Reimagining Central Lonsdale
We are developing a plan to transform Central Lonsdale into our city’s next great street – a street with a diverse and vibrant mix of attractions, events, and businesses, where everyone can live, work, visit and play.
The Lonsdale Great Street Project will guide us on how to best support the current need and future growth of Central Lonsdale. The goal is to improve everything you see and experience in public spaces along Lonsdale Avenue, so that every person, business, and community group can thrive.
About Central Lonsdale
Central Lonsdale is a commercial main street at the centre of the City of North Vancouver. It is surrounded by a high-density residential neighbourhood, and also functions as a transportation corridor. Central Lonsdale Avenue has many positive attributes that make it a great street already, such as its diverse local businesses, walkable pedestrian scale, and striking views of the North Shore Mountains.
The project focus areas includes the Upper Levels Highway to the north, Victoria Park to the south, St. Georges Avenue to the east, and Chesterfield Avenue to the west.
What is the Lonsdale Great Street Project?
The Lonsdale Great Street Project is a priority in Council’s Strategic Plan under the section “A Vibrant City” which states: “Reimagine, revitalize and repurpose Central Lonsdale Avenue as a ‘great street’ to support commercial activity, enhance esthetics, walkability, vibrancy and history”.
The Project will help revitalize Central Lonsdale, and grow and enhance the area from an economic development lens. The Project is intended to identify what the City can do in terms of policy, investment, collaboration and advocacy to create the right environment for existing and new businesses to thrive. It will also focus on serving the growing numbers of residents in the area now and into the future.
The Project considers: land use; urban design; business mix, attraction and retention; public realm and streetscape; above and below ground infrastructure; mobility; accessibility; sustainability; temporary activations / pilot projects; financial and other incentives; feasibility analysis; phasing and costing.
The Project will include a written Comprehensive Plan that is a strategic document that will guide the long-term development of Central Lonsdale. It will outline key objectives and directions for development to guide informed decision making over time, rather than providing a detailed blueprint for every project.
Project Timeline
The Project workplan is divided into four main Phases:
- Phase One – Public Engagement
- Phase Two – Emerging Directions, Evaluation Framework, and Concept Scenarios – public engagement to test the emerging approaches
- Phase Three – Comprehensive Plan and Feasibility Analysis
- Phase Four – Implementation Plan and Final Report.
Phase One will summarize the main themes of the preliminary public engagement in a “What We Heard” report and “Preliminary Issues and Considerations” report.
Phase Two will include the development of Concept Scenarios together with an Evaluation Framework to enable the systematic evaluation of the scenarios. Phase Two will also identify potential temporary activations / pilot projects that can be implemented quickly from 2025 to 2026. This phase will see the City of North Vancouver share and validate some of the emerging opportunities with the public.
Phase Three will include the delivery of the Comprehensive Plan, and high level feasibility analysis to ensure that the plan is practical and achievable.
Phase Four will include the Implementation Plan and Final Report that will consider aspects including: phasing; cost estimates; financial and other incentives; commercial business attraction and retention strategies.
The Project will include a written Comprehensive Plan that is a strategic document that will guide the long-term development of Central Lonsdale. It will outline key objectives and directions for development to guide informed decision making over time, rather than providing a detailed blueprint for every project.