How the Lions Gate Bridge Counterflow Works

Lions Gate lane control
Lions Gate Counterflow Lane

Ever wonder how we manage the Lions Gate Bridge lane control system? Let us explain.

Watch our animated explainer video on YouTube:

Who operates the counterflow?

Miller Capilano Highway Services, our local maintenance contractor, monitors more than 40 cameras on the bridge and surrounding roads from the Transportation Management Centre of British Columbia (TMCBC). They are responsible for manually changing the lane directions based on traffic volumes and safety. Two crew members are also stationed at either side of the bridge between 6 am and 10 pm, helping clear vehicle incidents, stalls and debris from the bridge as safely and efficiently as possible. They also help with traffic support for emergency services when needed.

Now that we’ve got that straight, let’s talk about counterflow timing…

Weekday morning operations

During the weekday morning commute at 6 am, we provide two lanes southbound on the Lions Gate Bridge for morning commuters. At the same time, the City of Vancouver provides an extra southbound lane on Georgia Street to help with the flow of traffic. With a quiet and less congested downtown, southbound commuters can flow steadily over the bridge and continuously into the city.

At around 9:30 am, the City of Vancouver removes the extra lane on Georgia Street. At the same time, we switch over to two lanes in the northbound direction on the bridge.

Lane control overview Lions Gate Bridge
Lions Gate Lane Control overview

Weekday afternoon/evening and weekend operations

After the 9:30 am switchover, the lane control operations on the bridge become dynamic, which means the lane operators choose the direction of the middle lane based on how traffic unfolds.

When the workday winds down, we generally have the centre lane open in the northbound direction for traffic leaving the city. When two lanes are provided for northbound traffic, the North Shore can easily disperse commuters with two separate major routes and Highway 1. That said, we do change the centre lane to the southbound direction every so often so traffic heading downtown doesn’t back up onto Highway 1, causing major delays and safety issues.

Here’s the challenge: we need to keep the centre lane traffic running fairly smoothly at all times so that it can be easily cleared for emergency vehicles at a moment’s notice. Heavy centre lane traffic, which tends to happen most in the southbound direction, significantly increases the time it takes to clear.

Weekends can be particularly challenging, as the active downtown core can be at capacity at any given time. Although we predict higher volumes during sunny days and for special events, once the downtown core is full, it is difficult for traffic to move in and out from any direction, let alone using the Lions Gate Bridge.

Emergency personnel communicate with counterflow operators to coordinate crossing times. By monitoring and ensuring the centre lane doesn’t reach the point of bumper-to-bumper traffic, it can be cleared quickly for emergency vehicles.

Counterflow is a balance. There is an ebb and flow to Lions Gate Bridge traffic that the counterflow operators’ understand and manage based on their experience and access to many strategically placed cameras throughout the corridor.

Weekday overnight operations

During weekdays, the centre lane of the Lions Gate Bridge is closed from 12 am to 6 am so emergency services can easily cross the bridge without having to wait on operators. Due to the lower volumes of traffic, this procedure does not cause delays.

So, there you have it! The rhyme and reason to the Lions Gate Bridge lane control system. Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments below.

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Page 1 of 154 comments on “How the Lions Gate Bridge Counterflow Works”

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  1. The weekend staff need more training on managing counter flow for lionsgate bridge. 3:30 Sunday southbound traffic is at a crawl. One lane open. 2nd lane finally opens for less than 10 minutes! I arrived at lost lagoon and there was “minimal traffic “ heading north while south bound traffic still backed up. This is common. Poor training / management on weekends. Do better!

  2. I understand why the volume of downtown traffic matters when determining the direction of middle lane on Lion’s Gate and understand not wanting traffic in West Van to back up to the upper levels.
    The decision to stick with two lanes northbound on 02/09/23 between 5:30 pm to at least 7:20 was truly unconscionable. The log jam of cars, many families and tourists arriving at Horseshoe Bay on the 3:55 ferry from Nanaimo, was horrible on Taylor Way and Marine Drive. It took me two hours to get home in the West End this evening. Adding insult to injury was facing speeding cars in two lightly used lanes as I crossed the bridge and moved slowly through the causeway. I felt especially sorry for people with kids, dogs, dates, deadlines, and connections to make. The traffic was indeed backed up….the horns were honking, patience was thinning and tempers were fraying. What an absolute mess.

  3. I don’t think the bridge is managed very well. It’s terrible! Northbound traffic is heavily favoured over southbound traffic. There is no congestion at all downtown, but massive congestion on the north shore. It is Sunday afternoon and again – chaos on the north shore and nothing downtown. It makes no sense. Where is the accountability? Who can we speak to so that this can be fixed?

  4. 1. You have said the lane switching is dynamically controlled by staff watching flow. I realize there can be bad days where one car accident in the city affects inbound streets, either downtown or even in Burnaby, which affects 2nd Narrows. When one of the bridges is slow, the alternative bridge soon backs up and the whole North shore becomes grid locked even for residents, businesses, and importantly emergency services, that only want to move around the North Shore . When this happens, there does not seem to be any consciousness of your staff if prioritizing getting south bound grid locked bridge traffic off the North Shore.
    2. Even in normal days, when switching lanes dynamically, here’s nothing dynamic about the time it takes to open the middle lane. Almost every time you switch the middle to red, cars can travel almost the entire length of the bridge and causeway before the middle lane goes green. Why? If you are really watching and can see no cars in the red middle lane soon after it went red, why can’t you switch it green? It would relieve the congestion either in the North shore approaches and West Georgia a whole lot sooner. The affect of this delay in going green is compounded back up the approach roads. As a result it then takes longer to ease the backed up traffic flow.

    • Hi Tim.

      The traffic flow is managed by Miller Capilano Highway Services who monitor more than 40 cameras and manually change lane directions based on traffic volumes and safety. We would encourage you to share your feedback with them directly at http://www.millercapilanohs.ca/. Thank you for connecting with us here.

  5. Just wondering why I’m Northbound and not moving at all. When I look at the cameras all through the bridge I can clearly see there is little to no traffic moving southbound what so ever. Do you guys even pay attention to the current traffic on the bridge? It seems like you guys don’t. I have traveled this route for over 10 years, nothing has changed.

