New 9-km-long bike lane on South Vancouver railway corridor pondered | Daily Hive

New 9-km-long South Vancouver walking and cycling paths on railway corridor to be considered by City Council

CPKC's South Vancouver railway corridor, looking east from Laurel Street. (Google Maps)

Imagine an east-west version of the Arbutus Greenway, where active transportation uses are integrated into a railway corridor.

Vancouver city councillor Mike Klassen of the ABC Vancouver party is pushing for purpose-built, new and expanded pathways for pedestrians and cyclists in South Vancouver.

Currently, the East Kent Avenue Greenway features a combination of segments with protected pathways and unprotected on-street biking between Ontario Street and Boundary Road.

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City of Vancouver staff are in the process of planning improvements to the existing greenway between Ash Street and Elliott Street, including Victoria Drive to Portside/Elliott Street for the first phase, and Ash Street to Victoria Drive in the second phase.

Public consultation on the design of the first phase was completed earlier this summer, and public consultation on the second phase is anticipated to be conducted in early 2026. Construction on both phases will be underway by the end of 2026.

City staff are planning a widening and resurfacing of the shared-use path, the addition of new sidewalks and green infrastructure, the separation of pedestrians and cyclists, traffic calming measures, reducing shortcutting vehicle traffic, and making vehicle movement westbound-only for some segments of the street.

The existing greenway corridor between Ontario Street and Boundary Road generally runs through heavy industrial uses for its western segments and mixed-use residential developments for its eastern segments. Protected/separated pathways are found for the eastern segments going through the residential areas, including the recently built pathways constructed as a part of Wesgroup’s high-density River District neighbourhood.

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Existing walking/cycling pathways next to the railway in River District (East Fraser Lands) in Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

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Existing walking/cycling pathways next to the railway in River District (East Fraser Lands) in Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Klassen’s member motion to be deliberated by Vancouver City Council this week calls for creating a brand new active transportation corridor on the railway corridor immediately adjacent to Kent Avenue.

He wants City staff to work with Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) — the owner and operator of the railway — as well as TransLink and the Musqueam Indian Band to incorporate an active transportation pathway that incorporates the railway right-of-way through the Kent Avenue corridor between Oak Street and Boundary Road.

Additionally, City staff would be directed to explore the possibility of extending such an active transportation pathway westward from Oak Street along the railway right-of-way and West 75th Avenue route to directly connect with the southernmost end of Arbutus Greenway at Milton Street.

Altogether, this envisioned active transportation route on the railway corridor between Boundary Road and the southernmost end of the Arbutus Greenway would span a length of roughly 9 km.

Rough walking distance along the Kent Avenue corridor following the South Vancouver railway between the southern end of the Arbutus Greenway and Boundary Road. (Google Maps)

“The Arbutus Greenway demonstrates a successful precedent for transforming former railway corridors into public active transportation routes, made possible by ensuring the lands remain zoned for transportation uses and reserved for people movement; and safeguarding the Kent Avenue corridor for similar future use would ensure that generations to come benefit from safe, sustainable, and connected mobility options,” Klassen wrote in his motion.

“While a patchwork of pathways exists on portions of this corridor, upgrades are needed to allow people to move safely along it without impeding goods movement that is integral to doing business in the industrial area. A continuous, protected pathway through the Kent Avenue corridor that incorporates the railway RoW would offer a safe, direct, and scenic connection between the River District and Marine Drive Canada Line Station at Marine Gateway—promoting transit use, reducing vehicle dependence, and supporting public health through active lifestyles.”

This railway corridor along the north side of the Fraser River running through South Vancouver and South Burnaby sees relatively limited freight train movements, with such traffic being on a downward trend for many decades — ever since the False Creek railyards were redeveloped, and then the end of railway operations on the Arbutus Corridor reaching the Molson Coors brewery in 2001. However, the railway corridor’s segments through New Westminster continue to see immense use.

In 2016, following a highly publicized dispute, the City acquired the Arbutus Corridor from CPKC and transformed it into its current use as a greenway route for walking and cycling.

Two decades ago, TransLink performed a preliminary study analyzing its potential options for implementing rail rapid transit solutions to fulfill the standalone Evergreen Line LRT project, which would eventually become a continuous extension of SkyTrain’s Millennium Line.

One option pondered in that study was a rail rapid transit line that used diesel multiple unit (DMU) trains operating on CPKC’s railway along the Fraser River, starting from Marine Drive Station on SkyTrain’s Canada Line and running through South Vancouver, South Burnaby, New Westminster, and then Coquitlam. This involved building additional tracks for some segments, including through South Vancouver and South Burnaby — suggesting that the existing railway right-of-way is wide enough to accommodate more tracks.

Arbutus Greenway crossing at West Broadway, next to the site of Arbutus Station and bus exchange. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

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