Cambie Street
Encyclopedia
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. It is named for Henry John Cambie
Henry John Cambie
Henry John Cambie was a Canadian surveyor, civil engineer, and a notable figure in the completion of that country's transcontinental railway...
, chief surveyor
Surveying
See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...
of the Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
's western division (as is Cambie Road, a major thoroughfare in nearby Richmond
Richmond, British Columbia
Richmond is a coastal city, incorporated in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Part of Metro Vancouver, its neighbouring communities are Vancouver and Burnaby to the north, New Westminster to the east, and Delta to the south, while the Strait of Georgia forms its western border...
).
There are two distinct sections of the street. North of False Creek
False Creek
False Creek is a short inlet in the heart of Vancouver. It separates downtown from the rest of the city. It was named by George Henry Richards during his Hydrographic survey of 1856-63. Science World is located at its eastern end and the Burrard Street Bridge crosses its western end. False Creek is...
, the street runs on a northeast-southwest alignment (following the rotated street grid within downtown Vancouver). As such, the street actually runs perpendicular to the Cambie Street Bridge
Cambie Street Bridge
The Cambie Bridge is a six-lane symmetric, precast, varying-depth-post tension-box girder bridge spanning False Creek in Vancouver, British Columbia. The current bridge opened in 1985, but is the third bridge at the same location...
, and there is no seamless connection between the two. Instead, Nelson Street carries southbound traffic onto the bridge, and Smithe Street carries northbound traffic away from the bridge. The downtown section of Cambie Street runs from Water Street in Gastown
Gastown
Gastown is a national historic site in Vancouver, British Columbia, at the northeast end of Downtown adjacent to the Downtown Eastside. Its historical boundaries were the waterfront , Columbia Street, Hastings Street, and Cambie Street, which were the borders of the 1870 townsite survey, the proper...
in the north to Pacific Boulevard in Yaletown
Yaletown
Yaletown is an area of Downtown Vancouver approximately bordered by False Creek, Robson, and Homer Streets. Formerly a heavy industrial area dominated by warehouses and rail yards, since the Expo 86, it has been transformed into one of the most densely populated neighbourhoods in the city...
in the south and is a two-way street
Two-way street
A two-way street is a street that allows vehicles to travel in both directions. On most two-way streets, especially main streets, a line is painted down the middle of the road to remind drivers to stay on their side of the road. Sometimes one portion of a street is two-way, the other portion one-way...
for its length.
South of False Creek, the street is a major 6-lane arterial road, and runs as a 2-way north-south thoroughfare according to the street grid for the rest of Vancouver. Between King Edward Avenue West and Southwest Marine Drive, the street has a 10 metre wide boulevard
Boulevard
A Boulevard is type of road, usually a wide, multi-lane arterial thoroughfare, divided with a median down the centre, and roadways along each side designed as slow travel and parking lanes and for bicycle and pedestrian usage, often with an above-average quality of landscaping and scenery...
with grass and many well established trees on it.
The Canada Line and Cambie Street
When proposals to build the SkyTrainSkyTrain (Vancouver)
SkyTrain is a light rapid transit system in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. SkyTrain has of track and uses fully automated trains on grade-separated tracks, running mostly on elevated guideways, which helps SkyTrain to hold consistently high on-time reliability...
Canada Line
Canada Line
Canada Line is a rapid transit line in the Metro Vancouver region of British Columbia, Canada. Opened in August 2009, it is the third line in TransLink's SkyTrain metro network, servicing Vancouver, Richmond, and the Vancouver International Airport...
subway (formerly known as the Richmond-Airport-Vancouver or RAV Line) along Cambie Street first emerged, they were heavily protested by residents and business owners who wanted to keep the street as a heritage boulevard. They argued in favour of using the existing Arbutus Street rail corridor instead.
Once the decision was made to use the Cambie alignment for the Canada Line anyway, residents along the corridor successfully persuaded authorities to put the rail line in a tunnel
Tunnel
A tunnel is an underground passageway, completely enclosed except for openings for egress, commonly at each end.A tunnel may be for foot or vehicular road traffic, for rail traffic, or for a canal. Some tunnels are aqueducts to supply water for consumption or for hydroelectric stations or are sewers...
instead of running it as a surface route, and to dig the tunnel using a tunnel boring machine
Tunnel boring machine
A tunnel boring machine also known as a "mole", is a machine used to excavate tunnels with a circular cross section through a variety of soil and rock strata. They can bore through anything from hard rock to sand. Tunnel diameters can range from a metre to almost 16 metres to date...