    • Hi Connor,

      Thanks for connecting with us. @DriveBC on Twitter has reported that there is a vehicle incident northbound on the bridge. We recommend you check DriveBC.ca for further info and updates.

    • Hi Jasmin,

      Thanks for your comment. Our staff in the Transportation Management Centre monitor the counterflow cameras around the clock.

      From the blog: Counterflow is a balance. There is an ebb and flow to Lions Gate Bridge traffic that the counterflow operators’ understand and manage based on their experience and access to many strategically placed cameras throughout the corridor.

      When the workday winds down, we generally have the centre lane open in the northbound direction for traffic leaving the city. When two lanes are provided for northbound traffic, the North Shore can easily disperse commuters with two separate major routes and Highway 1. That said, we do change the centre lane to the southbound direction every so often so traffic heading downtown doesn’t back up onto Highway 1, causing major delays and safety issues.

      Here’s the challenge: we need to keep the centre lane traffic running fairly smoothly at all times so that it can be easily cleared for emergency vehicles at a moment’s notice. Heavy centre lane traffic, which tends to happen most in the southbound direction, significantly increases the time it takes to clear.

      Hope this information is helpful.

  6. Hi! I was stuck in 1 lane 50 minute traffic into downtown Vancouver. Sucks, but it happens. We got the middle lane, but it only lasted 5 minutes before it switched back! It went green, yellow, red, green yellow red. What gives? There were no emergency vehicles either. Thanks for reading.

  7. Well, something is clear, your system is not working or the personal managing the cars flow is not properly trained, the past Saturday 10 I’ve been 45 in the bridge and the lights never changed.
    Besides this it’s a terrible idea to make reparations on Saturday at noon, you should do it during the night.
    Thanks.

    • Hi there Tom – thanks for your question. Traffic volumes have certainly increased in the Metro Vancouver area over the past ten years as more and more people have moved to the Lower Mainland of BC. The provincial government is looking at options to improve accessibility between the North Shore and Vancouver. Here is a link to more information on that: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2020TRAN0144-001729

  8. Sunday May 14 at 6 pm lions gate southbound switched to two lanes for about 10-15 minutes. I was in the southbound lanes. By the time I reached the causeway the centre lane change was occurring. It caused a large pileup so counterflow was slower than 3 minutes. By the time I reached the lagoon it was obvious there was no northbound backup on west Georgia street. Clearly no monitoring of northbound lanes had occurred. This needs to be dealt with as Taylor way was backed up to the top and I was knowledgeable enough to avoid it and go through park Royal.

  9. I am trying to find out what a driver should do if their car stalls on a bridge in Vancouver. There doesn’t seem to be any advice. Should the driver call a wrecker or do the people controlling the bridge automatically have the car towed?? Should you stay in the car? etc.

    • Hello, Don – thanks for your question. Most bridges in metro Vancouver are patrolled by tow trucks to ensure speedy removal, as required. Additionally our team at DriveBC monitor cameras for bridges and will notify tow trucks if they see a stall. We encourage you to stay in your vehicle for safety and call a tow truck while you wait. Hope this information is helpful. Safe travels.

  10. It sounds like there should be rhyme and reason, but right now it feels like rhyme and reason are lost in action.

    Twice in the past week I experienced situations in the PM rush where there were long periods of two lanes southbound with southbound traffic basically having no wait. I was travelling Northbound ended up being stuck on the Georgia Street for 45 minutes. I have to admit that rarely the situation is reversed.

    Your map of camera locations shows huge gaps. The cameras may be good for detecting accidents, but from your diagram, there really can’t be a good idea of the Northbound queues on Georgia Street or Southbound queue at Capilano Road and Marine. To understand what’s going on Georgia Street there would need to be multiple cameras between Pender and Burrard (the cheaper solution would be to use Google Maps to see their predicted delays).

    If waits were balanced, I wouldn’t be grumbling.

    • Thanks for this feedback, Marty. We will share your camera feedback with our webcam team (although there may be some overlap between our jurisdiction and the City of Vancouver).

  11. I agree with Stephen B below, giving some priority to southbound traffic on Saturday afternoons needs to be considered.
    From 2 pm onward it was a parking lot up Taylor way onto the highway and for kilometers in both directions on marine drive. The tiny amount of northbound traffic had 2 lanes most of the afternoon so it stayed heavily congested for until 7pm. They had hours to give priority to Southbound traffic and clear the jam, but did nothing.
    I understand you want to keep the middle lane easily cleared, but this afternoon was ridiculous. Please reconsider your operating procedures. Thanks.
    Shane.

    • Hi Shane,

      Thanks for your comment. We shared your concern forward and here’s what we heard back.

      There is only so much southbound traffic that can be directed SB into the downtown core. The SB needs to clear before we can go that direction again, otherwise you are just backing up traffic into the causeway. This makes it impossible if there is an emergency situation and the centre lane needs to be closed for ambulance, fire or police. We are also affected by activities on Georgia St. If there is a protest or an incident outside of our control, it jams up the traffic as well. Every effort is made to keep the traffic moving in both directions by the operators. There is never a case where the operator “did nothing”. Hope this information is helpful.

  12. Saturday late afternoon and evenings from the North Shore on the LGB are nightmares.

    For some mystical reason, priority (2 lanes) are given to the handful of people leaving downtown, while us North Shore folks are backed up solid both from North and West Vancouver for 45 minutes to an hour. Absolutely ridiculous and incredibly frustrating.

    There is never a line up coming out of downtown at this time, and often empty gaps of 10 to 15 seconds where I see no one driving north on the causeway or bridge. Meanwhile, they have two lanes!

    Give the North Shore priority on Saturday late afternoons and evenings!! Enough is enough.

  13. Hi,

    Thanks for sharing how you operate. I’m surprised that we rely so much on operators and do not automate. Ive noticed, like others commenting, a number of times when the manual operations didn’t make sense. Supporting those operators with more powerful tooling would be beneficial, you should put some engineers to work on it, happy to help!

