Love it or hate it, you won’t see the Stanley Park bike lane restored next summer.
The future of the controversial lane was addressed at the Vancouver Park Board on Monday, as commissioners received an update on the Stanley Park Mobility Study.
The lane, which was installed during the COVID-19 pandemic, saw one of two lanes on Stanley Park Drive converted from vehicle to cycling traffic. It proved heavily divisive, with business and disability advocates arguing it reduced access to the park, and supporters saying it improved safety and drew new riders of all abilities.
Major portions of the lane were removed earlier this year, following a vote by board’s ABC majority. ABC park commissioners and city councillors had originally pledged to fully restore the lane in an improved form along with full car access by spring 2023.
That timeline is now long in the rear-view mirror, and staff told park commissioners spring 2024 is now also out of the question.
In fact, restoring it with just one vehicle lane and one cycling lane will require two years and cost between $2 and $4 million, according to the report.
Restoring a bike lane along with two lanes of vehicle traffic would require widening nearly 80 per cent of Stanley Park Drive, staff said, at a cost of $30 to $50 million, and take up to four years.
Capital funds for neither option are currently available, staff said. Both options will be looked at in the final mobility study report, due in the spring.
Since the lane was removed, staff found no increase in parking revenue. However they did record a troubling increase in speeding. Half of all vehicles recorded driving on the 30 km/h Stanley Park drive were clocked at 50 km/h or faster, up from just 11 per cent when the lane was in place.
The report also found an overall decline in cycling in the park since 2020, along with a recent increase in volumes on the seawall which it concluded was likely linked to the removal of the bike lane and a tourism rebound.
The report notes that the two proposed bike lane options could be revisited at the conclusion of the Stanley Park Mobility Study, when more staff and funds were available.
Commissioners also got a preview of 21 possible changes to the way people get around in the park included in the mobility study.
Those include a fee to access the park if you’re driving a vehicle, car free days, two-directional vehicle travel on the currently one-way Stanley Park Drive, and closing the park to vehicles with the exception of cyclists and transit.
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