A pedestrian and bike lane may not be what most of us would call a park, but that’s what the City of Richmond is calling a proposed stretch of pavement on the south side of Lansdowne Shopping Centre.
This “linear park” along Lansdowne Road, where there currently is no sidewalk, could count as part of the “park and open spaces” plan for the redevelopment of the mall.
The plan for 10 acres of “park and open spaces” will be dealt with at next week’s city council parks and recreation meeting.
Another piece of the park plan is a “plaza to park connector,” described in the report as a “secondary retail street” that will be closed to traffic but will have retail stores lining it. This is in addition to the 10 acres of parks and open spaces.
These, along with three larger park spaces and other pedestrian connections, make up the 10 acres the developer has to provide as the 50-acre shopping centre is redeveloped with up to 4,000 residential units.
Three major parks are planned for the area: a “plaza” on the west side of the property near the Lansdowne Canada Line station, one on the east side of the property across from Kwantlen Polytechnic and the largest one at the mid-point of the property on the south side, to be called Centre Park.
The plan also includes walkways throughout the development, including one from Alderbridge Way to the Centre Park, and another east of Cooney Road that will “increase connectivity” and “encourage pedestrian circulation,” notes the report going to the committee meeting.
The park/open spaces master plan needs to be in place before city council moves forward with rezoning the property.
Vanprop, the owner of the property, told the Richmond News earlier this year they expect to present their first phase of the development to city council this fall.
