Redesign of 16th Avenue / SW Marine Drive Intersection
Creators: name: Bao, Wayne
name: Beetstra, Ryan
name: Clark, Calum
name: Padilla, César
name: Nichvolodoff, Pace
name: Siew, Andrew
name: Zatz, Bernardo
Publisher: name: The University of British Columbia
Year: 2024

description: This report outlines the redesign of the Southwest Marine Drive and 16th Avenue intersection. The intersection is located in Vancouver, BC, on the southwest corner of Point Grey, sitting next to the eroding Point Grey cliffs. The junction serves as the southern entry point to the University of British Columbia (UBC) campus. Despite significant growth in population, and the development of adjacent residential areas over the past decades, the intersection has remained largely unchanged. The existing design, reminiscent of a highway layout which would have accommodated a now long cancelled ferry terminal, presents challenges and risks for those using active modes of transportation, particularly in terms of comfortable and safe navigation. The main objective of this project is to redesign the intersection to prioritize public transit and active modes of transportation, ensuring safety and accessibility for pedestrians and cyclists. To create a smooth transition from a highway to a suburban environment, the project aims to calm traffic by reducing travel speeds. It also maintains a buffer distance with the Botanical Garden, incorporates green infrastructure for stormwater retention, and introduces a gateway feature for a distinctive entry to the UBC campus. Key issues that currently affect the intersection and that this design aims to address can be summarized in a few key points. The design of the current intersection prioritizes the use of single occupancy vehicles travelling along Marine Drive, which creates a safety hazard for pedestrians and cyclists due to the vehicle speeds, and as such reduces the appeal of these modes of transportation. Additionally, the slope to the west of the intersection is particularly exposed to erosion from surface runoff and as such needs to be prevented or minimized. Lastly, the intersection now functions as one of the main entrances to the university campus and remains as the only such entrance to not feature a gateway to adequately inform road users that they are entering the campus. The proposed design has four key features. First, a roundabout intersection that discourages high speeds by the addition of approach curves alongside lowering the number of lanes. Second, an accessible pedestrian underpass across 16 th Avenue enhances active transportation safety. Third, a system involving a soak pit, grass swale, slot drains, and stormwater tank minimizes cliff erosion. At last, a concrete gateway with Indigenous art acknowledges land property and welcome visitors to the UBC campus. The schedule developed for this design outlines the main project stages and milestones for the project by providing a comprehensive work breakdown sequence involving construction phases and reoccurring stakeholder consultation. To complete the development during the summer of 2024, construction is expected to last four months, starting May 01 and ending August 16. A Class A cost estimate based on material, equipment, and labour costs will be created to justify further development of the proposed design. This cost estimate is to be taken within 5 to 10% of the actual cost to account for changes between the final design estimate and the fluctuating prices during construction. The total project cost is estimated to be $2,824,297. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”