Redesigning West Mall: A corridor for everyone

Our project

West Mall is one of the busiest corridors on the UBC campus. Vehicles travel in both directions, cyclists don’t have a dedicated lane and there are a lot of pedestrians, particularly between classes. UBC Campus and Community Planning asked us to reimagine the corridor from Memorial Road to Agronomy Road to improve safety and accessibility for active transportation modes and to meet the sustainability, climate and transportation goals outlined in UBC Campus Vision 2050, which anticipates a 25% increase in UBC’s population by mid-century.

The primary objectives were to improve pedestrian accessibility, calm traffic, manage rainwater, preserve tress and incorporate clear wayfinding – all within the existing road right-of-way.

UBC Campus and Community Planning UBC Campus Vision 2050

Our design solution

We developed our design solution through an iterative process that began with brainstorming concepts inspired by existing corridor designs as well as more unconventional design options. As a group, we evaluated each option and synthesized the strongest elements into a unified approach. We used a weighted decision matrix that incorporated our client’s criteria as well as key issues we had identified along the corridor. 

The centrepiece of our design is a two-way protected bike lane that runs the full length of the corridor on the east side. To make room for it, we converted the existing two-way vehicle road to a single southbound lane. 

The bike lane is separated from the vehicle lane with a one-metre bioswale median. This does three things at once: it physically protects cyclists from vehicles, it intercepts and filters stormwater runoff from the road surface, and it preserves the tree-lined character of the boulevard. 

Choosing to go with a single bidirectional bike lane rather than two separate one-way bike lanes was one of our key decision points. That choice freed up just enough width to include the bioswale and meet our goals of cyclist safety and stormwater management. 

We widened sidewalks on both sides to up to 2.6 metres to address pedestrian crowding, and installed a new wayfinding structure at the University Boulevard intersection. We also explored incorporating artwork developed in collaboration with Musqueam artists to acknowledge the traditional territory the corridor occupies.

The design is split into three sections along the corridor, each with slightly different cross-section dimensions to fit within the existing space and minimize tree removal.

The technical challenges we faced

Our biggest challenge was fitting every user’s needs into a limited and fixed amount of space. We had to meet minimum width standards for the bike lane, vehicle lane and sidewalks, while also preserving existing trees and maintaining the emergency vehicle access corridor. Every decision was constrained by something else.

The construction logistics presented a separate set of challenges. West Mall is an important transportation route and we needed to ensure vehicular access for deliveries and emergency. 

We addressed this challenge by developing a block-based construction strategy, working in active sections of 75 to 100 metres with only one block under full construction at any given time. 

Adjacent blocks remain open, with temporary pedestrian and cyclist routes maintained throughout. This approach added scheduling complexity but kept the corridor functional and minimized disruption. 

What we’re most proud of

We feel like the bioswale design exemplifies good engineering. What started as a line on a cross-section drawing became a fully engineered element with a verified drainage model that solves multiple issues at once. 

We’re also proud of how we worked together as a team. Capstone runs alongside a full course load but we stayed on track, communicated regularly, encouraged each other to pursue areas they were particularly interested in and learned from each other. 

This project has also deepened our understanding of what it means to work in engineering. When we began our degree we might have understood it as “technical questions, technical problems, technical solutions.” Capstone reminded us that the technical problems were sometimes the easiest to solve. We needed to understand the context, including by going to the site to collect data and see where pedestrians, cyclists and traffic were struggling with access and congestion. Every decision had a ripple effect on a constraint, which reinforced that engineering is about navigating real-world trade-offs.

Finally, we are also impressed at our ability to address the full scope of this project. By the end, we’d worked on traffic modelling, stormwater design, cost estimating, geotechnical considerations, construction scheduling, and wayfinding. 

We learned so much in many different areas of engineering and ultimately produced high-quality deliverables.