A previously approved at-grade intersection at Park Royal and Marine Drive is again in the news after West Vancouver municipal staff asked council last week to approve a thorough review of the decision.
District council approved in principle a proposed at-grade intersection next to The Village at Park Royal to replace the existing pedestrian and west overpasses back in December, but staff now say they haven't fully accounted for Park Royal's development plans or for long-term traffic changes.
Staff proposed a "multiple accounts evaluation" of the intersection that would include Park Royal, the Squamish Nation, Ministry of Transportation and TransLink, and completely re-evaluate the impacts while taking into account surroundings and a proposed lower-level connection to North Vancouver.
"Projects like this involve a number of objectives, some that we understand would benefit Park Royal, some that would benefit the district at large, and some of these perspectives include things like the impact or possible benefits to motorists, impact or possible benefits to pedestrians, and so on," explained Raymond Fung, director of engineering and transportation.
He said the existing traffic study hadn't taken into account all the factors, and that new information on Park Royal's own development plans required a more substantive review than merely checking the assumptions that went into Park Royal's traffic study.
But council eventually chose a technical review of the shopping centre's own traffic study.
Fung said he would be surprised if a technical review changed any of the conclusions of that original study, which anticipated a 28-second delay for westbound traffic and travel-time reductions for other movements.
Park Royal, however, strongly objected to the proposed review, arguing it amounted to taking back a decision that council had already made in December of last year, when council approved the intersection in principle.
Art Phillips, director of development with Larco Investment, the owners of Park Royal, argued such a review would "create an unsettling precedent."
"Park Royal has planned advanced construction which would be unreasonably delayed by the (multiple evaluation) plan," he said. "It appears the staff report is trying to reject the two earlier approvals. In our view this course of action would establish an unprecedented situation."
Larco would pay for a technical review, he added, but not the staff recommendation.
The at-grade intersection and demolition of overpasses will allow Park Royal to develop three new pad sites that could total 125,000 square feet of retail, according to staff, while the mall also has plans to develop mixed-use towers on the current White Spot site and two proposed for behind the Brick building.
Larco was supported by West Vancouver Chamber of Commerce president Gabrielle Loren, while the district's own design review committee had also recommended a technical review.
Council eventually agreed to a technical review after much debate, but found the scope of such a review to be too narrow, voting to expand it to include non-vehicle traffic and input from the Ministry of Transportation, TransLink, the Squamish Nation and Larco. The motion required the review be finished by no later than March of next year.
"This council had a presentation from a traffic consultant and an applicant, Park Royal; we have an endorsement from the police department, fire department, Blue Bus system, chamber of commerce," said Coun. Michael Smith in opposing the more detailed review. "Virtually every living, breathing expert on traffic on the North Shore endorsed this intersection."
Coun. Bill Soprovich was the lone dissenting voice, calling instead for the multiple accounts evaluation proposed by staff.
"The traffic light and the removal of the overpass is for Park Royal's economic gain," he said, arguing the community impact should take centre stage. "I really think this might take a few months, but in the end it will be a positive thing for everyone concerned, and then Park Royal can get on with their expansion ideas," he said.
Phillips said he was pleased with council's decision, and would work with West Vancouver for the review.
