Vancouver seeking feedback on future of Stanley Park Drive access

Do you have an opinion on how Vancouver should handle traffic along Stanley Park Drive? Now is your chance to weigh in.

The Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation has prepared six options for improving access to Stanley Park, all centred around Stanley Park Drive, and is gathering public feedback through an online survey until July 28. 

"The park now attracts over 18 million visitors every year, so we want to know what can be done to handle more visitors without having to build more roads and remove forest," reads the survey website.

"This is our chance to rethink mobility in Stanley Park to meet everyone’s needs while protecting what we love most about the park."

Each of the board's six options includes making room for either transit or shuttle services along Stanley Park Drive – which currently only has one bus stop along the entire 8.4-kilometre route around the park, located near the entrance.

One option would see Stanley Park Drive temporarily restricted to cyclists, buses and shuttles at scheduled times. Two others are designated "car-free" options, which would close off the route to drivers permanently.

Another option would simply add a dedicated transit lane to Stanley Park Drive.

The choices were determined through a Stanley Park Mobility Study conducted by the board over the last two years, which involved "analysis of mobility and visitor use data, economic modelling, research on comparable parks and approaches to mobility, and two rounds of public and stakeholder engagement," according to an information package for survey participants.

The survey takes an estimated 10 to 15 minutes to complete.