Actually that is not what happened. PB Scott wanted to use City Engineering cycling infrastructure funds to fund the SPD bike lane removal, CC over ruled him and made PB use their own PB general Operational budget freeing over a million $ to be used for it's originally intended purpose, improved cycling infrastructure including separated bike lanes. I remember Mayor Sim & i think Councilor Klassan saying this as well when the decision to remove the SPD Bike lane was first taken about the PB over stepping their bounds on this issue. I got the following from a very senior Director on the Park Board staff: "The Park Board used Park Board capital funds to pay for all costs associated with the Stanley Park bike lane in Stanley Park in 2023. Any work on Beach Avenue would be funded by Engineering. Thank you for your enquiry," PB Scott also wanted to open up Beach Av. where it meets SPD where it was closed off, Sim of all people told him to step off as that was on city land & therefore not his business & told Scott to open up an exit at Park lane which he did. Now Sim is going to open up Beach Av. where it meets SPD anyways so maybe it was all apart of the plan all along. But the thing about the 2 way reopening of Beach Av. west of Denman into SP is that nothing will happen on Beach Av. or the Beach Av. Bike lane till the new AAA bike lane & pedestrian path over in the greenspace is completed & only then will the reworking of Beach Av. take place & they are talking about a Fall 2026 start of construction which is around the time of the next Municipal election. So till then Nothing will chance re the Beach Av. Bikeway nor Beach Av. becoming 2 way.
ABC impact on Cycling Projects since their election:
I am no fan of Peking Ken or ABC, I think their PB majority acted like a bunch of Tyrants with a goose step in their gitty up till their existence was threatened, but strictly on cycling infrastructure they are actually doing pretty good and seem inclined to be much closer to the old Vision party view then what the NPA or Team for ex. would have been. Below I outline an awful lot of new cycling projects along with a hands off approach to current in place bike lanes with SPD being the exception, so they could be a lot worse. All of these were approved by the current City Council and Sims since they took power, therefore these are things they intend to do and are not just pre election campaign promises they have no intention to keep: 1 PB Scott wanted to use City Engineering cycling infrastructure funds to fund the SPD bike lane removal, CC over ruled him and made PB use their own General capital funds freeing over a million $ to be used for it's originally intended purpose, improved cycling infrastructure including separated bile lanes. 2 PB Scott also wanted to reopen car access to Beach Av at the start of the Beach Av bikeway where it intersects with SP Drive which would have compromised the Beach Av. Bikeway but was overruled by CC as Sims pointed out that this was city controlled land not PB controlled land and for him to back off so the opening for cars will be along North Lagoon Drive where it feeds into Park Lane. 3 CC has stated the Beach Av. bike lane will remain intact & unchanged at least thru the next election on the Fall of 2026 4 Before Summer 2024, the prominent intersection of Granville and Robson streets in downtown Vancouver, known for its high pedestrian traffic, will be converted into a six-way pedestrian scramble crossing on a pilot project basis. A pedestrian scramble includes a long signal phase enabling pedestrians to cross in all directions of the street, including diagonally. This will make the intersection safer for cyclists as well & is cycling infrastructure in my view. 5 Ok grasping at straws here but as the Viaducts will remain intact through this capital plan and CC Governance the Dunsmuir Viaduct separated bike lane will stay intact as well without 2 or 3 years without it due to the Viaduct tear down and new street build. 6 Several times since in Power CC has stated a strong interest in the 3 blocks of Waters Street becoming car free to some level and in effect cycling infrastructure, this is encouraging. This summer for two months a block of waters street will be car free along with Maple Tree Square with the two blocks in between them car light with no rat runners and only local traffic as the closing off of Maple Tree Square will preclude all rat running & non local traffic. 7 As well recently CC has indicated a strong interest in a major cycling infrastructure upgrade along the length of the Portside Greenway & directed staff to study it, again if this was not so then City Staff would not be even considering this Greenway upgrade with new bike lanes nor directed city staff to look into this. 8 Since in Power CC has approved the final playland upgrade physical location in Hastings Park & know it will not interfere with the Still ck. daylighting & paved parallel bike lane with it, as a result the daylighting of Renfrew Creek in Hastings park that runs thru it right to New Brighton has been approved with detailed design engineering commencing this spring. The daylighting & parallel paved multiuse pathway detailed design & drawings will soon commence for the Hastings Renfrew Stream daylighting which is a shared project between the CoV Engineering and the Park Board. There is not funding currently available in this capital plan for implementation of the day-lit creek. Cov are currently planning to solicit consulting services in the New Year as the project parameters have evolved due to the PNE Amphitheatre project. 