The first phase of upgrades along Wesbrook Mall is now complete following approximately seven months of construction.
The first phase of work included the stretch of Wesbrook Mall from Student Union Boulevard to the south side of University Boulevard as well as upgrades that extended as far down as West 16th Avenue.
“Campus and Community Planning would like to extend a big thank you to the UBC community for their patience during construction these past seven months,” said Krista Falkner, transportation engineer. “This was one of the most complex projects we’ve delivered on campus, from a traffic management perspective in order to accommodate large volumes of pedestrians, buses and general traffic at our main arrival point to campus throughout construction.”
The project’s success was due to key partnerships said Falkner. “This project came to life as a result of our partnerships with the University Endowment Lands, BC Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure and TransLink.”
In this first phase of construction, improvements focused on creating a positive experience for people arriving to campus by bus, pedestrians, and cyclists. “We improved sidewalks for pedestrians, fully repaved roadways, installed new lighting, and added new, separated, bike lanes for cyclists,” said Falkner. Additionally, a bus priority lane on Wesbrook Mall and a new pedestrian signal was installed at the crosswalk near UBC Hospital as part of the new R4 41st Avenue RapidBus work that also took place over the summer.
The new crosswalks includes the Musqueam logo and shapes inspired by the logo design.
People using the crosswalks at the intersection of Wesbrook Mall and University Boulevard will have noticed the new colourful designs painted there, inspired by the shape of the Musqueam logo. The crosswalks which include the Musqueam and UBC logos, are an acknowledgement that the UBC Vancouver campus is situated on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Musqueam people.
Preparing for RapidBus
This summer, TransLink carried out work along the Wesbrook Mall corridor in preparation for the arrival of the new R4 41st Avenue RapidBus in January 2020.
Anyone who uses Wesbrook Mall will have noticed the new, red bus priority lanes that were installed southbound on Wesbrook Mall from University Boulevard to 16th Avenue as well as the newly painted bike lanes. The bus priority lane is already benefitting transit passengers on the hundreds of buses that use the Wesbrook Mall corridor every day, ahead of the launch of the new RapidBus.
A bus travels along Wesbrook Mall in the new bus priority lane.
What’s Next?
Construction on the next phase of Wesbrook Mall upgrades is slated to start in spring 2020 and continue through the summer. The next phase will extend from University Boulevard to the south side of Agronomy Road and will bring the same features that were included in phase one with the addition of a bus priority lane both northbound and southbound. The remaining phases of the improvement project will be completed in the future as funding allows.
More information about the planned improvements to Wesbrook Mall visit www.planning.ubc.ca/wesbrook-mall.
Up-to-date information on RapidBus can be found at www.translink.ca.