The Carrall Street Greenway is a public realm improvement project located in the Vancouver’s historic Downtown Eastside (DTES). Development of the Greenway served two functions; stimulating the economic revitalization of the DTES, and adding to the City of Vancouver (City) greenways network. The Greenway design process was lengthy and involved stakeholders from diverse backgrounds including special interest groups, such as heritage and cycling advocacy groups, community groups and business operators. The goal was to develop a design for the 20 metre right-of-way that satisfied all groups. The design narrows the space allocated to vehicles to two travel lanes with unidirectional recreational paths at sidewalk level on each side of the street. There is also a flexible amenity area on one side of the street to be used for the various community needs. At different times of day or season, this amenity area can be used for parking, loading, sidewalk cafes, street parties and other community programming. Providing this flexibility in space programming is a new concept for Vancouver. In addition to the special transportation design features, the Greenway also incorporates numerous innovative and sustainable design elements such as stormwater infiltration planter boxes, granite features, and a permeable paving system. The Carrall Street Greenway provided an excellent opportunity for the City to explore ways of creating great streets that support transportation choices, community building and sustainable initiatives, both social and environmental.
