The process of picking a route for the new arterial road and overpass through the False Creek Flats will begin this summer.

The City of Vancouver announced this week that Jefferson Centre, a non-profit group “committed to advancing democratic, citizen-driven solution to community and public issues,” will convene a community panel to help decide on the alignment for a new arterial route through the False Creek Flats.

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“We’re eager to start working with the community to design a productive and well-informed community panel,” Kyle Bozentko, executive director of the Jefferson Centre, said in a press release. “Over the next few months, our team will connect with area stakeholders and community members to help shape the information shared with the panel and the overall panel process.”

He added that the aim is to start in August recruiting members of the public to join the panel, which will convene for the first time in October.

The aim of the new arterial and overpass is to separate the rail corridor from the roadway and reduce the impact of train traffic on the area, enhance safety and alleviate congestion.

According to data from the city, CN increased rail traffic in January 2017, and the crossing at Prior and Venables experiences an average of 12.5 blockages a day lasting around 6.5 minutes each.

City staff has been working to identify a route for the overpass since the fall of 2015. Council approved the False Creek Flats area plan last spring. The plan includes the transition of Prior/Venables to a local serving street once the new arterial is complete. The arterial overpass was initially included as part of the area plan but was separated from that process to allow for more community input.

To date, three possible route options have been identified — National Avenue, Malkin Avenue and William Street — however each one comes with challenges.

National Avenue: runs along the north edge of the new St. Paul’s Hospital site, past Trillium Park and along Thornton Street, onto National to Chess Drive. The overpass would begin at Chess Drive, through the Fire Training Facility, overtop the railway tracks, and Vernon Drive and align with Grant Street to connect with Clark Drive.

Courtesy of City of Vancouver

Challenges:

Requires a longer structure to span the rail yards.

Wouldn’t operate well for driving, cycling, walking or transit due to the proximity to East First Avenue at Clark Drive.

Would impact the National Works Yard and require relocating the Chess Street fire training facility and heavy urban search and rescue site, which would be expensive to relocate and rebuild with no suitable alternative properties have been identified.

Malkin Avenue: also runs along the north edge of the new hospital site and on the existing alignment of Malkin Avenue. The overpass would begin at Raymur Avenue, pass over Glen Drive and the railway tracks and align with Charles Street to connect with Clark Drive.

Courtesy City of Vancouver

Challenges:

Would remove part of the Cottonwood community gardens that are within the street right-of-way.

Would restrict truck operations of several Produce Row businesses that currently back-in to loading bays and block the street.

William Street: this option was initially dismissed due to its impact on Strathcona Park (it would split the southern portion of the park) but project partners impacted by the Malkin Street option asked that it be considered. This option starts in the same place as the Malkin Street option but then runs through Strathcona Park between Chess Street and Raymur Avenue. The overpass would begin at Raymur Avenue, pass over Glen Drive, the railway tracks and Vernon Drive, and then align with William Street to connect with Clark Drive.

Courtesy of City of Vancouver

Challenges:

Splits the southern portion of Strathcona Park.

Requires a park board decision on whether the reconfiguration of the park boundaries and facilities is possible.

Some park board commissioners have expressed concerns about this option. In January, the board unanimously passed a motion, brought forward by Non-Partisan Association commissioner Sarah Kirby-Yung, asking council to delay making a decision on the Northeast False Creek plan until the road alignment had been determined and considered by the board if the William Street option was chosen.

“I’ve long been concerned that the plan moving forward does not really consider the interests of park users at Strathcona Park,” NPA commissioner John Coupar said at the meeting.

Council approved the Northeast False Creek plan in February.

“We have done a lot of technical assessment about three possible alternative arterials through the Flats — Malkin, National and William,” Jerry Dobrovolny, the city’s general of engineering, said in a press release. “By the time the False Creek Flats Area Plan came to Council last year, we were seeing that these options all came with challenges, with a near 1/3 – 1/3 – 1/3 split of support from stakeholders. We realized at that time that we needed to do a deeper and more extensive consultation to ensure that we really hear and understand how all the trade-offs associated with a new alignment.”

Dobrovolny said staff decided to go with a community panel because it is the highest level of consultation that a municipality can take on.

“We believe that this choice requires a very high level of engagement,” he said.

For more information, visit vancouver.ca/flatsarterial.

@JessicaEKerr

jkerr@vancourier.com