Negotiations between city and CPR lasted only a century, give or take a few years

With the opening of City of Vancouver’s Arbutus Greenway project office just days or weeks away, it is worthwhile to remember how long the city and the CPR have been working to resolve their differences.

As this clipping from the July 12, 1901, edition of Vancouver Daily World makes clear, the discussions that culminated in the city’s 2016 purchase of the Arbutus Greenway were just the latest in a series of negotiations stretching back for more than a century.

How have things worked out? Well, we have a library, a hospital, the greenway and the street ends remain open. CPR seems to be doing fine. So far, so good.