Celebration of Light Fireworks: Best Viewing, Road Closures, Transit
The Celebration of Light fireworks kick off tonight presented by Team USA. While hundreds of thousands will make their way through the West End and down to the shores of English Bay here are some tips for a fun and safe evening that can be enjoyed by all.
Road Closures
On all fireworks days (July 21, 24, 28, and 31) the West End will be closed to traffic except residents (who can provide proof on the spot). Residential traffic access to the West End will be at Nelson and Thurlow, Davie and Thurlow, Burnaby and Thurlow, and at Nicola and Robson streets. For residents west of Denman, access is available on Alberni west of Denman.
These restrictions will be in place from 7:30pm until 11:30pm in the West End and from 6:00pm to 11:30pm in Kits Point. Residential and commercial traffic at Kits Point should use Maple and Cypress Street northbound to cross Cornwall to access Kits Point on event nights. No access will be permitted from Cornwall. See the City of Vancouver’s website for more details.
My crude rendering of the road closures and viewing spots
Bikes
The Celebration of Light is providing a FREE bike valet service at three locations: Under Burrard Street bridge (near Vancouver Aquatic Centre), at the Second Beach parking lot, and at King George Secondary School (Bidwell and Denman).
Transit
Bus routes that go through the West End will be re-routed from 7:00pm on fireworks nights. As of 9:00pm buses that usually go over the Burrard Bridge (such as the #22 McDonald) will be using the Granville Bridge. West Vancouver Transit will stage approximately 15 additional buses along Georgia near Denman, to be used as required. SkyTrain (Expo, Canada, and Millennium Line) will operate at rush-hour level until 1:16am. However, Translink has stated that they will continue to run trains as long as there are still passengers around that need to get home.
There will be no access to Waterfront Station through the main entrance on Cordova Street except for persons with wheelchairs or strollers and the only access to Granville Station after 10:00pm will be *through the Dunsmuir Street entrance*. Tranlink will also try to prevent “seat-camping” (where you go a station ahead and ride the train back in the opposite direction) by not allowing inbound passengers to board at Stadium-Skytrain. Basically, Burrard SkyTrain outbound is your best bet.
The Sea Bus will also be operating at rush hour capacity with the last boat leaving Waterfront at 1:31am. Remember to pre-purchase your return fare (or use a pass or fare-saver ticket) so that you’re not stuck looking for change or a fare kiosk.
You can read all updates for the Celebration of Light on the Translink website.
Viewing Spots
If you can get to English Bay early enough to claim a square of beach or grass with a blanket that’s always your best viewing area. You can stretch down the shore a bit to Sunset Beach or toward Stanley Park and Second Beach. Across the water there’s Vanier Park, Kits Beach or Jericho. You can reserve at the Boathouse Restaurant as their patio is right in the heart of the action, or you can book tickets for a special event such as the Dine Above the Stars fundraiser.
There are harbour cruises and you can enjoy the fireworks from the water (canoe or kayak) however you will be kept at a safe distance. The side of the Burrard Bridge is a great spot as well, but get there early again to make sure you grab your piece of the railing. If you’re up for the trek, you can also view the fireworks from the lookout point on Cypress.
Remember to leave the booze, knives, and urge to get into trouble at home tonight. Come on down, have some fun, cart out whatever garbage you brought with you (or created).
Reminder: You still have until July 27th to enter to win two prime viewing area seats for the fireworks finale. This includes two seats on top of the English Bay Bathhouse and a BBQ meal.
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Can I be selfish and tell everyone not to come to the west end during the Fireworks? haha, I kid I kid.
Good to know that the residential access is Alberni. What with the shitty pedestrian controlled light at Alberni and Denman coupled with the out-of-sync lights at Georgia and Denman the whole area is going to be much more of a gongshow than it already is.
Oh well. Even though it is a weekday, the weather is awesome and I am expecting a lot of people! Let’s just hope I can get a good shot or two of the fireworks too! lol
Parents: Please ensure the safety of your little ones. Expect there to be lots of drunken debauchery and large clouds of BC’s Finest around the beach.
Also people, please make note of the TIDES. I have seen many a people park themselves below the high-tide line only to have to get really wet when the tide comes up, or vacate their spot on the beach becase of it etc etc. High-tide is at 17:`8 (5:18pm) with the small lower tide at around 21:21 (9:21pm) so the tide will be coming back in during the Fireworks.
FireWorks is one of my Fav. events in Vancouver.. I am living right on top of davie in a fantastic spot.. luckily I won’t need go down at English Bay with the crowed to see the fireworks. The only thing that upsets me is that I have physical limitations, and public transport changes on firework days like number 6 stop running… so I gotta walk more blocks, which hurts in my case.. But I am excited!
[...] Originally Posted by Yahtzee Cool – where would be a good spot to watch? Here's another map with a better level of detail: http://www.miss604.com/2010/07/celeb…ing-spots.html [...]