While upgrades to the road infrastructure along Mountain Highway are set to come this year, it’s still not clear what those changes will be.
At a workshop on Monday, District of North Vancouver council saw a new set of suggestions put forward by staff, after council rejected a plan last November that would have removed one of two northbound vehicle lanes.
The previously posed plan also would have added protected bike lanes along the busy corridor, as well as other improvements at key intersections.
The new plan proposed by staff does not include bike lanes. It does include new left-turn bays at East 20th Street and East 24th Street, larger pedestrian “landing areas” at East 18th Street and East 20th Street, and curb bulges at East 18th Street.
Yet despite the revisions and staff urging council to proceed with repaving work on Mountain Highway, there continued to be much disagreement among council members.
Concerns were raised especially regarding the East 20th Street intersection, which brings heavy traffic from Lynn Valley Road via Kirkstone. And some councillors said the newly proposed changes would make the road more dangerous for cyclists, not safer.
In December 2021, the district identified Mountain Highway as a high priority for safety and mobility improvements due to a high number of pedestrian- and cyclist-involved collisions, as stated in a staff report.
Those include six pedestrian and six cyclist collisions and one pedestrian death on the roadway between 2016 and 2020.
After public engagement throughout 2023, staff suggested a road safety plan in 2024 that included curb extensions and left-turn pockets around the route, and adding protected bike lanes. But many in the community were vocally displeased at the plan, which removed a northbound vehicle lane. Council directed staff to create another plan without the lane removal.
Changes could make road more dangerous for cyclists, councillor says
At Monday’s workshop, Coun. Lisa Muri said one of the most prolific points brought up on social media questioned why there aren’t two southbound lanes on that stretch of road, in place of the current two northbound and one southbound lanes.
“Why wouldn’t we contemplate flipping those lanes, either in the south segment or including part of the central segment [of Mountain Highway]?” she asked.
Staff said the direction from council was not to impact any of the travel lanes.
Coun. Jordan Back said he wanted staff to address the safety of cyclists in this corridor.
Increased pedestrian landing areas can improve safety for those on foot, but can be a hazard for people riding bikes, he said.
“When you have those bump outs, it forces you to be looking behind you and looking ahead at the intersection and … take the lane as someone on a bike,” he said, “which is quite dangerous.”
Coun. Betty Forbes, who lives in the area, said her biggest concern is the changes to southbound traffic near the East 20 intersection. That’s because large trucks are prohibited from continuing down Mountain Highway and must turn right onto Kirkstone, she said.
“You get construction vehicles or delivery vehicles for [Lynn Valley] Centre, and they couldn’t make that radius turn without swinging way over,” Forbes said.
Her concern is that the addition of a left-hand turning bay would force right-turning vehicles right up against the curb.
“They don’t have that leeway anymore from being more in the centre of the road, so they’re either going to slow down the traffic really bad, or there’s going to be a really bad accident there,” Forbes said.
Mayor Mike Little said there are options to make it safer for trucks to turn there, like setting the corner back further from the road.
He added that a bus stop near the southwest corner of the East 20th intersection should be moved down the block.
“Because where it's at, you have people making turns in the intersection directly into the spot where buses are fully stopped,” Little said.
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