The case against turning viaducts into elevated park space
Posted June 7, 2012 9:25 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – This afternoon, you will get another chance to weigh in on the future of the Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts.
Some have called for the structures to be transformed into a pair of elevated urban parks. The concept is based on New York’s High Line Park, an old rail trestle that has been converted into green space.
Could the same be done with Vancouver’s downtown viaducts? In a recent post, urban planning blogger Jake Tobin Garrett says the city would be better off if we tore them down, rather than spruce them up.
“The viaducts are just large pieces of ugly concrete highway infrastructure that’s in the middle of what is a really beautiful downtown area and could be an even more beautiful downtown area if we remove that infrastructure,” he argues.
“That area could do a lot more if we remove them and created some park land… Do what Vancouver does best, which is a really nice public waterfront parks, beach areas, parks, things like that,” he suggests.
He doesn’t think the comparison with High Line Park is a good one. “The viaducts are not really long enough to do the same sort of thematic ‘rooms’ and experiences [as the High Line] and the area around it is completely undeveloped pretty much right now.”
Today’s open house is on from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Creekside Community Centre. A third and final open house happens this Saturday at the central branch of the Vancouver Public Library.
