Burrard St Bridge Bike Lane July 11 2009_DSC7314

Burrard St Bridge Bike Lane July 11 2009_DSC7314, originally uploaded by VancouverDoug.

Coming a few days early the City of Vancouver has started the summer trial of a dedicated bike lane on the iconic Burrard Street Bridge. The bridge connects the western limb of Vancouver (Kitsilano, Pt. Grey, etc.) with the downtown core.

Today's congestion (see on the left side of the image) was due to road work at the intersection of Burrard and Pacific. The most interesting moment will no doubt be this coming Monday afternoon during the 3:00 to 7:00 pm commute home.

Personally I'm a huge fan of this initiative and hope the bike lane is permanent. I've walked across the bridge many times and biked across it a few. Given that most drivers lack basic reading skills and interpret the 60 km/hr speed limit on the bridge to mean 90 km/hr both walking and biking across it are hair raising experiences. My ultimate dream, and it's a trend that is taking root in other cities, would be for the bridge to be just for biking, walking and public transit period. Two blocks east of the bridge is the ever under-utilized Granville Street Bridge.