City Councillors in Vancouver have voted to tear down the city's Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts, two major routes in and out of the downtown core, and set aside space for a massive park.
Councillors approved the plan in a tight 5-4 vote on Tuesday.
The ambitious plan would involve removing the viaducts, rerouting traffic, and installing a new park, at a cost of $200 million. And the city is expecting land developers to help foot the bill.
Tearing down the traffic routes would also open up space for new streets and more housing and urban development.
Critics had raised concerns the tear-down will make traffic worse, and suggested the plan plays into the hands of developers looking to profit from building new condos.
Some residents have also raised concerns about the $200 million price tag.
"I think if you hear from people across the city it's more against (the project)," Coun. George Affleck, a member of the NPA party, told CTV Vancouver. "Two-hundred million dollars is a lot of money and has not only to do with development down there, which will partially fund it, but also things across the city."
But proponents say new routes will be able to handle 100 per cent of the traffic the viaducts currently carry, and that the overall benefits to the city outweigh the costs.
The city has also argued that new roads would be safer if an earthquake hit Vancouver.
"I think council … made a really positive decision for the city (when it voted to tear down the viaducts)," Vision Vancouver Coun. Geoff Meggs said. "This is an area that's been neglected. It's been waiting for a long time to find its future and its future should not include the viaducts. It should be a bigger park, better connections, a better traffic arrangement than we have now."
Moving forward, the city has a $21 million budget to move forward with planning and negotiations with Concord Pacific, the developer that owns much of the land surrounding the viaducts.
They have 18 months before they're expected to report back to council and present a concrete plan to start the demolition.
With files from CTV Vancouver
