On Wednesday, May 4, City Council unanimously voted to invest millions of dollars in upgrades to the False Creek South seawall between the Burrard and Cambie bridges.
Over the past year hundreds of residents attended Open Houses sponsored by the City to discuss its tentative plans for the seawall. In addition, on two other occasions Association delegates met directly with representatives of the Active Transportation Committee. Two delegates, Mats Tholin and Gordon Watson, were also part of a temporary focus group along with other representatives of citizens’ groups who have an interest in the proposed seawall changes.
In a written submission on behalf of the Association, president Sharon Yandle advised City Council that the FCSNA is supportive of almost all of the changes that the Engineering Department proposed for the seawall.
“For the most part”, she said, “an important balance has been struck in improving the safety of walkers and cyclists while minimizing the impact on the parks, gardens and green space that characterize our neighbourhood.
“While the seawall is, to some, simply a route, to the residents of False Creek South it is an integral part of an established and highly valued neighbourhood.”
While endorsing the proposed seawall improvements in general, the submission withheld support for the recommendation involving the partial removal of flagstones that were installed in our neighbourhood at its very beginning in the 1970’s. Noting that while others, including some residents, are concerned that these flagstones create uneven surfaces, many within our community wish to retain them as an essential part of the Creek’s historic physical design.
Believing these two views can be reconciled, the Association has offered to meet with Active Transportation Committee staff to work through each section of the seawall with a view to developing safe pedestrian access throughout while retaining as much of the original design as possible. An important step in that direction would be to provide proper maintenance and not let the flagstones continue to fall into a state of disrepair.
In the result City Council passed an amendment to the recommendation to provide for further discussions on this issue between Engineering and the False Creek South Neighbourhood Association.
See the council report here: http://vancouver.ca/streets-transportation/south-false-creek-seawall.aspx
Featured Image taken by Thomas Bullock