6 potential design options for Stanley Park Drive up for public input

Stanley Park Mobility Study Option E: Car-free Stanley Park Drive with a dedicated bike lane and bus lane. (Vancouver Park Board)

The public debate continues over the future of the transportation network within the 1,000-acre Stanley Park at the tip of the downtown Vancouver peninsula.

More specifically, the discussions centre around the highly contested uses of Stanley Park Drive, the 8.5-km-long perimeter access roadway, following the removal of the controversial pandemic-time temporary bike lane last year.

After being directed in the middle of the pandemic by the previous makeup of the Vancouver Park Board’s elected commissioners to conduct a mobility study outlining Stanley Park’s long-term transportation network plan, Park Board staff have now narrowed down their initial list of 21 access options from November 2023 to a new shortlist of six options for serious public consideration.

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According to Park Board staff, all six access options have a focus on Stanley Park Drive, long-term plans with short-term measures, the potential for vehicle access on Pipeline Road, full emergency and operational access, the ability to select a mobility configuration for only the east side or west side of the park, and public transit bus or shuttle bus services around the entire park.

The Park Board previously requested TransLink to consider operating a public transit bus route along Stanley Park Drive, but the public transit authority has indicated that such an idea is unfeasible due to its limited financial capacity to do so.

Up until 1998, a public transit bus route, the No. 52, operated along Stanley Park Drive.

stanley park drive bike lane january 2023

Previous temporary bike lane configuration; entrance onto the temporary bike lane on Stanley Park Drive, near West Georgia Street, as of January 2023. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Stanley Park Shuttle Bus operated by the Vancouver Trolley Company. (Lissandra Melo/Shutterstock)

For more than a decade after the cancellation of the No. 52, the Park Board operated and self-funded a popular free seasonal shuttle bus service within Stanley Park. But it did not return for the 2010 summer season and onwards due to the Park Board’s fiscal challenges at the time.

Currently, Stanley Park Drive has two vehicle lanes with traffic moving counter-clockwise from the park’s main entrance at the Stanley Park Causeway next to Lost Lagoon.

Here is a breakdown of the six different options for Stanley Park Drive’s configuration:

Option A: Time-based vehicle access restrictions

This option would temporarily close Stanley Park Drive to vehicles over a specific period, such as during mornings, afternoons, days, or weekends on a regular basis. During the vehicle-free periods, the roadway would be available for expanded cycling, rolling, and walking uses. A single public transit/shuttle bus service would still be allowed on the roadway.

Out of the six options, this option carries the highest capital/upfront costs to implement. It also performs poorly for retaining staff access to businesses, according to Park Board staff.

Stanley Park Mobility Study Option A: Time-based vehicle access restrictions. (Vancouver Park Board)

Option B: Vehicle time slot bookings

Such an option would require drivers to book a specific time slot ahead of time in order to drive onto Stanley Park Drive. This could be applied year-round or during the peak season in the spring and summer months when Stanley Park experiences the highest visitation.

It would be free of charge, similar to how BC Hydro manages Buntzen Lake Park’s parking capacity with an online booking system. But in addition to an online booking system, it would require a new operating and management system at the entrance into the park, and enforcement measures.

Deliveries and workers at Stanley Park businesses could use a separate pass system.

Stanley Park Mobility Study Option B: Vehicle time slot bookings. (Vancouver Park Board)

Option C: Bus lane on Stanley Park Drive

One of the two vehicle lanes of Stanley Park Drive would be dedicated as a bus-only lane for public transit and tour buses. The remaining lane would be open to other vehicles and cyclists.

According to Park Board staff, out of all six options, this option is deemed to be the best for the “economic vitality” considerations of staff access to business, accommodating increased visitation, supporting revenue generation of the Park Board, and economic feasibility. It also best supports the movement of large volumes of crowds in a short time frame, such as for events held in the park.

