Leonard Frank photo, Vancouver Public Library

VANCOUVER – Don’t bet on the recent opening of the West Cordova Street extension between Burrard and Thurlow to do much for your commute, warns a city engineer.

West Cordova now extends at full width as far west as Bute Street, with a small link to the north end of Jervis, but Ian Adam, assistant city engineer in charge of transportation, doesn’t expect that to provide much relief for early morning drivers battling their way into the city.

“Depending on where you’re going, you may use a block or two, but it’s not really going to make a difference on your trip,” he said in an interview last week.

“Say you’re coming along Powell Street and you want to get to some address on Thurlow or Bute, you can go straight through and not have to make a couple of turns.

“But the primary reason [for the extension] is that whole area is developing with the convention centre and some other tall buildings like Shaw Tower, and it’s primarily for access to them.”

He holds out a bit of hope for drivers who use the western end of Hastings Street: “If there’s one area where I think this Cordova extension would make a difference, it’s probably that piece of Hastings Street out there which is really narrow and has often got buses stopped out on the street.

“It’ll at least give you another way to get into the area.”

But in the end, he said, it all comes down to one thing for North Shore commuters: “The big issue on First Narrows is just getting in line for the bridge.”

Cordova Street once marked the edge of downtown and the start of the harbour. Archival photo, bottom right, of the Marine Building, at the corner of Burrard and Cordova, shows nothing north of it on its opening day in 1930. Still standing, the art deco icon is now crowded in by towers. In recent days, historic Cordova reached another milestone when an elevated section leading to the new Shaw Tower (tall building to right) was opened, connecting the downtown portion of the street with the burgeoning — and perhaps confusing — road network. Maps explain new lights, parking regulations and turning lanes in the new section, which runs between Burrard and Thurlow.

© The Vancouver Sun 2004