    Arnaud

  14. You need to change the protocols, 3 minutes every cycle is way too long. They were set in the 70s when there were like 4 crappy cameras for the whole thing. Now they have lots, so it’s easy to see that the center lane is clear.
    Change it to 30 seconds of flashing yellow, 15 of solid yellow, 15 of red, then open the lane for the opposite direction.
    Those 2 minutes of closure every cycle are a huge waste of usage and cause unnecessary delays.
    The southbound South end congestion is caused by the traffic light at Denman, the operator needs to watch for when southbound traffic is backing up by Lost Lagoon and start a change, as there is no benefit to adding to that backup, better to let northbound have a go.
    Trust me, I know this will work.

    • Hi David,

      Thank you for your suggestion about the Lions Gate Bridge counterflow system. I have forwarded your comments to our people responsible for operating the system.

    • I agree 100% David.

      The turnaround times you suggest for changing the middle lane are spot on.

      Massive waste of time to take so long to change over the lane.

      Operator, please make this happen. No need for us to be waiting that long.

  15. From my vantage point in West Vancouver, on April 27th, between 2-3:45pm, I noticed the bridge traffic going south, was semi stalled, causing a huge back-up, due to a stalled vehicle in the right lane. I could see no accident. I assumed the stalled vehicle was out of fuel. I continued to watch, waiting for one of the tow trucks to show up. To my amazement, no tow truck showed up for at least ½ hour or more. Finally a yellow/orange vehicle arrived and solved the problem.
    Why would this incident take so long to resolve?

    • Good afternoon Wally and thank you for your message. We shared your concerns with our staff responsible for the area and they confirmed that there was a stalled car which was cleared from the Lions Gate at 4:22 pm on April 27. It can take some time to get to a stalled vehicle, depending on the location of the vehicle, the volume of traffic congestion and how quickly the incident was reported. If you notice this again, we encourage you to call our maintenance contractors 24 hour emergency line at 1-866-918-1010. Discovering incidents quickly or being informed of them increases their response times. We hope this information is helpful. Safe travels.

  16. This comment echos so many others… I can see that Georgia (downtown) is clear at the weekends, yet for hours Taylor Way and Marine Drive on the north shore are experiencing huge delays. These aren’t isolated incidents, this happens most weekends.
    Time for someone who actually monitors the traffic real time to manage the flow professionally.

    • Hi there Barb – thanks for your question.

      Here’s more info, pulled from the blog: “When the workday winds down, we generally have the centre lane open in the northbound direction for traffic leaving the city. When two lanes are provided for northbound traffic, the North Shore can easily disperse commuters with two separate major routes and Highway 1. That said, we do change the centre lane to the southbound direction every so often so traffic heading downtown doesn’t back up onto Highway 1, causing major delays and safety issues. During weekdays, the centre lane of the Lions Gate Bridge is closed from 12 am to 6 am so emergency services can easily cross the bridge without having to wait on operators. Due to the lower volumes of traffic, this procedure does not cause delays.”

      Hope that this helps clarify! Safe travels.

  17. Lived here all my life and still the traffic is not monitored properly. Anyone can go online and see huge traffic up Taylor Way and almost nothing on Georgia. ITS TIME SOMEONE TOOK OVER WHO TEALLY FOES THEIR JOB.

    • Hi there HB,

      Thanks for sharing your opinion with us here. We do work closely with the City of Vancouver (outlined above) to make sure traffic can move in and out of the downtown core, but unfortunately, sometimes (such as on weekends and during events in the city) there is only so much traffic it can receive.

  18. Sunday 5:40 pm southbound: traffic is crawling at Taylor Way and we can see a very light traffic northbound at bridge with 2 lanes. Why are the operators opening 2 lanes southbound for 10 min only? Doesn’t make any sense.

    • Hello Frederico,
      Thanks for your comment. Weekends can be particularly challenging, as the active downtown core can be at capacity at any given time. Although we predict higher volumes during sunny days and for special events, once the downtown core is full, it is difficult for traffic to move in and out from any direction, let alone using the Lions Gate Bridge. Staff in the TMC monitor the situation on and around the Lions Gate Bridge and make any traffic flow changes as required; however, opening two lanes southbound on the bridge would only work on the bridge deck, as the downtown core of the city would still be gridlocked. We do work closely with the City of Vancouver (outlined above) to make sure traffic can move in and out of the downtown core, but unfortunately, sometimes (such as on weekends and during events in the city) there is only so much traffic it can receive. Hopefully this information is helpful.

  19. It’s February 12 at 8:10 pm and we have been sitting I. Traffic since 6:30 trying to get over this bridge. Here were two lanes northbound while the north shore was in gridlock. I think you need to change your counter flow operations to reflect the volume of traffic. Your job was don very poorly this evening!!!!!

    • Hello Gloria,
      Thanks for your comment voicing your concern. Weekends can be particularly challenging, as the active downtown core can be at capacity at any given time. Although we predict higher volumes during sunny days and for special events, once the downtown core is full, it is difficult for traffic to move in and out from any direction, let alone using the Lions Gate Bridge. Staff in the TMC monitor the situation on and around the Lions Gate Bridge and make any traffic flow changes as required; however, opening two lanes southbound on the bridge would only work on the bridge deck, as the downtown core of the city would still be gridlocked. We do work closely with the City of Vancouver (outlined above) to make sure traffic can move in and out of the downtown core, but unfortunately, sometimes (such as on weekends and during events in the city) there is only so much traffic it can receive.

  20. This is the second weekend in a row that the entire North Shore is suffering gridlock, and the Lions Gate has ONLY ONE LANE SOUTH! Where is the monitoring of the traffic? In looking at the other comments, the reply is always “comments will be passed on to staff” – that is not good enough. They need to be told, instructed, ordered to clear the traffic by OPENING TWO LANES when an entire community (including side streets that normally never see traffic) is brought to a standstill. How difficult is it? Do we need to write to our MLAs? Who is paying attention over there?