9 CC recently approved Staff looking into a separated bike lane along about 6 blocks of Cornwall. 10 They also approved the 10 block Drake St. separated bike lane which is under construction. 11 CC also approved the Granville St. Bridge separated Bike Lane/Sidewalk project including the connection to the Arbutus Greenway & a separated bike lane along Granville St. till Drake St. where they could have killed both & have expedited & 1st phased them all, this is under construction. 12 As well with the Granville St. Bridge North loops being taken down this will create much improved ingress & egress cycling infrastructure leading onto & off of the bridge proper vie Rolston Street. 13 ABC has told staff to put together a Bute St. Cycling infrastructure plan including Separated Bike lanes, car free zones, traffic calming features for eventually the full length of Bute St. creating a Bute Street Greenway with 2/3 of it being built in the next 2 years, this is now underway, they could have killed this project. 14 The Kits Beach Bike lane seems to be a full go, they have allowed the final Master Plan detailed design Engineering drawings contract to continue to fruition and have not removed the interim bike lane. In regards to the Kits Beach Permanent design Separated Bike Lane the project is currently in the detailed design phase and Cov are targeting for tender in early Q1 2024 with construction commencing in Spring 2024. They will be utilizing their Board approved pre-qualification list of contractors for this work. 15 The massive Residential Housing project below and on either side of the Burrard St Bridge will have a new street plan supporting it that is already approved by this CC, new separated bike lanes that are a part of this street plan include Chestnut St., Creelman Av., Cypress St. as well as a new bike lane connecting Chestnut St. thru Vanier park with the seawall as well on the other south side of the Burrard St. Bridge there will be a major connecting bike lane from the Arbutus Greenway to the seawall as well as other bike lanes. Phase 1 interim construction is now well underway while final permanent detailed design drawings have begun as their eventual replacement. Phase two is now just starting construction. 16 A two block car free zone on Yew Street leading into Kits Beach Park was tried last year & hopefully will be brought back in improved form this coming summer. There is currently a concrete barrier once again in place of the island/median that was at York/Yew pre-pilot & was temp. removed for it. Staff are still reviewing data from the pilot and awaiting further direction for what (if anything) might happen on Yew Street in summer 2024, and that will dictate what happens to that barrier / island/median at that time. summer. 17 Approving $2 Million to upgrade & make 2 blocks of the Beatty Protected Bike lane permanent. 18: 7 block separated Bike lane completed on North Grandview Highway from Clark to E. Broadway a year ago. 19 On East Adanac Bikeway new construction approved by CC from Rupert to Boundary Av. 4 Block separated Bike lane with one block car free zone on Windermere & one block car free zone on Skeena St. with retention of 1 block separated Bike lane running thru Hastings Community Park was approved by this CC as well as 30 km speed limit, corner bulgesm closed off roadways, intersection lights & flashing lights etc. 20 Reducing speeds on Cornwall from 50 km to 40 km and about 2/3 of it at 30 km during school days, keeping the causeway Stanley Park Drive connection closed from 3:30 to 6:30 Mon. thru Fri. as has been the case for over 40 years to prevent rat running. 21 Rolston Street - Drake Street to the False Creek Seawall The City of Vancouver’s contractor is currently constructing a separated bikeway on Rolston St. from Neon St. to Pacific St., as approved by Council. Additionally, a dedicated bicycle connection on Rolston St. (north of Neon St.) is underway to link with the pending separated bikeway on Drake St. The bikeways under construction on the Granville Bridge, as well as the existing bikeway on Richards St. will complement the bicycle facilities under construction on Rolston St. 22 Richards Street bicycle facilities - extension along Beach Crescent Council has approved extension of the bicycle facilities south and west along Beach Crescent (from Pacific St.) as part of the City of Vancouver’s Active Mobility Plan connecting it to the existing Beach Av. Bikeway. 