NW Marine Dr
NW Marine Drive connects Spanish Banks to UBC.Characteristics
NW Marine has 2 travel lanes between the border to the City of Vancouver near Spanish Bank Creek and the intersection with Chancellor at the top of the hill. There is a turn lane at Acadia Rd and at the intersection with Chancellor. There is no street lighting.
Westbound at Spanish Banks has a narrow shoulder of varying width. Also westbound the road has a wider shoulder for a short stretch near the Acadia Beach parking lot. The road has raised reflectors marking the fog line on its entire length and in both directions. A paved path runs along the road starting west of the Acadia Beach parking lot to Chancellor.
The road is in good condition in terms of surface quality and flooding due to recent roadwork and repaving. The recent road maintenance performed by the ministry also added raised reflectors along the road's fog lines where bikes travel.
Connections
To the east in the City of Vancouver, NW Marine has 2 travel lanes but also a shoulder in both directions and no reflectors on the fog line. To the west, NW Marine intersects with Chancellor and continues west around the tip of the Point Grey peninsula. Straight ahead East Mall leads to the university campus.
The speed limit is 50km/h. The City of Vancouver's section of NW Marine has a 30km/h speed limit.
No walking facilities exist in the Ministry's jurisdiction between Spanish Bank Creek and west of the Acadia Beach parking lot. Walkers and runners use the gravel path in the city's Spanish Banks Beach Park to the bottom of the hill to UBC.
Between the bottom of the hill to west of the Acadia Beach parking lot, a user created narrow dirt path is next to the road curb. People also walk or run on the road shoulder.
West of the Acadia Beach parking lot a no-post barrier separates a narrow, uneven width paved path from the road. On the other side of the narrow path is a steep embankment. There is no fence or rail along the path.
At Foreshore Park the paved path widens and continues to Chancellor.
Connections
At the eastern end the walking path is also in Spanish Banks Beach Park. At the western end, Chancellor, NW Marine around the tip and East Mall have sidewalks on both sides of the street. There is no pedestrian crossing from NW Marine straight across to East Mall. There is a gap in the barrier to allow pedestrians to cross NW Marine Dr parallel to Chancellor, however there are no markings across this complex intersections and the stop line for westbound right-turn traffic was moved past the pedestrian crossing point after the last repaving.
There are no breaks in the no-post barrier separating the sidewalk from the road to give pedestrian access to the connecting roads in the UEL.
The road has no dedicated cycling facilities. Near the Acadia Beach parking lot, the uphill shoulder is wide enough for cycling up to where the no-post barrier starts.
A new "share the road" sign at the Acadia Beach parking lot has replaced the "cyclists on sidewalk only" sign at the start of the no-post barrier.
From Foreshore Park west to UBC both the road (no shoulder) and the paved path are used by uphill cyclists. Since the removal of the sign "Cyclists on sidewalk only" it is unclear if cyclists are allowed to use the path.
Downhill NW Marine has no dedicated cycling facilities or shoulder.
Along the entire road in both directions the raised reflectors on the fog line are a hazard to cyclists. Especially downhill cyclists are at risk of serious injury if they hit a reflector. In fall leaves obscure the reflectors. The reflectors force cyclists to ride further away from the curb and into the travel lane, especially cyclists with child trailers.
Connections
At Spanish Banks an unpaved bike path near the beach parallels NW Marine. Chancellor has marked bike lanes in both directions. NW Marine around the tip has marked bike lanes for about 50-100m where they end. East Mall has marked bike lanes in both directions for about 50m to the Chan Centre delivery entrance and then no dedicated facilities (and little motor vehicle traffic).
It is unclear how to cross from NW Marine up the hill to East Mall. The connection appears to conflict with eastbound vehicles turning left down NW Marine. For path users up the NW Marine hill, there is no access to the roadway (no curb let down) at the intersection with Chancellor and East Mall.
Source: UBC Planning