    • Hi Mark – thanks for your comment. We understand your frustration. Weekends can be particularly challenging, as the active downtown core can be at capacity at any given time. Although we predict higher volumes during sunny days and for special events, once the downtown core is full, it is difficult for traffic to move in and out from any direction, let alone using the Lions Gate Bridge. Staff in the TMC monitor the situation on and around the Lions Gate Bridge and make any traffic flow changes as required; however, opening two lanes southbound on the bridge would only work on the bridge deck, as the downtown core of the city would still be gridlocked. We do work closely with the City of Vancouver (outlined above) to make sure traffic can move in and out of the downtown core, but unfortunately, sometimes (such as on weekends and during events in the city) there is only so much traffic it can receive.

  21. Why are two lanes open north with hardly any traffic coming through and we are waiting from highway one down Taylor Way for 90 minutes? This is at 5pm- 6pm in February on a Sunday evening- it happens all the time with Whistler, Cypress and ferry traffic converging at this time in the winter. This is predictable and there is no good reason for such mismanagement.

    • And when traffic actually starts moving because two lanes are finally open, it goes back to one lane after 10 minutes and there is still no issue with traffic coming north. Flip flopping lane changes wastes time and does not resolve the issue of reducing the line up heading south. Can you replace/ update the ineffective system as described on this website with an up to date system using more accurate algorithms?

      • Hi Cathy,

        Moving traffic from the North Shore into the downtown core can be challenging. Traffic gets backed up southbound because no more traffic can be brought into the downtown core. On weekday mornings this is not an issue as downtown is relatively empty. It’s during the weekends where it becomes difficult to manage as there are no longer morning and afternoon rush periods. The downtown core has a capacity and once it is full, it is difficult for traffic to move into (and out of) from any direction, including the Lions Gate. Providing two lanes northbound allows downtown traffic to move – thereby freeing up space for vehicles moving southbound into (or through) the downtown core. The northbound lanes also allow room for emergency vehicles to move across the bridge, if required. We are currently in the process of updating the counterflow system on the bridge for improved monitoring and traffic control. We hope that this helps clarify.

        • I’m sorry but there is still no reason to cause 90 minute delays going into downtown on lions gate Bridge on a Sunday evening. The north side is not able to handle the traffic jamming up all the roads. This happens every weekend. Open up the the bridge southbound. It’s not that complicated. Most traffic is flowing through. Please …. this ridiculous time and time again

          • Hi Andrea – thanks for your comment. We completely understand your frustration. Weekends can be particularly challenging, as the active downtown core can be at capacity at any given time. Although we predict higher volumes during sunny days and for special events, once the downtown core is full, it is difficult for traffic to move in and out from any direction, let alone using the Lions Gate Bridge. Staff in the TMC monitor the situation on and around the Lions Gate Bridge and make any traffic flow changes as required.

        • Thanks for the clarification. Has the update to the counter flow management system been made? Just waited 60mins from Highway 1 to the Lions Gate 6 months later. Same story. Barely any traffic leaving the City in two lanes, but back ups everywhere in West Vancouver. System continues to be inefficiently overseen and operated. Please improve this service or change the contractors.

          • Hi there Cathy – thanks for your comment. The update to the electrical system have been completed but the expectation was not that the new electrical would decrease wait times during congestion. Weekends can be particularly challenging, as the active downtown core can be at capacity at any given time. Although we predict higher volumes during sunny days and for special events, once the downtown core is full, it is difficult for traffic to move in and out from any direction, let alone using the Lions Gate Bridge. Staff in the TMC monitor the situation on and around the Lions Gate Bridge and make any traffic flow changes as required; however, opening two lanes southbound on the bridge would only work on the bridge deck, as the downtown core of the city would still be gridlocked. We do work closely with the City of Vancouver (outlined above) to make sure traffic can move in and out of the downtown core, but unfortunately, sometimes (such as on weekends and during events in the city) there is only so much traffic it can receive.

  22. Was just getting on the bridge from downtown to north shore and lane opened green but some one was speeding from the other lane to get to the end.
    Whoever checks the cameras should not have opened the lane as there were still cars coming that lane towards downtown. Driving with kids in the car caused a lot of panic. This would have been a very bad head on collision.
    Saturday February 5th around 5:15

    • Hello Nilou – thanks for your message – we are sorry to hear your experience. We shared your message with our operational staff and they let us know that operators monitor the cameras closely before opening the lane. It takes three full minutes to change the lane direction which should be more than enough time for traffic on the ground to move over. There can occasionally be a driver who runs the lights because they are familiar with the light change pattern and believe they have time. If someone is in the lane at the last minute, operators will hold the change until the vehicle is clear. We hope that this information is helpful.

  23. Brutal.

    Twice in the past week have I crossed the LGB and been stuck in West Vancouver. The North Shore had one lane for at least 30 minutes both times and when we got to the other side (Georgia St.), there was no line-up, no people waiting, no back-up of traffic. In fact, as we were driving down the causeway, there were actual gaps where no cars were coming northbound from downtown. Traffic was at a standstill and snarled coming out of both North and West Vancouver, yet we still only had one lane.

    Operators need to give their head a shake and do a better job!!

  24. Does the counter-flow actually change dynamically during the evening rush hour or is it just on a timer. Its almost 5pm on a Tuesday and there’s next to no traffic northbound while southbound traffic is backed up to the highway on both Capilano and Taylor Way, yet its been 2 lanes northbound all night.
    This seems to be a reoccurring complaint in the comments. No one ever complains about northbound being backed up. It would be nice to see some actual changes take place.

  25. 1 lane from NV and WV for 39 mins while there was NO ONE coming from downtown. What the hell are you guys doing?

    Ot even sure why I am writing. You guys don’t give a shit, or try to improve things.

    Brutal

    • Hello – we are sorry to hear your frustration. We have shared your concern with the staff who monitor the system for their information. While it might not always be evident – they do try to manage competing needs of both north and southbound traffic.

    • Couldn’t agree more. Absolutely ridiculous.

      Traffic completely tied up on the North Shore and nothing coming out of downtown.

      The bridge and three-lane system have been in place long enough that whoever is doing this job should know better by now how to manage traffic.

