Central Valley Greenway rekkie - March 25, 2009

Today I started out in search of the upgrades that have been made to the Central valley Greenway which is to link downtown Vancouver with New Westminster following a route used by our rapid transit line and the the main CN rail lines - much of the route has existed in one shape or form for several years but recently moneys were allocated to finished the project.

I started in downtown Vancouver - first on the False Creek seawall and into Science World where I picked up the new route which brought me onto the existing route near Broadway station - this part is well signed and generally follows the old Grandview Highway until it reaches Slocan St.

From Slocan it picks up the Skytrain route and follows it through to the Rupert Station.

This is where I have my first challenge - where is the route - didn't find the proper route so I took some of the lesser used roads and ended up at Boundary Rd - while looking for the start of the Burnaby section I found the proper route - its starts behind the station - it was closed for final payment anyway.

It was in Burnaby that I had the most trouble following the correct route - while a detour route suggested either Henning or Still Creek Drive - it still didn't lead to the correct route so I used local roads to reach my turn around point at Burnaby Lake.

One of the major and most expensive projects is the building of a bridge over the rail line at Sperling - this has long being the most dangerous crossing on the route - here's a picture of the overpass as it starts to take shape.

It is when I leave Burnaby Lake and end up on the Kengistion urban trail that I finally have found a section of the trail - it follows Still Creek - which forms in the Renfrew Heights area of Vancouver and then meanders through East Vancouver and Burnaby before flowing into Burnaby Lake - the Burnaby Lake to New West part of the route is basically finished as it uses an established urban trail.
Riding along the Greenway in Burnaby before it reaches the new Costco store.

This section isn't quite finished - Still Creek is seen in both of these images.

Returning back to Vancouver I stop for lunch at the McDonald's on Boundary Road and then take Boundary to the Adanac bike route and follow that all the way to back into the downtown core.

In all it was a great ride and good exercise - almost 40 KM on the odometer when I got home .

Cheers

Dennis