Marine Drive (Vancouver)

Marine Drive is a road in Vancouver, British Columbia. It runs along the Georgia Strait and Fraser River on the southern ends of Vancouver and Burnaby.

Marine Drive is named for its routing alongside bodies of water such as the Georgia Strait and the Fraser River. Marine Drive begins near downtown Vancouver at Fourth Avenue. This section is mostly two-lane road and travels northwest along the Burrard Inlet. Marine Drive subsequently turns south as it travels through the University of British Columbia. At 16th Avenue, Marine Drive turns into a four-lane parkway as it travels southeast. At 41st Avenue Marine Drive reverts to a two-lane residential roadway, continuing southeast through residential areas until it reaches Granville Street. Due to railway tracks, Marine Drive shares a short section with Granville Street and turns right, continuing east as Marine Drive at the Arthur Laing Bridge interchange. At this point Marine Drive is a six-lane urban throughfare through commercial areas. Marine Drive continues Northeast under the Oak Street Bridge and the Canada Line, later turning east and conitnuing as a six-lane throughfare up to Kerr Street, where afterwards it splits into two streets: the original two-lane Marine Drive, which is yet again a two-lane residential street, and the newer four-lane Marine Way which was constructed in the 1990s to alleviate traffic along Marine Drive. These two routes continue through Burnaby, Marine Drive a two-lane road through residential areas and Marine Way a four-lane expressway through industrial areas. Both Marine Drive and Marine Way terminate near the Queensborough Bridge in New Westminster, although Marine Drive does not connect to the Queensborough Bridge and has not done so since the construction of Marine Way.

Marine Drive's section through Vancouver east of the Arthur Laing Bridge is where many stores, restaurants and hotels are located. Like Richmond to the south, much of the commercial development on Marine Drive is partly due to its location near the airport.

The Marine Drive Canada Line station is being constructed southeast of the Marine Drive/Cambie Street intersection and will serve as a transfer point for residents and tourists to get to and from the airport and Marine Drive. It will be the only station in Vancouver that is above ground; just north of the Cambie Street intersection the Canada Line dips underground on an alignment it stays on through to downtown Vancouver. A new bus loop is also being constructed and will serve as a base for many bus routes connecting to the Canada Line and the #100 bus route that runs along Marine Drive.