VANCOUVER -- A vote on a controversial proposal to create a temporary bike lane on Stanley Park Drive this spring and summer did not go ahead as planned on Monday night after other agenda items took up too much time.
Instead, the commissioners are now scheduled to vote Tuesday evening on the plan that would see motor vehicle traffic siphoned down to a single lane so the second lane could be dedicated for cycling.
It’s similar to the initiative that took place last year between June and September.
According to park board staff, there was a surge in the number of cyclists using the park – but many businesses complained about parking and accessibility, saying the removal of the traffic lane kept customers away.
Some cycling advocates say many businesses in the park may have missed an opportunity shift to their focus to bike riders.
"We saw some very small moves towards that with ice cream and so on from the Prospect Point Cafe. I think that was a positive thing,” said Jeff Leigh, of HUB Cycling.
“But in general we did not see businesses figuring out how to re-orient their business to the new reality they face during the pandemic. Instead it all became about it's the fault of the bike lane that tourist traffic is down. And I don't buy that."
The slow-moving horse-drawn tours also created a challenge when the bike lane was in place on Park Drive, with long lines of motorists often backed up behind them which led some impatient drivers to swerve into the bike lane in order to pass.
In June, the Park Board voted to study the implications of reducing motor vehicle traffic in Stanley Park permanently, and more than 11,000 submissions were received from the public about that possibility.
If the current motion passes as written, park board staff would immediately begin planning and implementing the re-installation of barriers, cones and signs to divide the roadway until October.
