Staff estimates removing Stanley Park bike lane will cost $400K, be complete by spring 2023

The estimated cost of removing the temporary bike lane on Stanley Park Drive is close to $400,000, a memo to Vancouver Park Board commissioners reveals.

A detailed breakdown of the estimate was sent to commissioners in a memo on Thursday, 10 days after the park board voted to "immediately" scrap the pandemic-era cycling route and asked staff to present a plan for creating a less-disruptive permanent bike lane by February.

“It should be noted that, irrespective of the procurement and construction timeline, permanent line painting cannot be done in wet weather or colder temperatures, and while it is the last piece of work in the construction sequencing, it is typically not possible until April at the earliest,” wrote Donnie Rosa, the park board’s general manager, in Thursday’s memo.

The budget for removing the temporary lane includes the cost of removing traffic cones, road signage, concrete barriers and temporary asphalt. Traffic management for all the work is also part of the preliminary cost estimate.

Staff have already begun the first phase of removing the lane, which is set to be complete by Dec. 23 and cost $25,000.

“Approximately 27 new interim signs will be required for Phase 1 to ensure that vehicles merge into a single lane for those small segments where the bike lane will remain until it can be fully removed as part of the future phase,” Rosa wrote.

The most costly part of the process appears to be the “supervision and coordination of removal of 830 concrete low barriers and transporting and storing offsite.”

Between $100,000-$120,000, roughly a quarter of the budget, is set aside for that stage.

According to the memo, the removal will be funded out of the city’s Capital Plan from accounts dedicated for permanent cycling infrastructure. In all, it’s expected to cost between $375,000 and $425,000.

The total cost of installing the 2021 temporary bike lane was $750,000, according to a presentation made to the park board last year. A park board spokesperson told CTV News an additional $53,000 was spent to maintain the lane from its 2021 installation to today.