Vancouver Park Board votes to remove temporary Stanley Park bike lane

The Vancouver Park Board has voted to remove a dedicated cycling lane through Stanley Park — at least for the time being.

On Monday, city park board commissioners voted 6-1 for a motion to scrap the temporary bike lane that has been in place since 2020, while asking to staff to come up with a permanent cycling infrastructure plan for the downtown park expected by spring.

"We brought this motion forward because we were worried about equitable access," said park board commissioner Angela Haer, who initiated the motion that was supported by the other five ABC Vancouver Party commissioners. 

The only vote against came from lone Green Party commissioner Tom Digby, who criticized ABC for not putting the idea in its platform, only to bring it forward a month after being swept to power.

"It's been such a victory to have this bike lane," he said.

"Driveability is not the hallmark of a world-class park."

Controversial subject  

The bike lane situation has been a controversial subject since the COVID-19 pandemic and has generated much debate at board meetings and on social media.

In April 2020, the board closed the park to vehicles to allow more room for bicycles and move them off the seawall so pedestrians could maintain ample physical distancing. Stanley Park Drive is now partially reopened to vehicle traffic, but a lane for cyclists only still remains.

Monday's motion asked city staff to "immediately restore the pre-COVID traffic and parking configuration on Stanley Park Drive in time for the upcoming December 2022 peak holiday season."

It's a decision that didn't sit well with some cycling advocates, many of whom were in attendance at Monday's meeting.

"I think it's very unfortunate," said Jeff Leigh, president of the non-profit organization Hub Cycling, dedicated to removing barriers to biking in Vancouver.

"There are many things that could be done to improve the bike lane, but to pull it out on a faint hope of reinstalling it, we think is a poor decision," said Leigh, speaking Monday morning on The Early Edition.

Leigh is concerned about cyclist safety during rush hour when he says drivers are more likely to speed through the park. He is also worried any new cycling infrastructure could have a negative impact on the park's ecosystem.

"They're going to have to explain how they're going to expand the roadway without impacting green space," said Leigh.

One of the arguments for removing the bike lane is that it blocks access to local businesses.

The companies that own the Teahouse in Stanley Park, the Stanley Park Pavilion and the Prospect Point Bar and Grill went to the B.C. Supreme Court in an attempt to have the Vancouver Park Board resolution to keep the bike lane on the matter set aside as unreasonable.

A lawyer for the companies said the business suffered "devastating" losses and that the park board's then-decision was "ideological" and not based on a rational evaluation of costs and benefits. A judge dismissed that lawsuit in September 2021.

Former B.C. attorney general Wally Oppal, the lawyer representing Prospect Point Bar and Grill, said the addition of the bike lane has "been a huge loss" to the restaurant, which he said has been closed for a year because of the traffic chaos the decision created.

Oppal said his client is not opposed to having a bike lane in principle but wants two vehicle lanes restored rather than sticking with one for bikes and one for drivers.

"Stanley Park is the crown jewel of this city, and there are so many people who can't use it anymore because of the present situation," said Oppal, speaking Monday on B.C. Today.

"We are in favour of the motion…because we think that it will be a good compromise and everybody will get to use the park," he added.

Sandy James, a former city planner and founder of Walk Metro Vancouver, says the mental health benefits of green spaces were made glaringly apparent during the pandemic, and there should be equitable access to all.

To determine how that looks, she said, park board commissioners should engage in better public consultation than their predecessors and study the data on who uses the park, how they are accessing it and what infrastructure is best suited to those needs.

"I think we need to drill down, and I haven't seen the park board do that," said James, who joined Oppal on B.C. Today.