Stanley Park Mobility Study Option C: Stanley Park Drive with dedicated bus lanes. (Vancouver Park Board)

Option D: Bike lane on Stanley Park Drive

This option essentially brings back the temporary bike lane configuration onto the roadway, with one lane converted into an improved permanent bike lane design, and the other lane retained for vehicle use

Park Board staff state tour bus access would be permitted, but the number of companies allowed to operate on Stanley Park Drive may need to be limited.

As well, while this configuration offers more protective separation for cyclists, it is “more obstructive for operations and emergency access” and “requires [a] more systematic approach to operations and emergency access.” Out of all six options, this option is by far the worst performing for emergency vehicle response times, according to Park Board staff.

Stanley Park Mobility Study Option D: Stanley Park Drive with a dedicated bike lane. (Vancouver Park Board)

Option E: Car-free Stanley Park Drive with bike lane and dedicated bus lane

Private vehicles would be banned from entering Stanley Park Drive, with the exception of public transit, shuttle, and tour buses. One lane of Stanley Park Drive would be dedicated to buses, while the other lane would be used as a protected bike lane.

Some existing parking lots could be repurposed for additional events or green space.

This option performs very poorly for staff access to businesses and Park Board revenue in terms of the impact on parking revenue, but it performs optimally for overall visitation and safety, according to Park Board staff.

Stanley Park Mobility Study Option E: Car-free Stanley Park Drive with a dedicated bike lane and bus lane. (Vancouver Park Board)

Option F: Car-free Stanley Park Drive with bus access and two-way bike lane

As a variation of the car-free Stanley Park Drive configuration, the roadway’s existing two lanes would be fully converted into a bi-directional route for cyclists. Public transit, shuttle, and tour bus access would be retained on one lane for one-way traffic only. Bus vehicles would be slow-moving, with the number of buses limited to one every 15 minutes.

According to Park Board staff, this is the best access option for emergency vehicles, operations, and horse and carriage tours, and enables the repurposing of existing parking lots for additional events, green space, or for new opportunities that recover operating revenue from the elimination of paid parking, which would represent a significant operating revenue loss.

Similarly, this option also performs very poorly for staff access to businesses, but it performs optimally for overall visitation and safety.

Stanley Park Mobility Study Option F: Car-free Stanley Park Drive for bi-directional cycling and one-way bus traffic. (Vancouver Park Board)

Notably, Park Board staff did not include the ABC Vancouver party’s previous idea of fully retaining Stanley Park Drive’s two existing lanes for vehicle traffic, and widening the right-of-way next to the roadway for a three-metre-wide protected bike lane.

Park Board staff previously stated this idea could cost between $30 million and $50 million due to the need to widen 79% of Stanley Park Drive’s route length, and would take two years for design and planning and another two years for construction.

The Park Board’s online survey on the shortlisted six access options is now open through July 28, 2024.

Input from this public consultation will be used to create the final mobility study report and the long-term recommendations, which will be presented to the Park Board’s elected commissioners for approval, possibly this winter.

stanley park drive mobility study options

Comparing the six access options of the Stanley Park Mobility Study. (Vancouver Park Board)

Earlier in July 2024, the new non-ABC majority of Park Board commissioners rejected supporting the ABC-led Vancouver City Council’s proposal of reverting Beach Avenue between Stanley Park/Park Lane and Deman Street into two-way vehicle traffic by repurposing some green space next to the road for a new replacement permanent purpose-built off-street bike lane. Additionally, they also rejected reopening the Stanley Park Drive eastbound vehicle exit onto Beach Avenue.

While there will not be any new direct public transit bus routes entering Stanley Park, TransLink is committed to improving the existing No. 23 bus route between Main Street-Science World Station and English Bay (Denman and Davie streets). Road construction starting later in Summer 2024 will enable the use of larger-capacity 40-ft regular buses starting in 2025 — an upgrade from the longstanding use of small low-capacity community shuttle bus vehicles.

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