Estimated $400,000 cost to remove "temporary" bike lane in Stanley Park

Concrete barriers along Stanley Park Drive that split the two-lane roadway into one lane for vehicles and one lane for cyclists. (Google Maps)

The estimated cost for removing the controversial temporary bike lane occupying one of the two vehicle lanes along Stanley Park Drive is about $400,000.

That is the estimate provided by Vancouver Park Board staff in an internal memo on December 15, following the direction of the ABC Vancouver majority of Park Board commissioners on December 5 to remove the bike lane as soon as possible, and provide an update on the work before the holidays.

Park Board staff state the project carries a 30% cost premium because the removal and rehabilitation work on Stanley Park Drive needs to be done almost entirely at night when there is less traffic and fewer visitors. This is a measure to avoid major disruptions to park access during the daytime, but nighttime work carries higher labour costs and double handling of material when disposal sites are closed.

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Furthermore, the full removal of the temporary bike lane on Stanley Park’s nine km perimeter access road will take until early April 2023 to complete. The ABC majority of Park Board commissioners had hoped for a full removal in time for Christmas, but that is not possible due to the need to undergo a bidding process for a private contractor, and the complexity of the work involved.

While flexible temporary traffic barriers, cones, and delineators were used to create the initial temporary bike lane in Summer 2020, the Park Board made further investments in Spring and Summer 2021 and installed permanent-like fixtures and features, including the use of concrete barriers and asphalt.

The significant temporary bike lane segment on the northwest sector of Stanley Park Drive — between Prospect Point and Third Beach — will be removed with ease before Christmas, by December 23, at a cost of $25,000. This involves removing traffic cones and installing 45 interim signs.

Overall, the erasure of the temporary bike lane involves the removal of 830 concrete barriers requiring special machinery to load onto trucks, 700 traffic delineators, 1,000 traffic cones, 250 signs, and some asphalt, as well as the scrubbing of 3.5 km of line painting.

The cost of removing the concrete barriers is the single most expensive cost, estimated at between $100,000 and $120,000. This is followed by the $75,000 cost to remove pavement markings, and $50,000 to remove curbs and gutters, drainage pipes, and asphalt ramps and paths.

stanley park drive bike lane removal plan

Tentative plan to remove the temporary bike lane on Stanley Park Drive, as of December 15, 2022. Click on the image for an expanded version. (Vancouver Park Board)

Concrete barriers on Stanley Park Drive for the temporary bike lane. (Vancouver Park Board)

During previous Park Board meetings, it was stated that more than $700,000 had been spent on the temporary bike lane. The forthcoming cost of $375,000 to $425,000 to remove the temporary bike lane and restore Stanley Park Drive to its pre-pandemic configuration of two vehicle lanes will come from the capital budget dedicated to permanent cycling infrastructure.

The removal of the temporary bike lane restricting vehicles to one road lane was a promise made by the ABC party during the recent civic election campaign.

The temporary bike lane occupying a vehicle lane on Stanley Park’s perimeter access road led to severe traffic congestion during this past peak season. It was originally an early pandemic measure of providing cyclists and pedestrians with more physical distancing space, but the rationale of the previous coalition majority of Park Board commissioners later changed to an effort to reduce vehicle traffic in the park and the perceived climate change impacts of Stanley Park visitation.

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.

Businesses within Stanley Park are welcoming the restoration of two vehicle lanes, and the future plan to install a new permanent bike lane design that retains two vehicle lanes.

“We will finally be able to work toward fully opening Prospect Point to service the locals and visitors to Stanley Park. We have only been able to partially open this facility since the roadway restrictions were put in place in 2020,” Stacy Chala, a spokesperson for the Capilano Group, the operator of Prospect Point, told Daily Hive Urbanized.

“Improved access to Stanley Park will improve business, which will in turn create more jobs. Stanley Park is a world-renowned destination, not just a local Park. We are happy that everyone will now have the opportunity to get to Stanley Park, whether it be by tour bus, vehicle, bicycle or on foot.”

Chala suggests the municipal government should also explore changing the configuration of Beach Avenue — where permanent-like changes to accommodate a bike lane were completed in April 2021 — so that vehicle traffic further improves throughout Stanley Park and on the Stanley Park Causeway. She says all vehicle traffic is currently forced to exit onto West Georgia Street, which has created additional congestion in downtown Vancouver and on the North Shore.

The operator of The Teahouse restaurant in Stanley Park says they are looking to expand their operating hours in 2023 as a result of the restoration of two vehicle lanes.

“We are hopeful that the reopening of both lanes will bring much needed business to the restaurant. However, we do not think it will have an immediate effect as the implementation of the bike lane has deterred many people from using the park. We think it will likely take several years for the park to be restored back to pre-COVID visitation,” reads a statement.

skookum music festival brockton oval stanley park vancouver

Skookum Music Festival was held in 2018 at Brockton Oval in Stanley Park, backdropped by the downtown Vancouver skyline. (Brand Live)

Paul Runnals with Brand Live, the local event production firm responsible for some of Vancouver’s largest public events, and the past organizer of the Skookum music festival in Stanley Park’s Brockton Oval, is looking forward to the removal of the temporary bike lane.

The concrete barriers and in-road signage restrict the ability for wide-turning trucks carrying equipment to access event sites deep within the park.

“This bike lane was put in as a temporary COVID measure that frankly has long overstayed its welcome, and as the event industry continues to rebuild itself, the reinstatement of two lanes of traffic is imperative for the success of any major events that are looking to return the park,” Runnals told Daily Hive Urbanized.

“That being said I am very supportive of active transportation initiatives and would welcome a more balanced solution that maintained the unrestricted flow of two lanes of traffic, but instead looked at ways for the permanent bike lane to be improved for better separation and safety.”

Restoration of full access to vehicles on Stanley Park’s perimeter roadway also aids Metro Vancouver Regional District’s forthcoming major project of building a new replacement water supply tunnel through Stanley Park. This will replace an existing regional water main built in the 1930s that provides critical water supply from the North Shore reservoirs.

Construction on the water supply tunnel will begin in late 2023 or early 2024 for a completion in 2028. The work involves a major shaft excavation site in the vicinity of the intersection of Stanley Park Drive and Pipeline Road on the northeast side of the park. During construction, Stanley Park Drive within the area of the shaft will be reduced to one vehicle traffic lane to allow construction trucks to access the site.

Truck route map to reach the Burrard Inlet shaft site on Stanley Park Drive near Pipeline Road for the Stanley Park Water Supply Tunnel project. (Metro Vancouver Regional District)

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