward is jointly funded by the federal government, municipal government, and TransLink, which is providing about $1.8 million.

According to TransLink’s latest Bus Speed and Reliability Report, the West 41st Avenue segment through Kerrisdale’s retail village “remains a hot spot of congestion along the corridor with delays most evident in the eastbound direction in the afternoon. Creative solutions will be required to alleviate this congestion given limited road space and many competing demands — including parking, pick-up/drop-off, and pedestrian access.”

Since its launch over five years ago, the R4 RapidBus has quickly grown into becoming Metro Vancouver’s second busiest bus route — just after the 99 B-Line — with a total of 8.8 million annual boardings in 2024, with averages of about 28,000 per weekday, 18,000 per Saturday, and 14,000 per Sunday/holiday.

translink r4 rapidbus oakridge cambie 41st avenue vancouver bus f2

TransLink’s R4 41st Avenue RapidBus. (Kenneth Chan)

The City will select a contractor in late 2025, enabling construction to begin in early 2026 for completion in Fall 2026.

In Fall 2027, ending a years-long detour for pedestrians and cyclists, a new permanent design will also reach completion and open for the Arbutus Greenway crossing segment at West Broadway. This will be achieved through the construction of the new Arbutus Station for SkyTrain’s Millennium Line Broadway extension project, which will also provide the station with an off-street bus exchange for the 99 B-Line.

In 2024, the City also completed some design changes for the intersection of Arbutus Street, Arbutus Greenway, and King Edward Avenue.

Other changes to the Arbutus Greenway will come as soon as tomorrow, July 25, 2025, when the Granville Connector’s separated wide pedestrian and cyclist pathways on the Granville Street Bridge open to the public. The southern end of the Granville Connector’s pathways directly connects to the northern end of the Arbutus Greenway’s pathways at Fir Street, effectively creating a new continuous walking and biking route from the Fraser River to downtown Vancouver.

In 2018, the municipal government created a permanent design concept for the Arbutus Greenway’s entire route for implementation over the long term.

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