Stanley Park Drive bike lane to be removed just in time for Christmas

Nov 29 2022, 10:23 pm

The controversial bike lane that has been in place on Stanley Park Drive for much of the past few years will go away over the coming weeks — temporarily.

Next week, the new makeup of Vancouver Park Board commissioners, composed of an ABC Vancouver party super majority, is expected to approve a new member motion directing Park Board staff to “immediately restore the pre-COVID traffic and parking configuration on Stanley Park Drive.”

This restoration of Stanley Park’s perimeter roadway without the bike lane, bringing back the pre-pandemic configuration of two vehicle lanes and parking spaces, will be completed in time for the peak Christmas season in December 2022, according to the member motion by ABC commissioner Brennan Bastyovanszky.

Park Board staff will be required to report back to the commissioners no later than December 15 to provide an update on the progress of dismantling the barriers that split the roadway into one lane for the bike lane and one lane for vehicles.

The bike lane’s design contributed significantly to vehicle traffic congestion during the peak season, with bumper-to-bumper traffic on a single lane trapping visitors for up to 90 minutes on some occasions. This was further exacerbated by the carriages of Stanley Park Horse-Drawn Tours.

Longtime businesses within the park have also blamed the bike lane for adding to their pandemic-time financial losses, and senior and disability advocacy groups have lamented their ability to enjoy the park has been significantly impeded. They accused the previous makeup of Park Board commissioners and Park Board staff of ignoring their concerns.

“The temporary Stanley Park Drive bike lane and the current reallocation of road space in Stanley Park represents an inadequate response to the needs of some park users, whether they be cyclists, motorists, or other park users,” reads the motion by Bastyovanszky.

“A solution that better meets the demonstrated needs of all park users, and park partners, is required.”

This will be a temporary removal of the bike lane until a new permanent design is established and implemented in a manner that is not disruptive to overall access and other park users. The future permanent lane will not disrupt vehicle traffic and impact cyclist access and safety.

Park Board staff will also be directed to reframe and repurpose the current Stanley Park Mobility Study towards a new planning tool to build a new permanent bike lane, following the new principles of considering: accessibility for persons with disabilities, seniors, and families, safer multi-modal access; equitable access for all recreation and cultural users; and tourist access including tour bus parking.

There would also be considerations for the environment — such as reducing idling — and the emergence of new micro-mobility modes of travel.

The motion orders Park Board staff to return to the commissioners no later than early February 2023 detailing the path forward with establishing a new permanent bike lane following the principles.

With ABC controlling six of the seven seats in the Park Board, the motion is expected to be approved. Removing the existing temporary bike lane configuration and creating a new permanent design that is more friendly to a wider range of park users was a promise made by ABC during their civic election campaign.

Shortly after the civic election last month, ABC party representatives told Daily Hive Urbanized the future permanent bike lane design will accommodate the needs of both cyclists and vehicle traffic, with the new configuration gradually implemented starting in Spring 2023.

“We believe that through engineering, we can accommodate both the bike lane and two vehicle lanes,” said Kareem Allam, the Chief of Staff for the Vancouver Mayor’s Office.

“We will direct Park Board staff to create space to accommodate that recreation cycling capacity, which has been so well received during this trial period.”

During the first few months of the pandemic in 2020, the previous makeup of the Park Board initially banned vehicles from entering Stanley Park, and temporarily repurposed both vehicle lanes of Stanley Park Drive into a bike lane. Vehicles were allowed to enter the park just in time for Summer 2022, with one lane dedicated for cyclists and one lane for vehicles.

The original rationale for the bike lane on Stanley Park Drive was to provide pedestrians and cyclists with more physical distancing space, but the majority coalition of commissioners in the Park Board later changed their rationale to a desire to limit vehicles in the park. Their direction to Park Board staff to conduct a mobility study is intended to provide a framework for reducing vehicle traffic in the park.

The existing temporary bike lane configuration has been in place since Spring 2021. Cyclists also have the use of the bike lane on the Stanley Park seawall.

 

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