Cyclist safety improvement project completed on Stanley Park Causeway

A major infrastructure project was completed in what many refer to as the ‘Jewel of Vancovuer.’

A ceremony was held in Stanley Park on Friday morning to mark the end of the work done to upgrade the bike and pedestrian lanes through the causeway.

The $7 million project, which was sparked after a 61-year-old North Vancouver woman was struck and killed when she accidentally rode off the sidewalk and into the path of a bus in 2013, began in September.

Close to 2,200 cyclists and several hundred pedestrians use the lanes each day during the summer.

Prior to the upgrade, the causeway had a reputation for being dangerous because it had no marked lanes on the multi-use sidewalk, no barriers, and had a big drop from the sidewalk to the road.

The project included widening the sidewalks and installing bicycle fencing on both sides of the Stanley Park Causeway, a 2.2-kilometre segment of Highway 99 that provides one of two connections between Vancouver and the North Shore, as well as access to Stanley Park.

“There are a few small things that we’ve still recommended that they could improve around passing and how the passer shared in some sections but overall, it’s significantly safer,” said Erin O’Melinn from HUB Cycling.