Park Board seeking public input on reducing car traffic in Stanley Park

Concrete barriers for the bike lane on Stanley Park Drive, Summer 2021. (Vancouver Park Board)

Ahead of the 2022 civic election, the Vancouver Park Board is performing another transportation-related public consultation on Stanley Park.

This new engagement is intended to help complete park board staff’s work on the Stanley Park Mobility Study, which was a planning effort proposed and approved by park board commissioners in June 2020.

The intent of the study is to examine ways to improve public transit and active transportation modes to and within the 1,000-acre peninsula park, while also reducing vehicle traffic even further.

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Cars were banned from Stanley Park in Spring 2020, when the park board turned the entirety of Stanley Park Drive’s perimeter roadway into a bike route. This was initially implemented as a physical distancing measure to provide pedestrians on the seawall with more space.

Vehicles returned to the park in Summer 2020, with traffic cones and barriers dividing Stanley Park Drive into one lane for vehicles and one lane for cyclists, although cyclists are still legally able to use the sole lane dedicated to vehicles.

The “temporary” bike lane on Stanley Park Drive returned in Spring 2021 with new concrete barriers, and the configuration has remained in place ever since and is likely to be retained beyond Summer 2022. Cyclists are also permitted to return to the seawall around Stanley Park.

The 2021 revised configuration reopened vehicle access to all areas of the park and re-established nearly all of the parking. According to the park board, many of the closed vehicle parking stalls were some of the less frequently used spots, with the current level of reduced capacity potentially equating to about a parking revenue loss of $200,000 annually compared to pre-pandemic 2019.

But overall accessibility remains an issue.

Just recently, the single-lane configuration for vehicles contributed to severe traffic congestion within the park and on West Georgia Street this past May long weekend, ahead of the busy peak season for tourists still to come.

(My parents are in town visiting and since my dad can barely walk anymore, driving here is the only way for him to see the park)

— Penny Daflos (@PennyDaflos) May 22, 2022

Bumper to bumper traffic on W Georgia in the lane headed to Stanley Park — backed up past Cardero. How are those lane closures in the park working out? pic.twitter.com/HL7P3XASNS

— Jill Bennett (@jillreports) May 22, 2022

“Traffic congestion over the recent long weekend underlined how important it is that we make access to the park more accessible. Traffic congestion has been common over peak periods in the park for many years and the most recent long weekend was the busiest May long weekend the park has ever seen,” states the park board.

It is noted that the current study will identify longer term approaches, but park board staff will also “identify more rapid improvements to address congestion at entry and exit points from the park, and make continual improvements to the temporary bike lane.”

The park board’s online survey is open now through June 9, 2022.

Public input collected from this public consultation will be used for the study, which is expected to be considered by park board commissioners later this summer.

The COPE/Vision Vancouver/Green Party majority in the park board has been pushing forward the bike lane and mobility study strategies for Stanley Park’s contribution to climate change, while the Non-Partisan Association minority has been critical and opposed to its impact on park businesses, tourism, and accessibility for seniors and individuals with mobility challenges.

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