Vancouver Park Board considering three different options when it comes to the future Stanley Park Bike LaneBecause the final voting is to be held on Monday.
Three different options include keeping the bike lane as it currently is, but removing the busy section around the park entrance roundabout and near the Lumbermen’s Arch. Or maintaining bike lanes around the park and a single lane for vehicles. Or removing bike lanes inside the park.
This topic has been a charged issue over the years, with some people saying that bike lanes greatly affect access to the park for senior citizens, people with disabilities, and tourists, while others argue that having more bike lanes is beneficial to the park. Better to enjoy.
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Bonnie McKenzie, a community advocate with Stanley Park For All, said she is not pleased that none of the three options include returning the park to its pre-pandemic configuration.
“I do not support any of the three options. None of them restore the park to its pre-COVID configuration for parking and traffic,” she told Global News.
“Get the park back to what it was. It needs to be accessible to everyone. That includes vehicular traffic. We want to get people with disabilities, families, tourists and tour buses back, all of it back, this jewel it was. Bring the economy back to the park and bring back visitors.
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Cycling advocate Lucy Maloney spoke to Global News on Saturday. She thinks it’s a win for cyclists that all three options include the remaining bike lanes in the park.
“The ABC needs to be congratulated for revising its election promises and using staff expert advice and additional information received since the election to do something for all park users,” she said.
“The present condition in the park has been workshopped and improvements have been made as per the feedback from the stakeholders. We have already come a long way in improving it. It is good to see that we are hopeful that Stanley Park Drive Around 80 percent to 100 percent will be bike lanes.
Maloney said the bike lanes provide an opportunity for novice cyclists to enjoy the park with less pressure from surrounding elements, such as vehicles, pedestrians and other cyclists.
Bike lane advocates gathered outside the Vancouver Park Board’s office on Sunday, ahead of the upcoming decision. About a dozen people were there to hear some of the speakers in support of bike lanes.
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