Burnaby is a lovely, growing city witnessing so many new developments. In this walking tour, we took a short walk-hop-SkyTrain from Gilmore to Brentwood Town Center (Millennium line). So many developments coming up, so we thought of checking out the neighborhood. For starters, every new building is putting their piece of sidewalk and bike patch which is welcome.
Talk about creating denser cities, towers in Brentwood (50+ floors) can potentially accommodate an ‘entire village’. Planning the mobility needs for that many people can quickly get challenging, especially if everyone needs to travel in their own car. Thankfully, this neighborhood is so well connected by transit, that any travel need can be met with a quick walk-transit combo. Thanks to TransLink! And the City of Burnaby is taking steps to ensure convenient and safe connectivity - walk, roll and cycle friendly.
Access to the SkyTrain station. Gilmore.
Apart from a hub for bulk shopping (Home Depot, Walmart etc.), the area is a hub for technology. In less than 15mins from Brentwood Town Centre SkyTrain station you could be at the BCIT campus with route 25 bus (which also connects to Burnaby Hospital). With such great connections, we recommend you leave your cars behind and explore this friendly town with a short pleasant walk.
Cycling infrastructure is quite improving in Burnaby. The city just finished 19 quick fixes last year and was quite deservingly felicitated with the #1 spot in the HUB Bike Awards for the 20-in-20 Infrastructure Challenge category. Way to go City of Burnaby! These new developments that we toured, as mentioned earlier, are making efforts to include walking, cycling ways around (needs improvement, but a great start).
Walk and Cycle ways outside new buildings near the Gilmore station.
The route we took is quite away from most of the noisy streets, so if you find yourself deterring walking around this neighborhood because of the noise levels - pick our route. We did the route and fully recognize that it’s not very pleasant right now because of the construction and it’s promisingly getting there, but it will serve you as a walk nonetheless without the need to drive somewhere else for it. The terrain is paved and mostly flat for a walk under 2 km. Convenient, also on a wet day (like the one we ended up picking).
Our route starts at Gilmore Skytrain station heading South. One of the first things you will notice are the train tracks crossing, which occasionally annoy with the loud noise, but kids love it. Moreover, consider watching the train from the green space in the nearby Jim Lorimer Park. The park playground has a nice set of slides too. All the more reason for that short family-time walk.
Jim Lorimer Park
The City of Burnaby considers taking steps to help its residents get closer to nature and is investing in the Gilmore Urban Trail, part of the Central Valley Greenway.
Once out of the trail there are two options to access Willingdon Avenue: one with a flight of stairs along Still Creek Drive and the other right across which requires crossing traffic. We of course opted for the former as it is more accessible. The sidewalk is a little narrow compared to the others, but enough for a person-a-time to pass, and you’ll come up to the bridge over the train tracks now. At the end of our route, is the Brentwood Town Centre Skytrain Station. Most walking routes end up turning out to be a lot different in reverse, but this one was almost the same. There’s a park near this SkyTrain station. The reverse route has several more benches along the walkway and more green space for you to stretch your legs.
Happy walking!
This blog post is written by BEST’s Isabel Garcia. #walkability
