A section of Vancouver's Stanley Park seawall, shut down because of a landslide, is expected to reopen Saturday.
A landslide approximately seven metres wide came down near Third Beach Thursday, blocking a portion of the seawall between Third Beach and the Lions Gate Bridge.
Contractors began assessing the damage today. Crews from the Vancouver Park Board will come in Monday to haul the debris away.
The same area was shut during the 2006 windstorms and again last December. An estimated $9 million was spent to fix the wall, clean surrounding roads and forests and replant trees after the storms.
Vancouver Park Board Commissioner Jim Lowden says this latest slide is the result of a tug-of-war between engineers and environmentalists when deciding how to fix the wall in the first place.
"Unstable patches like this were originally deemed to come down but environmentalists wanted to keep it up," says Lowden.
"Where we can, we will leave this four inch coating of earth on the outside of the sandstone because of botanical interest, but nature has proven that may not have been the best judgment."
The bike lane remains blocked on the seawall, but the walking lane running parallel is now open.
Heavy rains over the last few days likely triggered the slide at one of the most vulnerable sections of the seawall. The Park Board estimates the cleanup will cost $10,000.
