Cambie Bridge Seismic Upgrade Contract
Motion 6 · Standing Committee of Council on City Finance and Services, May 20, 2026
Summary
- Contract award for consultant services on the Cambie Bridge seismic upgrade and rehabilitation program.
- The building beneath the bridge (housing City Studio and the 311 call centre) must be demolished to access bridge pier foundations; staff confirmed all occupants will be relocated.
- Cooper's Park on the north side will be temporarily impacted; all recreational facilities will be reinstated, with a naturalized shoreline restoration replacing the existing hard edge.
- A public speaker raised concerns about the bridge's lane configuration and called for tabling the contract; staff confirmed means prevention fencing was not included given the bridge's low height and lower risk profile compared to Burrard and Granville bridges.
Vote
Public comments
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Transcript
21 segments
Before we begin this agenda item, if anyone believes they have a conflict of interest, now is the time to declare it. Does anyone have a conflict of interest to disclose? This item does not have a team member presentation. And council members, you have up to five minutes to ask questions of team members. Are there any questions? Okay, so if no questions, I'm going to call the registered speaker for this report. Public speakers should state whether they are in support or in opposition of the recommendations and may only speak once. I will also ask speakers if they are residents of Vancouver if it is not noted on the speakers' list. Our first and only public speaker is Nathan Davidovich.
Didn't know it was They're not talking before.
Oh Okay. Well, thank you chair and members of council The the history of the can be bridge is the long history I
I remember being at the opening of the third Cambie Bridge on December 8, 1985. Well, it was my birthday and also happy belated birthday to Chancellor Rohr. He had his birthday on Monday.
Mayor Mike Harcourt was at the opening ceremony for the new bridge. and our best mayor in the last 50 years, and the only second pro-transit premier in the history of BC. Harcourt was born in Edmonton, one of the few Canadian cities where the majority of city Councillors take transit regularly, not just once in a while, but regularly. And that's been going on for many, many years in Edmonton. Fast forward to the mid-2010s, I was attending a newest minister courthouse to hear the two-day discussion about the safety of the Canby Bridge. A citizen who was involved in an accident on the bridge was suing the city for building an unsafe bridge. The main point was the bad median that was on the bridge. The old bad median has been replaced after the court case. But the point is that there's many design features that has to be improved on the Cambie Bridge. And by approving this contract without the details and how the bridge going to look five or 10 years from now, We are making a big mistake. I mean, everybody's laughing at the city of Vancouver having three northbound lane and only two southbound lanes for vehicles and buses and no bus-only lanes. So we are a laughingstock. And unless you table this and look at all the options and everything else or request a proper report from the staff who... did not build the bridge, of course, because all that stuff from the 1980s retired, then, you know, nothing much will happen. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Nathan. Thank you for speaking to the standing committee. Okay, so would someone like to move a motion? Moved by Councillor Kerbion. Do we need a seconder? Seconded by Councillor Maloney. Committee members, is there any discussion? I saw Councillor Wu.
Yeah, sorry, I missed the questions. So I guess through you, Cher, just a question about City Studio under Canby Bridge. Looks like it will be demolished. City Studio, as we know, is a nonprofit incubator, sort of gets kids interested in... city planning, among other things. And I believe there's also the 311 call center there. Just wondering about the relocation of those services.
Lon LeClaire, General Manager of Engineering Services. Yeah, so in order to complete this work, this by-glass building that's under the Canby Bridge must be demolished to kind of work on the foundations of the bridge piers. There's a number of staff that currently occupy that building. All of those staff will be relocated to new facilities that is incorporated into the cost of the project.
So that's just, we can't really avoid that? That's just sort of something that just has to happen with this?
That's correct. The building physically surrounds the column and is in close proximity to other columns.
And then what about some of the infrastructure on the north side, the skate park, that's all going to be maintained? or not, sorry, the basketball court and all that, that's going to be maintained?
