Considering how Willingdon Avenue once was an inhospitable arterial roadway, Willingdon Linear Park is a welcome surprise. Opened in July 2018 this 1.2 km park transformed how people experience this area of Burnaby. Instead of expanding the roadway the municipality allocated the land for this greenway.
Willingdon Linear Park runs 13 blocks. It stretches along Willingdon Avenue from Brentwood Towne Centre to Hastings Street. This park isn’t just a traditional park tucked away. It is a long strip of urban trail.
The Willingdon Linear Park project incorporates multi-use pathways. These pathways offer safe crossings for pedestrians and cyclists. The park integrates rest areas and pocket parks. It enhances user comfort with furnishings lighting and trees. All of these features establish a distinct character for the area.
Originally the city planned to add another traffic lane. After discussions with city planners landscape architects civil engineers and the public they decided to create a linear park. The park helps connect the neighbourhoods. This allows a steady stream of strollers joggers dog walkers and cyclists.
The pathway meanders around sculpted berms. It winds around existing mature trees and through a new urban forest. 198 largely native semi-mature trees were installed. These trees are complimented by locally sourced boulders and stone paving.
A collaborative team of artists and architects joined in 2016. They integrated 19 functional public art installations. These installations furthered the place-making ambitions. The pathway public art landforms custom furnishings and paving bands weave together. This gives the site a cohesive and expressive design.
The park’s landscape features are complemented by Art Screens and Beacons. The Beacons assist with wayfinding. The Screens provide privacy to adjacent residences. The multi-coloured patterned art screens extend the park’s braided form vertically.
The color scheme evolves over the length of the park. It shifts from deep cool hues at the north end. It transitions to softer warmer tones and then back again. This alludes to the shades of the surrounding landscape. It also reflects the coastal weather patterns.
Two pocket parks punctuate Willingdon Linear Park. The Parker Street Park is a gathering place. It is home to a social sculpture called The Eddy. This undulating form is a hammock play structure and social hub. The Eddy features a webbing of hand-assembled steel core rope. It invites groups to gather people to recline and kids to climb.
Charles Street Park has a more naturalistic character. The space is defined by an oval lawn. There is a ring of trees and an ascending water feature. The Delta features steel tubes resembling river tributaries. Water rushes from curvilinear steel pipes. It cascades onto stainless-steel rocks. This creates a visual and aural screen masking the sound of traffic.
Willingdon Linear Park has received an Envision Silver Award. This award recognizes the park’s sustainable infrastructure. Enhancements include new pedestrian signals enhanced bike pathways and pocket parks. The park also helps reduce air pollutants. The project kept 31 existing trees. It added 211 more trees. Before construction the area had invasive species. These were removed.
Willingdon Linear Park weaves together landscape and art. It combines form and function nature and the city. It forms a new path that runs through the neighbourhood. It’s more than concrete and steel. It is a place where people are living.