The City of Vancouver is planning to turn a southbound lane on the Cambie Street bridge into a protected bike lane, similar to the Dunsmuir viaduct.

The city is calling the cycling improvements “interim,” and says further improvements will be considered in the future.

There will be no changes to the northbound lanes heading into downtown, but drivers will lose one lane of traffic heading south.

The eastbound protected bike lane on Nelson Street will be extended to continue southbound on the bridge, and will be separated by concrete barriers.

Cyclists using the new southbound lane will travel down the off-ramp to West 6th Avenue — the lane will not continue past this point.

The number of cyclists on the Cambie Street has increasing steadily since 2010. Approximately 38,000 cyclists crossed the bridge in June 2010 — seven years later, that number nearly doubled to 71,000.

Most cyclists use the shared pedestrian-cycling path on the east side of the bridge, which is prone to conflicts.

Construction is anticipated to start in early 2018. For more information, visit vancouver.ca/cambiebridge