Unspecified/General

The Lions Gate Bridge is a graceful suspension bridge that spans the First Narrows of Burrard Inlet, linking downtown Vancouver and Stanley Park with the communities of the North Shore, and one of the most recognisable landmarks of the city, its slender green towers and sweeping cables a familiar sight against the backdrop of the mountains. Opened in 1938, the bridge was built largely with private money by the Guinness brewing family, who had acquired large tracts of land on the north side of the inlet and needed a crossing to make their planned residential development accessible, and for many years tolls were charged to recoup the cost before it was bought by the provincial government and the tolls removed. The bridge takes its name from a pair of mountain peaks known as The Lions that rise to the north, and a pair of cast concrete lions, sculpted by a local artist, guard its southern approach. Carrying three lanes of traffic whose direction is reversed according to the flow of rush-hour commuters, the bridge offers spectacular views from its deck high above the busy shipping channel, where freighters, cruise ships and smaller vessels pass beneath on their way to and from the port. Its long central span and tall towers were an ambitious undertaking for their time, and the structure has since been extensively renovated and lit at night, when strings of lights trace its cables. A working transport link, a designated national historic site and an emblem of the city, the Lions Gate Bridge is admired as much for its beauty as for its function. The bridge's origins are bound up with the development of the North Shore, for the Guinness family of brewing fame had bought a large area of land on the north side of the inlet, which they intended to turn into the residential community of the British Properties, and a bridge across the narrows was essential to make it accessible; they financed it through tolls before it passed into public ownership. Spanning the busy First Narrows, the only sea entrance to the inner harbour, the bridge had to be high enough to allow large ships to pass beneath, and its long central span, suspended from cables between two tall towers, was a considerable achievement for the late 1930s. The pair of concrete lions that guard the southern approach, and the peaks called The Lions to the north, give the bridge its name. Renovated over the years and lit at night so that its cables trace glowing curves, the bridge has been recognised as a national historic site and is admired as one of the most elegant and emblematic structures in the city.

Type: Tourist Attraction

Address: Vancouver, Canada

Opening Date: 12/11/1938