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Abstract

The redesign of the Chancellor Boulevard, East Mall, and NW Marine Drive intersection addresses critical issues of safety, functionality, and environmental sustainability at a key gateway to UBC’s Point Grey campus. As its present configuration features highway-style design elements, the intersection prioritizes vehicular traffic and compromises safety, usability, and environmental integrity, requiring a transformative approach to meet the evolving needs of the campus and its surrounding community. To achieve these objectives, three conceptual designs were evaluated: a four-way signalized intersection, a single-lane roundabout, and an extended roundabout. These designs were evaluated based on the key project objectives as follows: prioritizing active travel modes, reducing vehicle travel speeds, providing a gateway to the UBC neighborhood, and retaining all rainwater on site for up to a 100-year storm event. The preferred design replaces the existing intersection with a single-lane roundabout. It leverages its geometry to reduce vehicle speeds, minimizes conflict points to improve safety, and provides a central location for the inclusion of a representative gateway to UBC. Additionally, the proposed design incorporates stormwater management solutions with the capacity to contain a 100-year storm event on site, ensuring environmental sustainability by mitigating cliff erosion augmented by inadequate water retention. Furthermore, the design emphasizes active transportation, with dedicated spaces for pedestrians and cyclists integrated throughout the intersection layout. This final design report outlines the intersection design objectives and considerations, the rationale for the preferred design, the assumed final cost and scheduling for the design, and the proposed next steps in transitioning to the construction phase. The proposed redesign aligns with UBC’s vision for safety, sustainability, and community-focused development. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”