In the narrow strip of land bordering Vanier Park on Kitsilano Point, there’s little sign that it’s about to become the entryway to one of the densest neighbourhoods Vancouver will likely ever see.

The western section of the future massive Squamish Nation development – 6,000 apartments, 10,000 people packed into 4.7 hectares around the south end of the Burrard Bridge – is a tangle of blackberry bushes, with a path beaten down in the middle that leads to a small copse next to the bridge.

That piece of Squamish land, currently sitting behind blue wire fencing, runs between the parking lot for the 1970s Parkview Towers building and the parking lot behind the Vancouver Academy of Music.

There is also the unmarked portion of parkland that will become a narrow lane providing the one road in and out of this part of the development. That lane will empty out onto Chestnut Street and then require drivers to make their way through the small neighbourhood of Kits Point in order to get out to the Cornwall Avenue arterial.

The park lane is only a small part of what many observers say is going to be one of the biggest challenges for the massive new Senakw development. Transportation for the thousands living there, along with a cluster of commercial operations, is the central concern, say those who have examined the recently signed services agreement between the nation and the City of Vancouver.

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