Portland’s neighbor across the Columbia River is evolving so quickly that, if you don’t visit regularly, it might seem like someone simply waved a magic wand. Poof! There’s a shiny new waterfront. Poof! There’s another residential tower.
The city of Vancouver is now pointing that wand downtown and summoning a mighty spell of transformation.
This week, city leaders invited community members to a final open house session where they showcased City Council-approved designs to reconstruct Main Street from Fifth to 15th streets starting next spring.
![Main Street Promise Vancouver](https://6amcity.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/630b4fd/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2156x1214+42+0/resize/1000x563!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fk1-prod-sixam-city.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fb6%2F84%2F3753b8174987bebb4b7497f10ce5%2Fscreenshot-2023-11-30-at-3-36-36-pm.png)
City leaders aim to make Main Street a community and economic hub.
Rendering courtesy of First Forty Feet
Here are some of the changes that are in store:
- Replacement of diagonal parking spaces with curbside parking
- Widened sidewalks with room for outdoor restaurant seating
- Improved safety + accessibility features like inlaid sidewalk strips for visually impaired pedestrians
- New street lighting, landscaping, and infrastructure for events that would close side streets to traffic
- New underground utility lines
Construction is slated to be completed no later than winter 2025.