Yeah, so Cooper's Park on the north side is impacted during the construction for the same reasons, because of the foundations. All of the recreational facilities there will be reinstated. There are some upgrades that are planned, in particular for the shoreline. So we're working with the park board on replacing, rather than the kind of the hard edge seawall, it's kind of a naturalized shoreline. Oh, okay. So it's part of an ecosystem restoration exercise.
Yeah. Just, you know, sadly, the conversation around means prevention and the Granville Street Bridge has been on everybody's minds, and I understand Counselor Dominato. There's a motion coming next week. I did note the mention of the, that means protection or prevention is not included in this, but the design accounts for the potential installation. Can you walk us through what that might look like, why we wouldn't consider doing it now, and what cost difference would be, say, doing it now versus doing it some other time?
Yeah, so at this point, the railings themselves are in good condition, so we're not anticipating any particular changes to the railings. When we installed the means prevention fencing on the Burrard Bridge, the railings were actually crumbling and in required replacement. And so as a coordinated project, that was a more natural addition. For this project, it would be an added cost that would be over and above what we're planning to do with this work and a significantly increased scope. Having said that, the risk at this site is substantially lower than it is for the higher bridges. Because this is a low bridge, we don't see that type of activity nearly as much.
Okay. Any sense of what it would cost to do it now versus do it later? Obviously, that's like a...
I mean, it would be in probably the tens of millions. The early estimates that we did on the Granville Bridge were certainly in the tens of millions, and probably similar for the Canby Bridge.
Thank you. Thanks. All right. Seeing no one else on the queue, I'm going to call the vote. So, remember that any committee member participating virtually whose video is disabled will be marked absent for the vote pursuant to the section 14.13 of procedure bylaw. So, clerk, please take us to the voting screen and committee members, please register your vote.
Chair, can I please get a vote assist in favor?
Statement Watch
All right, is anyone else cold in here? Because I definitely am. But good morning, everyone. Good morning, council members and our mayor. My name is Samaya Adam. I am a black Muslim woman, and I'm grateful to be here with you all today. I'm a community builder. However, I am here on behalf of Foundation for a Path Forward. So on foundation, I serve as their board member. And, you know, sometimes you got to do dutiful, do the full things and come and support your community. So that's why I'm here today. However, the foundation's work is really focused on strengthening communities and advancing anti-racism work across local, national, and global contexts. It is in partnership with Resilience BC under the Attorney General's office. Our work is really grounded in collaboration and practical community-led solutions to build stronger, safer, and healthier communities. And so with that, we are here today for a proclamation recognizing Eid al-Hadha. Eid al-Hadha, also known as the Festival of Sacrifice, which you also graciously shared, it is one of the most significant holidays and celebrations in the Muslim faith. It is rooted in generosity and sacrifice, and it is deeply connected to the values our community cares. So our community really values community care. It is rooted in service. and support. And so when we think about sacrifice, there has to be this willingness to do that. And so at the same time, we cannot ignore the sober context of next month. So this June actually marks five years since the devastating attacks on the Afzal family in London, Ontario, where three generations of Muslim families were taken from us in an act of Islamophobic violence. Even today, we continue to see that rise in Islamophobia. However, moments like today should remind us that while Muslim communities are celebrating, many of us are also navigating anxiety and grief from our day-to-day experiences. So while today is a very symbolic day and a recognition that is so needed, it is an opportunity to deepen our understanding of one another, as well as to build solidarity. And so, thank you for... convening us today because the importance of coming together across differences is what really builds healthier, stronger communities. And so I'm really grateful for the city of Vancouver for creating the space for its residents, opening seats at the table, and really instilling a sense of dignity, shared responsibility through power, shifts, dynamics, all of that. And so this is a place we all call home. And so again, I'm just going to say thank you for giving us the space.
All right. Thanks, everyone. Thanks for... Alright, so this is the plan for the day. We're going to break at noon for lunch and return at 1pm to continue to deal with the remainder of the agenda. If needed, we need to recess at 5pm for a dinner break and reconvene at 6pm to complete the agenda. Okay, so now the committee member will consider the matter adopted on consent. We have report number one on the consent agenda for the committee's consideration. We will hold report two and three to hear from the speakers.