Vancouver Park Board rejects City Council's Beach Avenue changes

Vancouver Park Board rejects City Council's proposed Beach Avenue changes near Stanley Park

Existing configuration of Beach Avenue looking east near Park Lane, with the pandemic-time bike lane. (Google Maps)

On Monday evening, in a move of defiance, the elected commissioners of the Vancouver Park Board rejected Vancouver City Council’s plan to further reopen vehicle connections between Beach Avenue and Stanley Park.

The commissioners voted 4-3 against the proposed strategy, with former ABC commissioners Brennan Bastyovanszky, Laura Christensen, and Scott Jensen, now completing their term as independents, siding with Green commissioner Tom Digby.

Put forward by City Council in May 2024, the proposal called for removing the protected temporary bike lane that has been put in place on Beach Avenue’s eastbound vehicle traffic lane between Park Lane (Stanley Park) and Denman Street four years ago during the pandemic.

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The eastbound vehicle traffic lane would have been restored, and a new replacement permanent bike lane would have been built on the existing pedestrian sidewalk on the south side of the street. A new replacement pedestrian sidewalk would also have been built south of the tree line, where there is currently an informal dirt pedestrian pathway.

Morton Park, where the “A-maze-ing Laughter” public art sculptures are located, would also have been redesigned and expanded to enable a reconfiguration of Beach Avenue to meet with the intersection of Denman Street and Davie Street.

Additionally, Park Board staff presented options to enable eastbound vehicle traffic to flow from Stanley Park Drive directly onto Beach Avenue’s re-established eastbound vehicle lane.

The estimated cost was pegged at $16 million, including $10 million for the Park Board’s costs related to the associated park space changes and $6 million for the City of Vancouver’s street network changes.

Existing configuration:

Existing configuration of Beach Avenue through Morton Park. (Vancouver Park Board)

Proposed configuration:

Potential future configuration of Beach Avenue through Morton Park. (Vancouver Park Board)

The new majority makeup of commissioners asserted that following last year’s removal of the protected bike lane on Stanley Park Drive, the accessibility issues that persisted in Stanley Park throughout the pandemic have been resolved. As well, they expressed concern about the likely significant increase in regional vehicle traffic through the West End neighbourhood, particularly from the North Shore, and that such capital expenditures would be better invested elsewhere.

“Accessibility was an issue during COVID, but it is not an issue now. This is not solving an accessibility issue, there is full access to all areas of the park,” said Christensen during the meeting.

“There’s a lot of good things that came out of COVID and we’ve learned, and the Beach Avenue bike lane is one of those fantastic changes that we’ve benefited from.”

Digby suggested, “No one is going to miss the opportunity [for two-way traffic into Stanley Park]. The whole point is we’ve gotten used to having a one-lane entrance into Stanley Park. The huge crowds of people coming onto Denman Street, and just feeling really confident walking into English Bay Beach Park is a huge win in all of this.”

Bastyovanszky suggested that if Beach Avenue west of Denman Street were to be re-established to its pre-pandemic width for vehicles, there should be a commitment from TransLink to extend public transit bus service along the street to reach Stanley Park. Over the years, there have been repeat requests to TransLink to significantly expand its bus services reaching Stanley Park.

Currently, the No. 23 Main Street-Science World Station/English Bay bus route on Beach Avenue terminates in the area near the intersection of Denman and Davie streets, and forthcoming road design changes will enable the bus route’s capacity upgrade in 2025 from the existing use of the small community shuttle bus vehicles to larger standard 40-ft vehicles.

“We would love to have public transit buses, but TransLink has been firm that they’re not putting buses down there. When they do, if TransLink puts in buses, we can widen the lanes. But that’s not happening,” said Bastyovanszky.

Instead, the non-ABC commissioners approved a measure of directing Park Board staff to redirect their $10 million capital investment portion towards improving the amenities, features, public spaces, and active transportation connections of the Sunset Beach Park area and the future new replacement Vancouver Aquatic Centre.

As part of City Council’s May 2024 decision, the ABC-led majority rejected the West End Waterfront Plan for overhauling English Bay Beach Park, Sunset Beach Park, and adjacent segments over Beach Avenue over its high cost estimated at $300 million over 30 years. The plan was initially approved by the Park Board in April 2024 as the first step, and it was subsequently also sent to City Council for review and approval given their jurisdiction over how streets are used.

This is the latest saga in the ongoing power struggle between the Park Board’s elected commissioners and the City Council, which oversees the Park Board’s operating budget and capital expenditures. But a policy of reallocating some green space for the new replacement bike lane and pedestrian paths currently requires approval from the Park Board, given the separate jurisdictional authority.

Mayor Ken Sim’s ABC party lost its majority grasp within the Park Board in late 2023 after three of the six ABC commissioners pushed back against his plan to abolish the separately elected body of commissioners overseeing Vancouver’s parks and recreation system. Instead, their governance responsibilities would be transferred to the mayor and City Council.

Premier David Eby has stated Sim’s requested legislation amendments to the Vancouver Charter will be granted, but only after the October 2024 provincial election.

In a statement posted on X on Tuesday morning in response to the Park Board’s decision, Sim stated City Council’s envisioned changes to Beach Avenue west of Denman Street will be put forward next year after the current elected board is disbanded.

“Last night’s Park Board’s decision let down Vancouverites. The elected Park Board made the irrational decision not to grow and expand park space in the West End. They also said no to safer streets by turning down a fully funded AAA bike lane and improved pedestrian crossings,” wrote the mayor on X.

“This is what happens when two different organizations are responsible for the same thing. The elected Park Board’s decision is a setback for Vancouverites, but it is only temporary. When the City takes over Parks and Recreation Services next year, we will ensure our parks and facilities serve our community to their fullest potential.”

Last night's Park Board's decision let down Vancouverites. The elected Park Board made the irrational decision not to grow and expand park space in the West End. They also said no to safer streets by turning down a fully funded AAA bike lane and improved pedestrian crossings.🚲🚸…

— Mayor Ken Sim (@KenSimCity) July 9, 2024

During Monday evening’s meeting, ABC commissioner Marie-Claire Howard suggested it is “very narrow minded” that improving cycling infrastructure has been the focus of the debate.

“You need to have a variety of ways of transportation. This focus on solely allowing for bike lanes to take all this space, I just don’t get it,” said Howard.

“This is yet another example of why having an elected Park Board at odds with a City Council doesn’t work. This would have been dealt with a couple months ago. This motion was passed by Council two months ago, so now we’re discussing the same thing that has been approved before. It’s now being stalled, but eventually it will happen because it makes sense. But it’s just crazy. It’s just a waste of time really.”

ABC commissioner Jas Virdi added, “There are some people who can’t walk into the park and can’t bike into the park. We really need to think about those people as well. And tourism is a huge industry, and Stanley Park is a big part of it. If we can no longer take taxis, buses, or cars into the park, that’s a huge industry we’re saying bye to.”

Over a dozen public speakers during Monday evening’s meeting spoke in opposition to the proposed changes to revert Beach Avenue closer to its pre-pandemic configuration, including one speaker who said, “Don’t let the only way to bike safely in Vancouver be on a Peloton in City Hall.”

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