Scenes from the Canada Line bike and pedestrian bridge opening!
Led by the Transit Police, cyclists and pedestrians take a ceremonial first walk across the Canada Line bike and pedestrian bridge on its opening day.
We had a short but sweet opening ceremony over at the Canada Line bike and pedestrian bridge this afternoon.
The ribbon cutting ceremony, with TransLink CEO Tom Prendergast, Vancouver Deputy Mayor Geoff Meggs, and Richmond’s Acting Mayor Ken Johnston.
Cyclists and pedestrians joined in a ceremonial first walk across the bridge. They were led by TransLink CEO Tom Prendergast and Vancouver Deputy Mayor Geoff Meggs from the north side, accompanied by police bike patrols, and meeting with Acting Mayor Ken Johnston of Richmond in the centre.
The walk continued to the south side, with speeches and a ribbon cutting ceremony on the Richmond side. Then the bridge was opened up to bike and pedestrian traffic! Go ahead and ride it – it’s now open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Turnout was nice: I’d say there were about 100 people there, including members of the Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition (VACC), Better Environmentally Sustainable Transportation (BEST), and Richmond’s Spirit Runners!
Cake! Thanks BEST and VACC!
We also had a host of other dignitaries on hand too – Vancouver South MP Ujjal Dosanjh, Richmond MP Alice Wong, Richmond Centre MLA Rob Howard, Richmond city councillor Bill McNulty, and Vancouver city councillor Raymond Louie. (Hope I didn’t miss anyone there!)
Plus BEST and the VACC brought a lovely carrot cake for everyone to share, at a table they set up with info about cycling and more.
Check the Buzzer’s Flickr account for more photos of the opening ceremony.
And for more info about the bridge, check out this earlier post, which includes a map of the bridge location (and more details on how to get there in the comments).
OK, here’s one more photo of the opening day, with the Canada Line train in the background!
Whoosh! You can see pedestrians and cyclists on the bridge here too.
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Other Links to this Post
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re:place Magazine — August 15, 2009 @ 5:46 pm
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The Buzzer blog » The Canada Line bike and pedestrian bridge turns one too — August 20, 2010 @ 12:01 pm
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By Adam, August 14, 2009 @ 7:46 pm
So there WAS cake. I knew I should’ve gone. :P
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By Alex, August 14, 2009 @ 8:28 pm
Hehe, if I knew there was cake I would have snuck out of work! Looks great, I hope to give it a ride this weekend!
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By Sammy, August 14, 2009 @ 11:40 pm
So where’s the pedestrian/bike bridge? How do you get to it? Transit’s website has become so terribly cluttered that it’s not only difficult to navigate but horribly annoying.
It’s nice to see our hard earned dollars at work in maintaining appearance but not functionality.
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By Jhenifer Pabillano, August 18, 2009 @ 11:22 am
Hi Sammy,
As I mention in the post above, you can find a map in this earlier post on the bridge. The official maps haven’t yet been drawn, so this is what we’re using in the meantime. Check the comments of that post for very specific details on how to access the bridge approach from either side.
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By Derek, August 19, 2009 @ 8:17 pm
Just one question from this article… Since the bridge is owned by TransLink, is it solely the responsibility of the Transit Police to patrol it?
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By ;-), August 19, 2009 @ 9:01 pm
I just hope it doesn’t become the next homeless camp. The views from that site are priceless!
Is the bridge pathway open 24hrs? Or is the bridge closed at dusk and cleared?
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By Jhenifer Pabillano, August 20, 2009 @ 9:38 am
;-): The bridge is open 24/7!
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By Jhenifer Pabillano, August 20, 2009 @ 12:05 pm
Derek: I’ve asked Transit Police, and here’s the answer.
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