Vancouver park board votes to immediately remove temporary Stanley Park bike lane

The Vancouver park board has voted to immediately remove the temporary bike lane on Stanley Park Drive that has been in place since early in the pandemic.

Removing the lane was a promise ABC Vancouver candidates made during the recent civic election and now that they have a majority on the board they have followed through on it at Monday night's Park Board meeting.

"We're taking everything into account and it's a hard decision. But I think it's time to move forward but then also come back with a better solution for the bike lane," said Angela Haer, the commissioner who brought the motion forward.

The motion to remove the lane passed 6 – 1 with all ABC commissioners in favour.

Cycling advocates say the separated bike lane on the roadway was a safer option than sharing a lane with traffic, or riding on the seawall which can get very crowded.

"It's just such a joy to be able to safely ride through the forest," said Lucy Maloney with Love the Lane, an advocacy group formed by people who wanted to see the lane made permanent.

"The bike lane is wide enough that you can ride side by side and chat to a friend and there's still plenty of room for faster cyclists to pass you."

The motion also directs staff to begin exploring how to create a permanent bike lane on Stanley Park Drive that is less disruptive to other park users.

Haer said it is ABC's intention to move forward with that plan in a way that maintains two lanes of traffic for motor vehicles.

"Our goal is to keep the two lanes of traffic -- just like pre-COVID -- just like we had previously, and bring in another bike lane," Haer said.

Given the confines of the roadway and the close proximity of hundreds of large trees along Stanley Park Drive, it is not clear if that ambitious goal will be possible.

Haer said it will up to Park Board staff to figure out if it can be done.

"The engineers that work with our Park Board and the City of Vancouver, they're brilliant," Haer said.

"And we trust them. They're going to come back with an even better solution than this."

Maloney said she would have preferred for the park board to maintain the existing lane and make changes to sections of it over time rather than remove it now and then replace it in the future.

"They could leave it in place and make incremental improvements," Maloney said. "Leave it in place so cyclists are safe and Vancouverites have a healthy low impact option for outdoor exercise."

Many business operators in the park blame the lane for a drop in customers, saying it creates additional congestion and the cones and signage around entrances and exits to parking lots has been confusing.

Gerry O'Neil, owner of Stanley Park Horse Drawn Tours, says the bike lane forces his carriages to share a single lane with cars.

In the years since it's been in place, he has seen numerous impatient drivers swerve dangerously into the bike lane to get around his carriages rather than wait for a safe opportunity to pass.

"I feel really good. I am cautiously optimistic. The devil is in the details," referring to the possibility a new permanent cycling lane could soon be on the drawing board.

 

Work to remove the barriers, cones and signage for the bike lane is set to begin immediately.

 

It's not clear when, or even if, a new permanent replacement will be built on Stanley Park Drive.