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PREST: $7-million concrete slab opens up path to enlightenment

It’s funny how something so seemingly minor as a small stretch of concrete can alter your whole perspective on life. I suppose it should be noted that the stretch of North Vancouver concrete in question happens to cost about $7 million.
Andy Prest
Spirit Trail
On four paws, two feet and one wheel, a local man and his dog make their way through the Mosquito Creek portion of the Spirit Trail. photo Cindy Goodman, North Shore News

It’s funny how something so seemingly minor as a small stretch of concrete can alter your whole perspective on life.

I suppose it should be noted that the stretch of North Vancouver concrete in question happens to cost about $7 million. That’s a lot money, even in North Vancouver, where you could almost buy a whole house for that kind of scratch.

The stretch of concrete in question is the Mosquito Creek connector on the Spirit Trail, a little quasi-tunnel thingy that passes under some kind of crane and then over a creek. It may not look like much, but it is a huge development in the overall flow of traffic in these parts for people who don’t always drive a car. You know, hobos and cyclists and raccoons and such.

The Spirit Trail has long been envisioned as a waterfront connector that would in theory allow someone on foot or bike to travel across the entire North Shore near the waterfront. It was a neat idea that worked well in many places except in that one little stretch just west of Lonsdale Quay. I’m sure there are thousands of walkers, joggers and cyclists who at one point or other over the past several years had their idyllic journey along the Spirit Trail end when they disappeared into the Bermuda Triangle heading west towards Mosquito Creek. There the trail suddenly stopped, an unceremonious chain-link fence and brick building blocking the path. The floating houses rolling to the south and fenced-off freight trains chugging to the north offered no help.

To escape the trap one had to backtrack several hundred metres and then embark on a quest several blocks up a street full of massive dump trucks racing downhill towards you, and then across another stretch of road where many cyclists skip the bike lane and cut across two lanes of high-speed traffic to make a left turn at the corner of Widowmaker Lane and Certain Death Street.

This is assuming that you managed to make it out of the Bermuda Triangle in the first place, which was easier said than done. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are still a few cyclists wandering down the railroad tracks in their padded spandex shorts trying somehow to find the way back to Certain Death Street.    

As of this summer, however, the Bermuda Triangle is no more! With the new connector complete, the east-west waterfront path is now much more accessible, allowing walkers and cyclists to take the Spirit Trail all the way from Lonsdale Quay to Ambleside Park and beyond.

I walk or bike to work most days, and the new connector has allowed me to alter my route away from dump truck traffic and towards seal traffic. In fact, it was the seals that were the inspiration for this column. One day I was walking home along the new route when I came upon a pod of more than two dozen seals hanging out on the big old log circle thingy just beside the Burrard Yacht Club. Apparently seals love to hang out in Burrard Inlet because their mortal enemies, those adorably vicious orcas, don’t like to mess with all the ship traffic this close to the city.

As a kid from the Prairies, I was taken aback by the fact that I could leave my work on foot and five minutes later be face to face with a gang of seals just casually hanging out.

It was then that I took out my camera and started taking photos. I walked a bit more, and then watched as right in front of me a seagull slammed straight down into water and came back up with a starfish in its beak. Impressive. I took another photo. Soon I couldn’t stop taking pictures of all the cool, kooky, amazing sights along the way.

There was the stone sculpture placed just before the entrance to the Mosquito Creek connector, wonderful to behold even if one of the featured carvings was of a mosquito. There was the unassuming connector itself, with its handy mirror to allow you to look around the corner to watch out for oncoming bicycles or perverts. There were the houseboats, where I assume at least one person has a pet narwhal. There was a war canoe pulling in to dock; then Waterfront Park, which has more sculptures and art instillations per square foot than Picasso’s broom closet; then the Lonsdale Quay bus dungeon, by far the worst part of the walk; then not one but two craft breweries, by far the best part of the walk. It went on and on. I couldn’t believe this was my walk home from work, and I couldn’t stop taking photos.

When I got home I posted photos of the journey on my Twitter account and was delighted to see others sharing my amazement at this place we call home.

It occurred to me that mountains, oceans and forests can make a place beautiful, but it’s things like easy access to breweries, parks and walking trails that make a place livable.

That, I would say, is $7 million well spent.

You can find the entire photographic tour of the North Vancouver waterfront here. And find me on Twitter @Sport_Andy to share photos of the little touches that make your neighbourhood great. I can’t wait to see them, even if they cost a measly $4-mill!

Andy Prest is the sports editor for the North Shore News and writes a biweekly humour/lifestyle column. He can be reached via email at [email protected].