Vancouver and CP Rail settle dispute over Arbutus corridor

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The City of Vancouver and Canada Pacific Railway have ended their dispute over the use and ownership of a railway line that cuts through some of Vancouver's most expensive real estate, but the battle is moving into a new phase as some raise concerns about temporary paving along the nine-kilometre route.

On Tuesday, the city's general engineering manager said the continuing paving of the corridor along the former rail bed will allow the public easier access to the Arbutus corridor to inform their ideas for its possible future.

"The more they have experienced the corridor, the better equipped they are to take part in that process," Jerry Dobrovolny said, referring to public consultation expected to begin this fall.

Mr. Dobrovolny said the city is keeping an open mind on what to do the with the corridor it purchased from CP Rail earlier this year, ending a 15-year conflict over the fate of the corridor that saw some community gardens ripped out by the railway. Since the purchase, rail tracks and 16,000 ties have been removed from the corridor.

"The sky's the limit at this point," he said. "We're going to open the door and have a good, fulsome dialogue and see where it takes us."

But some things already appear clear. The city is looking to increase the number of community garden plots along the corridor – there are currently 300 – and to install some fencing to define the greenway, though that fencing would have gaps to allow people to pass through.

Beyond that, Mr. Dobrovolny told a media briefing held at the corridor, "Our goal is to make this a world-class greenway," though he declined to name similar spaces elsewhere in the world that might offer lessons to Vancouver, apparently to avoid influencing the debate.

There has been much speculation, including from Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson, about the possibility of a New York City-style High Line – a reference to the park created on a former elevated rail line in that city.

But Adrian Levy, chairman of the Cypress Community Garden, is suspicious about the pavement, suggesting it is likely permanent.

"Temporary? I just can't see that," he said, adding he would prefer crushed gravel as is used elsewhere on pathways at some city beaches.

"Even though they say it's temporary, once that's there it has started a process."

Mr. Levy said he would like to see a "true greenway" with trees, seating areas, floral beds, meadows and community gardens. "There would be birds there. There would be bees coming to visit. It would be a more natural green thing that our city desperately needs," he said.

Asked about the consultation process, the semi-retired employee-productivity consultant said the issue "really touches me kind of deeply" so he might go "block by block" to ask residents what they want and whether they would work to see that vision enacted in their area of the corridor.

Asked about the consultation process, the semi-retired employee-productivity consultant said the issue "really touches me kind of deeply" so he might go "block by block" to ask residents what they want and whether they would work to see that vision enacted in their area of the corridor.

George Affleck, a city councillor for the Non-Partisan Association party, said he is also keeping an open mind about the fate of the corridor though he is skeptical about Vision Vancouver, which has a governing majority on council, properly conducting a review process.

Still, he said the pavement is not a permanent measure.

"I think it's temporary. It's a stopgap as we go through the process of what this whole route will be like. That's what I've told and understand will be the case," he said. "Staff wanted to get people using the route as fast as possible."

He said the corridor offers a "great opportunity" to create a multi-use route for bikes and pedestrians. "It should be as green as possible."