Kitsilano Trestle

About

The Kitsilano Trestle (also known as CPR trestle and CPR Kitsilano trestle) was a former railway bridge over False Creek, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The first bridge, a timber trestle was begun in 1886 or 1888 to carry the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) to a proposed port on English Bay on the Kitsilano side, south of the Indian Reservation. It connected to more CPR lines on the south side, including the Arbutus Corridor to Richmond, purchased from the CPR in 2016 after a lawsuit decided by the Supreme Court of Canada. However, due to the railway's decision to locate its depot and yards on the north side of False Creek (modern-day Yaletown) meant that the trestle saw little use until street cars of the B.C. Electric Railway rolled over it 1905. Being fixed, it blocked the flow of marine traffic into False Creek and was replaced in 1902 with a second bridge with a swinging span. After World War II, industry began to leave False Creek, meaning the CPR used the Arbutus Corridor less. The second trestle was demolished in 1982, in anticipation of the World's Fair of 1986 (Expo 86). While there were proposals to convert the rail bridge to a pedestrian bridge, city council refused, citing the impaired flow of water into False Creek. Expo 86 brought a complete redevelopment of the False Creek area, notably due to the influence of Hong Kong entrepreneur Li-Ka Shing and h

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.