Burnaby Lake’s new bridge answers a surprisingly revealing question: why not just drive?

The exercise can begin before the car park

At the opening, there was a ceremony, free food and some puzzled passersby, according to the local account. Then came a question from a regular lake walker: why was the crossing needed when people could drive to a car park? It was a reasonable question from one kind of outing, and precisely the wrong starting point for another.

A runner wanted to run to the lake rather than drive there first. Others welcomed avoiding the unpleasant Kensington crossing, or wondered about taking a child cycling. The journey to the walk was itself part of the walk. The car was not obliged to supervise.

Source: April 27, 2026: opening discussion

A short span removes a much larger obstacle

The overpass connects Glencarin Drive with Claude McCarthy Court over Highway 1. Places close together on a map can be separated by a formidable road in practice. The new link supplies a crossing for people on foot and bikes rather than asking them to borrow a vehicle route.

The city reports a $27.8-million cost, near-level approaches following the natural grade, handrails and lighting. The brown surface is weathering steel, designed to form a protective layer. Its colour is intentional, not a case of the maintenance department missing the opening.

Source: City: Burnaby Lake Overpass

Useful does not mean finished

Some cyclists welcomed the safer link while others wanted spending directed towards more everyday protected routes. An earlier contributor described a collision that had made another route frightening. Those concerns are about the journey beyond the impressive new structure, where confidence can disappear again at the next junction.

The overpass is not useless because one person’s commute goes elsewhere. Nor does opening it complete a cycling network. A bridge can remove one large obstacle while leaving a series of smaller ones on either side, and those are the ones a hesitant rider may remember.

Source: November 2025: cyclists debate the future crossing

Source: April 27, 2026: opening discussion

Try the trip the bridge makes possible

Check the connecting paths, including current Central Valley Greenway notices around Sperling and Douglas, before committing to a longer route. An open span is not a promise about every adjoining path. That check belongs in the plan, not halfway through a ride with a child who has become tired of the plan.

The runner’s explanation remains a good way to judge the project. Take an actual destination on the other side, then ask how reaching it changes. For some people the answer is another pleasant crossing. For others, it is finally leaving the car at home before going out for exercise.

Source: City: current Central Valley Greenway notice

Source: April 27, 2026: opening discussion