Broadway is a major east-west thoroughfare in the city of Vancouver,
British Columbia, Canada. In Vancouver's numbered avenue grid system, it
runs in place of a 9th Avenue, between 8th and 10th. The street has six
lanes for most of its course. Portions of the street carry the British Columbia Highway 7 designation.
The
route begins as "West Broadway" at the intersection of Wallace Crescent
and 8th Avenue, in the affluent residential neighbourhood of West Point
Grey, a few kilometres east of the University of British Columbia
(UBC). Past Alma Street, Broadway takes over from 10th Avenue as one of
Vancouver's major thoroughfares, as it enters Greek West Broadway (or
Greektown) section of Vancouver's Kitsilano district. East of here are
several blocks of generally trendy, upscale shops interspersed with
low-rise apartment blocks and small supermarkets. The surrounding
neighbourhoods generally consist of large, older homes dating from the
early twentieth century, many of which have been subdivided into rental
suites.
As Broadway approaches Arbutus Street, the commercial
establishments become larger before transitioning into a mix of small to
mid-size apartment blocks. East of Burrard Street, the apartment blocks
get progressively taller, and commercial establishments larger and
busier. Between Burrard and Main Street, Broadway can be considerably
congested by vehicular traffic. Past Granville Street, Broadway yields
completely to medium-to-large commercial structures and high-rise
apartments and condominiums. Between Cambie and Main, the commercial
establishments become smaller and somewhat more downscale.
At
Ontario Street, two blocks west of Main, the route becomes "East
Broadway." After bisecting Main and Kingsway, traffic on Broadway eases
somewhat, and the character returns to a mix of small-to-medium
apartment buildings and commercial establishments, interspersed with
older homes - all considerably less affluent than those to the west. At
Commercial Drive, Broadway passes by the Commercial–Broadway SkyTrain
Station. Past here for several blocks, the neighbourhood consists
predominantly of older residential homes.
As Broadway travels
east of Renfrew Street, the neighbourhood once again becomes mixed, with
older homes to the north and larger industrial, commercial, and
warehouse establishments to the south. Broadway finally ends at Cassiar
Street, just short of the Vancouver-Burnaby boundary, where it becomes
the Lougheed Highway.
Broadway was created at the turn of the
20th century, along with other gridded roads south of False Creek, to
meet the needs of an expanding population in Vancouver. The name of the
route was changed from 9th Avenue to Broadway in 1909, at the behest of
merchants around Main Street (at that time the hub of Vancouver
commerce), who felt that it bestowed a more cosmopolitan air. Commercial
establishments originally spread out around the intersections of Cambie
and Main Streets, while the character of the rest of the route remained
predominantly single-family dwellings.
By the 1970s, the length
of Broadway had become a major arterial route in Vancouver, conveying
commuters from downtown to the neighbourhoods of the west and east
sides. With the growth of UBC and the expansion of the Vancouver General
Hospital (one block south of Broadway between approximately Oak and
Cambie), traffic demands accelerated. In the 1990s, the agency then
responsible for public transit in Greater Vancouver — BC Transit —
introduced an express bus route, the 99 B-Line, to help reduce
congestion. The Vancouver transportation plan for Broadway notes that
congestion is such that the bus service is at capacity, and will not be
eased until a new rapid transit line is built paralleling the street. It
is anticipated that the SkyTrain's Millennium Line will be extended to
Central Broadway by 2021; the extension is expected to connect with
Canada Line at Broadway-City Hall Station, at the intersection of
Broadway and Cambie Street.
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