Iron Workers Memorial Bridge

Just seems that any bridge connecting North Vancouver gets an automatic 4 star, maybe for the view? ;)
When I’m usually in a rush, I take this route even if it’s longer in terms of kilometres, but a lot less stop and go traffic than Lions Gate. And if you take the Main or Lonsdale exits, you can get to your destination pretty quick.
In the summer, Mount Seymour Parkway exit, furthest and 1^st exit heading north off the bridge, is the only one you’ll need to go to Deep Cove ;)
And heading east the other way, McGill exit is much faster than taking Hastings, even if your destination is around there, as the former has much less traffic. Plus easier to get to the PNE or Pacific Coliseum.
There’s my tip of the day. ;)
Great views of West and North Vancouver.
Used to be called the Second Narrows but renamed to commemorate the workers who died back 1960.

One of 3 links between the North Shore and the rest of the planet. Okay, you can take the long way around (Lillooet *cough*) but you get the idea.
This bridge is often used as a case study on why it’s important to build structurally sound infrastructure. When the bridge collapsed during construction, the engineers who designed the bridge were killed themselves, as they were walking on the deck as part of a site visit. Wikipedia has a nice entry.
One thing that is really nice about this bridge is that unlike Lions Gate, there is very little gridlock in general (car accidents and attempted suicides don’t count), since the bridge is a direct part of Highway 1, and therefore has no traffic lights. Yes there are some bottlenecks on the N side, but at least you don’t need to encounter 20 traffic lights.
The view is also pretty neat here, though it’s quite a walk to get to the middle.

Although not as easy ride you can bike the narrow separated bike ways in both directions. Provides a fairly safe ride with good views of the Burnard Inlet.

This is my bridge. For most of my life, coming over Second Narrows let me know that I am home. After every long car trip (and even now, just driving to visit the folks), just over the hump of the bridge it would all come into view — the mountains and greenery and houses and familiar landmarks and the vista of Burrard Inlet. Reaching the bridge was gliding into home territory, a sigh of relief.
So why not five stars? Though I am sentimental about my bridge, certain parts of Second Narrows are far from perfect. (It’s now officially the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge, but I’ve always called it Second Narrows, no disrespect to the 19 men who died building the bridge.) I sure as hell won’t bike over it: the sidewalks are terrifying — very narrow, with low handrails relative to the bike. I feel as though my handlebars might get caught in the railing while going downhill, potentially pitching me from the bike. It’s a long way down! I see people biking on the bridge all the time, though, so I am probably paranoid. I have walked over the bridge a couple of times and found that almost pleasant.
The present bridge and most of its approaches were finished in 1960, so the entrances and exits are shorter than more modern highway design. They can be tricky, such as the yield at the on-​ramp from Dollarton Highway where my mother just about had a heart attack when my sister, when learning to drive, merged straight into the speeding traffic, just barely averting tragedy.
That’s another thing — if something major, like an accident, does happen on the bridge, it can bottle up traffic across the nearly the whole of North Van. That, I don’t miss. But I love it when it works and I love it despite its quirks.

This incarnation of the 2^nd Narrows Bridge was finished in 1960 and is part of the Trans-​Canada highway.
It was renamed in 1990 as Iron Workers Memorial Bridge to honour the 19 people that died, 18 builders and one rescuer, when several spans collapsed due to an engineering miscalculation in the original construction.
It took until 1934 for that bridge to really be completed and used regularly, as it was so prone to accidents three ships had smashed into it before 1930!
A new bridge was built along side the old one and opened in 1960.
This bridge is the main link from Vancouver to the north shore. It’s a 6 lane bridge with an annual average of daily traffic of between 118,734 and 145,000 vehicles.
Recently a seismic upgrade was complete.
When I come over this bridge toward the city I can see the beautiful skyline to the west, and maybe catch a sunset. My eyes follow the shoreline east to where the ships are filling with grain on the Vancouver side.
I can feel my family ties to the area and I know that I am in the right place.