  26. Hi
    I was in a hit and run accident at denman and Georgia heading northbound and the driver whom hit me at this intersection fled north and I was unable to get their licence plate I believe the vehicle was a white Ford Fusion newer model this happened on November 1st at just after 12:45 am I have been trying to get this camera footage from the city,police,and ministry with no luck finally I have came across your website showing you have 40 cameras in the Cosway and bridge I would really appreciate it if you could help me out with this matter as I was hurt in this accident and working at the time and I need help to get to the bottom of this please email me and I can give you my phone number or whatever you need I am desperate for this information

    • Hi Christopher,
      The ministry has an internal website that saves display images for up to one month. Image files are overwritten after one month, and so unobtainable.
      In this instance, the images are available, and our webcam manager will send them to you using the government’s secure file transfer system. You’ll see a separate email from him generated by that system informing you of how to access to the ZIP archive of the images. There are cameras along the Causeway and on the Lions Gate Bridge, but they don’t record or collect video or images, with the exception of the DriveBC cams – Causeway and Georgia Street.

  27. We have been sitting in traffic going southbound from north van for over an hour on the weekend without a single light change and barely any traffic flow from downtown. Are y’all asleep on the job or something?? Or just blind. Crazy that our tax paying dollar are going to you loons that can press a button and literally only have one job. WHAT THE FRIGG. Change the LAAAANNNEEE I HAVE PLACES TO BE.

    • Hello Lauren – thanks for reaching out to us here to share your concern. We certainly understand your frustration.

      We shared your comment with the Lions Gate Bridge counterflow ops staff who advised that on Saturday October 30th at 2:30 pm the lane control operator on duty recorded that there was a construction arrow board moving all traffic out of the right lanes at W Georgia St, causing a large amount of southbound traffic. This lane closure was implemented by the City of Vancouver, which we believe was in preparation for the paving that took place at the same location on Sunday the 31st. This closure caused the same traffic delays that morning.
      The southbound right lane closure at West Georgia St. over both days plus the additional traffic on Saturday due to the Canucks game resulted in the long delays and inability to open 2 lanes southbound. DriveBC reported the heavy congestion on our twitter citing maintenance as the cause.

      We hope that this helps clarify and our apologies for any inconvenience this might have caused.

  28. Are you guys even reading the comments??? There’s a resounding agreement that this current contractor of yours is not working and southbound traffic is clogged all the time. If you are monitoring your cameras then please tell me why southbound traffic is showing 3 hrs to go downtown. You all need to do better.

    • Hello Lk,

      Thanks for your comment. Yep – we are reading the comments, sharing them with the staff responsible and seeking clarification whenever an issue arises. W
      e shared your comment with the Lions Gate Bridge counterflow ops staff who advised that on Saturday October 30th at 2:30 pm the lane control operator on duty recorded that there was a construction arrow board moving all traffic out of the right lanes at W Georgia St, causing a large amount of southbound traffic. This lane closure was implemented by the City of Vancouver, which we believe was in preparation for the paving that took place at the same location on Sunday the 31st. This closure caused the same traffic delays that morning.

      The southbound right lane closure at West Georgia St. over both days plus the additional traffic on Saturday due to the Canucks game resulted in the long delays and inability to open 2 lanes southbound. DriveBC reported the heavy congestion on our twitter citing maintenance as the cause.

      We hope that this helps clarify and our apologies for any inconvenience this might have caused.

  29. This is ridiculous. Been stuck southbound from 10:30-11:30am (still stuck btw!!) on a Sunday morning. The counter flow lane has been mostly empty. To me, it seems obvious no one is watching the cameras at all! Can someone explain to me any condition that would adequately explain sacrificing the time of southbound traffic at a time where the middle lane sees one or two northbound cars per minute is excusable??

    • Hi there Benjamin – we are sorry to hear this.

      We shared your comment with the Lions Gate Bridge counterflow ops staff who advised that on Saturday October 30th at 2:30 pm the lane control operator on duty recorded that there was a construction arrow board moving all traffic out of the right lanes at W Georgia St, causing a large amount of southbound traffic. This lane closure was implemented by the City of Vancouver, which we believe was in preparation for the paving that took place at the same location on Sunday the 31st. This closure caused the same traffic delays that morning.
      The southbound right lane closure at West Georgia St. over both days plus the additional traffic on Saturday due to the Canucks game resulted in the long delays and inability to open 2 lanes southbound. DriveBC reported the heavy congestion on our twitter citing maintenance as the cause. We hope that this helps clarify and our apologies for any inconvenience this might have caused.

  30. I’m going to start driving in the lane with your orange light and I’m actually to drive slow and clog traffic and my friends are going to do it too. And other people are going to start following me because majority of people are sheep and it only takes 1 to stand up. Then we got a big problem here so try and control that asshole. Everyone is sick of your shitty light control so suck on that bitch

    • Hi there Essential worker that is fed up,

      We shared your comment with the Lions Gate Bridge counter flow operations staff who advised that on Saturday, October 30th at 2:30 pm the lane control operator on duty recorded that there was a construction arrow board moving all traffic out of the right lanes at W Georgia St, causing a large amount of southbound traffic. This lane closure was implemented by the City of Vancouver, which we believe was in preparation for the paving that took place at the same location on Sunday the 31st. This closure caused the same traffic delays that morning.

      The southbound right lane closure at West Georgia St. over both days plus the additional traffic on Saturday due to the Canucks game resulted in the long delays and inability to open 2 lanes southbound. DriveBC reported the heavy congestion on our twitter citing maintenance as the cause.

      We hope that this helps clarify and our apologies for any inconvenience this might have caused.