. However due to cost concerns, the government decided to use a cut-and-cover method to build the tunnel - which introduced disruption to traffic and business along the corridor during the construction. As such, even though it cost less than using a tunnel boring machine, the plan drew heavy criticism from area residents and businesses, and affected business owners launched a class action suit against the government.
Gregor Robertson
Gregor Robertson
Gregor Aedan Robertson is a Scottish footballer who plays for Chesterfield. His favoured position is left-back but he can also play on the left side of midfield and more recently has enjoyed a successful spell at centre back....
, who later became the mayor of Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, was a strong supporter of Cambie Street merchants and spoke regularly about hardships from the Canada Line
Canada Line
Canada Line is a rapid transit line in the Metro Vancouver region of British Columbia, Canada. Opened in August 2009, it is the third line in TransLink's SkyTrain metro network, servicing Vancouver, Richmond, and the Vancouver International Airport...
construction. He called the handling of the rail line construction an "injustice."
On March 23, 2009 Robertson testified in a lawsuit brought by the Cambie Street merchant Susan Heyes, owner of Hazel & Co., in the B.C. Supreme Court regarding damage to her business from the construction, a lawsuit for which she was awarded $600,000 by the B.C. Supreme Court due in part to the fact that there was insufficient action to mitigate the effects of Canada Line construction on Cambie Street merchants. On the Canada Line opening day of August 17, 2009 Robertson said Greater Vancouver
Greater Vancouver
Greater Vancouver is the metropolitan area centred on the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, roughly coterminous with the Greater Vancouver Regional District, which is governed by a body known as Metro Vancouver...
needed more rapid transit but the Canada Line was a "great start" and that he was a "Johnny-come-lately" to the project.
During the years 2006 to 2009 portions of the street south of False Creek were closed to traffic to allow for construction of the line. The cut-and-cover tunnel runs underneath the east side of the street for most of its route. South of West 63rd Avenue, the line emerges from the tunnel and runs on an elevated structure across the Fraser River
Fraser River
The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Mount Robson in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia at the city of Vancouver. It is the tenth longest river in Canada...
.
Points of interest
- The GastownGastownGastown is a national historic site in Vancouver, British Columbia, at the northeast end of Downtown adjacent to the Downtown Eastside. Its historical boundaries were the waterfront , Columbia Street, Hastings Street, and Cambie Street, which were the borders of the 1870 townsite survey, the proper...
steam clock, located at the street's northern end, at its intersection with Water Street - The Vancouver City HallVancouver City HallVancouver City Hall is home to Vancouver City Council in Vancouver, British Columbia. Located at 453 West 12th Avenue, the building was ordered by the Vancouver Civic Building Committee, designed by architect Fred Townley and Matheson, and built by Carter, Halls, Aldinger and Company...
, located on the street between 10th Avenue and 12th Avenue - Queen Elizabeth Park, located east of the street between 29th Avenue and 37th Avenue
- Oakridge Centre, shopping centre at 41st Avenue
- Langara CollegeLangara CollegeLangara College is a public degree-granting college in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada which serves approximately 20,000 students annually through its university, career, and continuing studies programs...
, a community college at 49th Avenue - Vancouver Community CollegeVancouver Community CollegeVancouver Community College is a public post-secondary institution in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 1965, it is the largest and oldest community college in British Columbia, with over 140 certificate and diploma programs...
, a community college at Pender St in the north/downtown part of the street - The Park TheatrePark Theatre (Vancouver)The Park Theatre is a neighbourhood movie house on Cambie Street in Vancouver, British Columbia. Opened in 1941, it has passed through several owners, including Odeon Theatres, Famous Players and Alliance Atlantis Cinemas, and in 2005 was renovated and became part of the Festival Cinemas...
, at 18th Avenue, in "Cambie Village"