  31. I’d like to know what is going on with your sophisticated traffic system lol? You got the highest amount of traffic heading southbound from the north shore and 1 lane open. You are congesting my neighbourhood actually I live on the north shore and I don’t appreciate your “24/7 monitoring” seems like you aren’t doing anything properly. Are you awake during your monitoring ?? When a person cannot commute around their own hood there is a big problem. I live on third and lonsdale and your system has been backing up traffic for weeks all the way close to my home. I can’t make it to the hospital where I work on time I have to leave before 12pm so 3 hours early before I work. It’s rush hour right now and we just had to use the bus lane amongst many others to get in because traffic was backed up to the middle of west Vancouver. The whole ride across the bridge you didn’t change the centre lane. This causes accidents. Never mind your gibberish fix the system and change the centre lane because we are all tired and sick of incompetence. Thanks so much

    • Hello Desarae,
      Thanks for connecting with us here to share your concern. We shared your comment with the Lions Gate Bridge counterflow ops staff who advised that on Saturday October 30th at 2:30 pm the lane control operator on duty recorded that there was a construction arrow board moving all traffic out of the right lanes at W Georgia St, causing a large amount of southbound traffic. This lane closure was implemented by the City of Vancouver, which we believe was in preparation for the paving that took place at the same location on Sunday the 31st. This closure caused the same traffic delays that morning.
      The southbound right lane closure at West Georgia St. over both days plus the additional traffic on Saturday due to the Canucks game resulted in the long delays and inability to open 2 lanes southbound. DriveBC reported the heavy congestion on our twitter citing maintenance as the cause.

      We hope that this helps clarify and our apologies for any inconvenience this might have caused.

    • Hi Serra – thanks for your comment – sorry to hear your frustration. After 3 pm, we generally have the centre lane open in the northbound direction. At the same time, we need to make sure southbound vehicles waiting to get into Vancouver from the North Shore don’t spill onto Highway 1, causing safety issues. And that’s why we dynamically change the direction of the centre lane throughout the day.

    • Thanks for this, Steve. During the weekday morning commute at 6 am, we provide two lanes southbound on the Lions Gate Bridge for morning commuters. At the same time, the City of Vancouver provides an extra southbound lane on Georgia Street to help with the flow of traffic. With a quiet and less congested downtown, southbound commuters can flow steadily over the bridge and continuously into the city. Southbound lanes are managed dynamically, outside of those hours, depending on needs. We hope that this is helpful info. Safe travels.

  32. For the past two weeks, the counter flow operations have been extremely poor. At many many times there are absolutely no cars visible going northbound into the northshore over the lions gate, while the southbound lane going into vancouver is completely backed up and stays that way for an incredibly long time. Also, the the Lions Gate Bridge Advanced Traveller Information System has been incredibly off base and is saying wait times that are flat out wrong every day. Traffic is routinely almost backed up to the highway and it says there is a 10 minute delay. Today on September 22nd 2021, I had been in traffic approaching the lions gate for 25 minutes before the second lane opened up. This began at 4:45. The 2 lanes were open for a long time and it still didn’t clear up traffic. This is making for wildly unpredictable commuting times. Why has this dramatic change occurred? I used to be able to rely on the fact that if I left before 5, two lanes would at least briefly open. Now I rarely see two lanes open but sit in more traffic than ever

  33. The counterflow failed on Thursday on 2 September. Southbound traffic got a second lane just before 7pm, then few minutes later, the centre was closed. It was changed back to two lanes north. Why do this? There was more traffic going south. Traffic was stopping a lot. When I go to Georgia stree, there was almost no traffic going north and they got two lanes. Traffic was not moving going south. Marine drive in west vancouver was not moving. Traffic was so backed up. You were being an asshole.

    This has happened many times in the past when centre lane changed directions multiple times in a few minutes.

    If this happens again, I will keep driving in centre lane even if the light is orange because you are an asshole. I will be an asshole to you and block you changing the lane.

    • Hi Tom,

      We’re sorry to hear your frustration.

      Here’s the challenge: When two lanes are provided for northbound traffic, the North Shore can easily disperse commuters with two separate major routes and Highway 1. But for the rest of the day, and into the evening, southbound traffic faces a busy downtown Vancouver with an active downtown core – with traffic lights, pedestrians and overall congestion. This slows down traffic through Stanley Park Causeway and onto the bridge, quickly clogging the centre lane throughout the corridor.

      If the southbound traffic continues without intervention, the congestion, which begins at Denman Street, will quickly reach the Stanley Park Causeway and clog the centre lane with bumper-to-bumper traffic all the way back through the Causeway, eventually reaching the bridge.
      This heavy traffic can be challenging to manage in an emergency. This scenario creates a significant increase in the amount of time it takes to clear the centre lane compared to when traffic is free-flowing.

      Emergency responders are a priority; it’s important the centre lane is easily accessible so responders can get across quickly to their destination. If the centre lane is clogged, they are not able to get across in a timely manner. Emergency personnel communicate with operators to coordinate crossing times. By monitoring and ensuring the centre lane doesn’t reach the point of bumper-to-bumper traffic, the centre lane can be cleared quickly for emergency vehicles.

      Essentially, if two southbound lanes are constantly open and reach a bottle neck approaching the downtown core which backs up to the bridge deck. This then makes it hard to clear the middle lane for emergency vehicles if the right lane is full of congested traffic, there’s just no room for them to move to clear the center lane.

      We hope this information is helpful.

      • He didn’t ask for two southbound lanes to be “constantly open”….just slightly more equality than there is currently. Traffic has been terrible lately. For those going north bound it’s been great, but those going south bound are backed up to the highway. To go over the bridge to vancouver bumper bumper with other cars and see LITERALLY no cars going northbound from time to time is painful. And it’s a hazard. I see so many more drivers ignoring and driving in the lane after it says not to.

  34. which is the fastest way to go from 1375 marine dr north Vancouver bc to clark dr Vancouver bc at around 4:30 pm Monday to Friday .
    Is it better route to go 2nd narrow bridge rather than Lions gate

    • Hi there Dina – unfortunately that’s a touch one for us to answer as many things could cause the traffic on these routes to change from day to day. We recommend you compare the two routes and their approximate travel times on Google maps. Hope this is helpful. Safe travels.

    • Hi there Rosie – sorry to hear your frustration. RTMC operators are responsible for overseeing the counterflow lanes 24/7. During the weekend, the Lions Gate Bridge lane control operations are managed dynamically throughout the day and evening. Operators change the lanes based on volume in either direction, making sure the centre lane is never too clogged and ready when it matters most. If you would like to connect directly with operators, you can reach out to Miller Capilano or RTMC operators via @DriveBC on Twitter.

  35. 1.) I work downtown and drive home to the north shore at night when it is dark outside.
    Every single time I drive toward home, I am on Georgia street: All one sees is hypnotizing “green lights” everywhere. It is hard to distinguish the green “GO” from the “green arrow” at times.
    Why are the lights to the bridge the EXACT same color as the street lights? THE COLOR OF GREEN ARROWS SHOULD BE DIFFERENT HUE OR COLOR, LIKE AQUA, BLUE, TEAL!!!

    2.) Why are the turning lanes from West Pender onto Georgia not have dotted lines in the intersection so one knows what lane to turn into?
    75 % of the time, I have the car beside me cutting me off at that merge point because they get confused. If they aren’t a seasoned driver of the route, they ALWAYS will get the lane wrong.
    Better outlines on the ground is important so that the driver(s) know where to drive without hesitation.

  36. At approx. 2:30 PM, Sunday February 7 2021, The signs on HWY1 between 15th and taylorway on the freeway showed traffic to be a “2 hr” delay.

    wrong again!
    The holdup was 30 minutes headed southbound (taylor way->lionsgate-> downtown).
    More often then not, the sign is wrong in its estimation.
    What is the purpose of the sign?
    A realtime image would be much more efficient, or at least a quick glance of more then one exit artery in real time. (capilano) (taylor way) (second narrows/hastings).

    • Hello Suzette and thank you for your comment. We have sent your concern to our staff responsible and they are reviewing the system. We appreciate you taking the time to share your concern. Safe travels.

  37. Who’s watching the traffic on lions gate?? My Google maps told me it was congested 15 minutes now its 25 minutes and it’s backed up into north van… there’s hardly any cars from Vancouver but they have 2 lanes and we have one!!

    • Hello Renee and thanks for your comment. The Lions Gate is monitored 24/7 by our operations staff who constantly monitor the traffic conditions and make any lane changes as required. The video in this blog does a great job at explaining how they do that. Hope that this is helpful.

  38. I have travelled over the Lions Gate Bridge (for work) for over 30 years, I am now semi-retired. I have always noted, what is a continual frustration, that when the transition from a green arrow to flashing amber light starts, i move over right away but a few others use the flashing amber as an opportunity to speed past many who have already moved in anticipation of the lane closure… i suggest that the flashing amber X be eliminated and go directly to solid amber and then almost immediately to RED X as it is done when an emergency vehicle is approaching. Thanks.

    • I totally agree with this too. I’ve seen cars zooming past everyone in the now-emptying center lane until they absolutely have to merge in with everyone else. Causes a dangerous situation for all. Lions Gate Bridge should do something about queue jumpers both on the bridge and on W Georgia.

  39. I must apologize for submitting a question totally irrelevant to your operation, but I can’t seem to find the right place to direct my enquiry! Thanks for your tolerance and advice : Who is responsible for managing the right of way underneath the bridge on the north shore? I ask because I’d like to develop a pollinator pathway, or at least introduce native plants along that stretch which now is more like an abandoned storage for concrete. I live “next door” in the mobile home park and I understand that it is not the responsibility of the District of West Vancouver who maintain the section of the Spirit Trail that runs through there. Thank you for your time and trouble!

    • Hi Julie,

      Thanks for connecting with us here. Just to clarify – which bridge are you referring to? Or if you don’t know the name of the bridge, could you send us the coordinates and we can look into this for you. Thanks!

    • Julie – if I’m not wrong, all that land under the bridge on the North Shore (including the Motorhome Park) is a reserve and belongs to the Squamish First Nations. I beleive their offices are also right beside the park.

  40. Yesterday the traffic going into downtown vancouver from the north shore was terrible. I was on taylor way at 5:45 pm. Took over 40 minutes to get onto the bridge from taylor way. After a long time, two lanes opened up for a short time. Out of curiousity, I checked the highway cams when I got home at about 7:00 pm. There was now an hour wait to get onto the bridge go into downtown. I almost never see a wait that long without 2 lanes being opened to clear the traffic. Usually traffic has totally died down by that time too. It seems like lane controllers are letting north shore congestion build up way more lately and when they open two lanes going to dt van it is for a very short time. Essential workers who live in vancouver and work in north shore can’t plan our lives if there might be an hour long wait to get onto the bridge that late. Sometimes the lane change is so short that vehicles can barely get back into the other lane because the congestion hasn’t been resolved at all and there’s no space between cars. I think the lane controllers need to pay more attention to the wait times. If people can’t go back and forth between these two places without an hour long wait, then another bridge or another option for getting to north shore needs to be built.

    • Thank you for this message, Emily. We have shared your comment directly with our operator staff for their review. Many variables can play into why lane changes are made but our operators are monitoring traffic and making decisions based on the traffic volume and flow in both directions.

  41. Hi there,
    I use the Lions Gate Bridge 10 days a week to get from home in Downtown to work in North Vancouver and back. Since COVID, I have noticed that the weekday operations are not responsive to the actual traffic conditions. For example, today there was a huge back up along all East-West corridors in Downtown to get on to the bridge and barely any traffic getting into Downtown yet they still had 2 lanes?? With COVID and many people working from home, I suggest revising the weekday operations to be responsive to actual traffic conditions.

    • Hello Nerissa,

      Operations of the LGB have not changed due to COVID – it’s been business as usual.

      If you could provide a date and time, we would be happy to look further into how the lanes were managed that day.

  42. I have never seen firsthand the lane signal change over the centre lane of the Lions Gate Bridge and Stanley Park Causeway. Do you think you could post another video that shows this happening in real time?

  43. As I look at traffic heading south it is one lane with traffic build up huge on Taylor way and Marine. Hardly any traffic heading north. Why are you not watching and opening 2 lanes to south bound.

    • Hi Heather – thanks for your comment. We here @TranBC work closely with the folks who operate the system, but we are not directly responsible for the lane closures and updates. If you would like to provide feedback, you can do so directly with our team members @DriveBC. Thanks!

  44. When turning left from Denman St onto Georgia to head north, there are 2 lanes. The inside lane sometimes merges with the outside, depending on whether or not the yellow arrow indicates that there will be only one northbound land. From the hundreds of times I have made this left- hand turn, the merge usually takes place after the first curve, just before the causeway itself. This morning at 6:30, this lane must have turned into the third southbound lane that you describe above. No warning that I could see, but all of a sudden a car was coming toward me, about 40 or 50 meters after my turn, in what I thought was my lane. After a very quick merge, I noticed the red cross over my lane. There should be MUCH better signage for this added lane going south, as it is dangerous. And, with hardly any traffic, why do it at all right now? Also, a few weeks ago, with 2 green arrows northbound, I was met with the yellow guard rails and had to come to a very quick stop. I see this happened to someone else January 1.

    • Good afternoon Anne – thank you for your message. We shared your concerns with our staff responsible for the operation of the counter flow lanes and here’s what they let us know.

      Starting at 6:00 am, lane control provides two southbound lanes on the bridge and causeway and the City of Vancouver provides the middle lane from Stanley Park to Georgia as the extra southbound lane (as mentioned in the blog).

      The light bridges outside of Stanley Park and on Georgia that control this extra lane from 6:00am to 9:30am are managed by the city and are automatic in timing. From their review of Google street view and a Miller Capilano site visit to inspect the intersection, there is a single yellow flashing warning sign for left turns from Denman to Northbound Georgia.

      As for the yellow guard rails being left down, it is possible there was an operator error where the gates weren’t brought up in time to sync with the lane opening or possibly a malfunction prevented them in doing so. Sometimes if the gates are struck by vehicles they need to be fixed on site to be raised. We are looking into this to confirm if this was the case. If you have any further questions or concerns, please let us know.

      • Thank you. I still think you need to increase signage for people who are turning left from Denman on to Georgia between 6 and 9:30, especially when traffic is light, as it is natural to turn onto the right side of the double yellow lines. I didn’t notice the single yellow flashing warning sign (where is it?) and neither did my passenger. Something else needs to be done in my opinion.

  45. Sometimes i see you creating northbound delays while at the same time police hide in the bushes to hand out distracted driving tickets. Is this entrapment? Should this process stop? I think so, flow traffic and leave the cops to do their jobs separately without inconveniencing motorists

  46. On weekdays, I’d like to see 2 lanes heading south between 2:30- 3 pm as there’s lots of ferry traffic, North/West Vancouver vehicles and buses heading to Vancouver. (Since their’s predominantly 2 lanes heading north 3 -6 pm)

    • Hi Hart,

      Thanks for your rationale for having two lanes operate south between 2:30 and 3 pm on the Lions Gate Bridge. I have forwarded you suggestions to our people who work with the system.

  47. We experienced a very scary incident at around 6-30 pm January 1st. Someone made a huge error switching the lane change lights on the lions gate bridge. Travelling north we appeared to have 2 lanes north because we had 2 green arrows in our direction. As we turned the curve we noticed at the last minute the barriers were down already blocking our path but the lane signals were still green indicating 2 lanes northbound. Stopping abruptly we managed to avoid running into the barriers. . How could this happen. Within a couple of seconds the light changed to amber. Very quickly the centre lane changed back to 2 lanes northbound. South bound vehicles were given no amber warning and i have photos of southbound vehicles desperately forcing into one lane as as northbound traffic was heading straight for them

  48. I often try to time my afternoon trip home to the North Shore with what I think coincides with two northbound lanes. I get the impression that it’s 2 lanes northbound from around 3:50 to 4:15 and again about 4:40 until after 5:00. I know that there is a need to remain “dynamic”, but do you have regular target time periods when it’s two lanes northbound? I HATE getting stuck in traffic when it’s only one lane northbound.

    Thanks!

    • Thanks for following up with us Brad. Sorry for the delay. Here’s what we heard back: Between 3-7 pm, northbound traffic receives priority. The southbound traffic will get 2-3 opportunities (this can vary depending on conditions) to have 2 lanes in their direction which lasts between 5-15 minutes. It is entirely dependent on the congestion levels on either side of the bridge to determine when a lane change will be made. Which in turn, does not allow us to have set time periods. It defeats the whole purpose and will cause further congestion. In short: Lane changes are made when required. We hope that this helps!

    • Good afternoon Jon – thanks for your question.

      There is a minimum time requirement of 3 minutes to do a complete lane change but there are a couple of possibilities that might lengthen or shorten that time:

      1. Operators monitor the centre lane via cameras and ‘hold’ the centre lane (red) until there are no more vehicles occupying the centre lane before the switch the lane in the opposite direction. This sometimes takes longer due to congestion and bad driving behavior. Drivers can observe a clear centre lane where they are located, but somewhere along the corridor could be vehicles that are still in the centre lane trying to merge over. The centre lane can also be clear well before the 3 minutes requirement but due to safety, operators must wait the full 3 minutes before switching the lane. During that time, operators are viewing all the cameras and ensuring that a lane change is safe to execute.

      2. There is an emergency vehicle or situation which would warrant a quick lane change which allows operators to switch the lane sooner than the 3 minutes minimum requirement – as long as it’s safe to do so of course.

      Hopefully that all makes sense!

  49. I must say whoever control the lane on lion gate bridge is incompetent.
    I’ve seen countless times they set one late into downtown while it huge traffic in
    West Vancouver and north Vancouver while downtown is less than normal traffic.
    Sometimes they change lanes and switch back in a matter of 10 min as if it was some kind of mistake.

    Tonight, November 7th, 2019, west/north Vancouver had a huge traffic problem.
    9:28PM, now, they still have one lane toward downtown.

    Also, the traffic cams located in such useless location that not showing traffic dynamic.

  50. Hello!
    I would like to get access to a log of lane direction changes with a max of 5 min intervals for a project I am working on. I was looking for some sort of open dataset but could not find it on your website. Any chance you could make this data available? 1 year wrth of data would be sufficient.

    Thanks!

    • Hello Rene,

      We have generated a days dataset report for you. Could you confirm if the City of Vancouver email you listed for this comment is the correct email to send it to?