23 Arbutus Greenway and West 41st Avenue intersection improvements now under construction. Shifting the greenway to line up with the crossing of West 41st Avenue at East Boulevard Providing more physical separation between people walking and biking on the greenway Constructing a new bus bulb east of East Boulevard Adjusting turning lanes Changing some vehicle movements to improve safety and traffic flow Installing green rainwater infrastructure and a space for sitting and gathering Arbutus Greenway and West 41st Avenue intersection improvements 24 CC directed Staff to study a proposed Kent Avenue active transportation upgrade The Kent Avenue Bikeway on the Fraser river from Granville St. to Boundary Road. 25: A 1 block separated bike lane from Burrard St. connecting into Drake Street was completed last year as well as installing a 1 Block separated bike lane extension on the Comox/Helmcken Greenway connecting into the existing separated bike lane was completed last year. wiki.bikehub.ca/images/c/c4/2021-10-12_Kent_Ave_Bikeway_Proposal_V2_Oct_12_2021.pdf
Most Encouraging of all is that aside from the SPD bike lane CC has not indicated that any current existing cycling infrastructure will be removed or even altered, even the Temp Kits Park bike lane has stayed intact. The fears that ABC was really NPA 2.0 or as a moderate party that was in realty a right wing Trojan horse with the NPA playing the role of a right wing beard have not proven to be the case at least in terms of cycling infrastructure, so in closing I find hope in not just retention of current cycling infrastructure but in it's expansion as well as i have listed. Things would be far worse if Barker, Coupar and the NPA or TEAM were in power as there would be none of the planned new bike lanes and much in existence would have been ripped out by them, think Point Grey Rd. Greenway, Hornby, Richards St., Dunsmuir St. & Beach Av. etc.
Actually that is not what happened.
PB Scott wanted to use City Engineering cycling infrastructure funds to fund the SPD bike lane removal, CC over ruled him and made PB use their own PB general Operational budget freeing over a million $ to be used for it's originally intended purpose, improved cycling infrastructure including separated bike lanes.
I remember Mayor Sim & i think Councilor Klassan saying this as well when the decision to remove the SPD Bike lane was first taken about the PB over stepping their bounds on this issue.
I got the following from a very senior Director on the Park Board staff:
"The Park Board used Park Board capital funds to pay for all costs associated with the Stanley Park bike lane in Stanley Park in 2023.
Any work on Beach Avenue would be funded by Engineering.
Thank you for your enquiry,"
PB Scott also wanted to open up Beach Av. where it meets SPD where it was closed off, Sim of all people told him to step off as that was on city land & therefore not his business & told Scott to open up an exit at Park lane which he did.
Now Sim is going to open up Beach Av. where it meets SPD anyways so maybe it was all apart of the plan all along.
But the thing about the 2 way reopening of Beach Av. west of Denman into SP is that nothing will happen on Beach Av. or the Beach Av. Bike lane till the new AAA bike lane & pedestrian path over in the greenspace is completed & only then will the reworking of Beach Av. take place & they are talking about a Fall 2026 start of construction which is around the time of the next Municipal election.
So till then Nothing will chance re the Beach Av. Bikeway nor Beach Av. becoming 2 way.
ABC impact on Cycling Projects since their election:
I am no fan of Peking Ken or ABC, I think their PB majority acted like a bunch of Tyrants with a goose step in their gitty up till their existence was threatened, but strictly on cycling infrastructure they are actually doing pretty good and seem inclined to be much closer to the old Vision party view then what the NPA or Team for ex. would have been.
Below I outline an awful lot of new cycling projects along with a hands off approach to current in place bike lanes with SPD being the exception, so they could be a lot worse. All of these were approved by the current City Council and Sims since they took power, therefore these are things they intend to do and are not just pre election campaign promises they have no intention to keep:
1 PB Scott wanted to use City Engineering cycling infrastructure funds to fund the SPD bike lane removal, CC over ruled him and made PB use their own General capital funds freeing over a million $ to be used for it's originally intended purpose, improved cycling infrastructure including separated bile lanes.
2 PB Scott also wanted to reopen car access to Beach Av at the start of the Beach Av bikeway where it intersects with SP Drive which would have compromised the Beach Av. Bikeway but was overruled by CC as Sims pointed out that this was city controlled land not PB controlled land and for him to back off so the opening for cars will be along North Lagoon Drive where it feeds into Park Lane.
3 CC has stated the Beach Av. bike lane will remain intact & unchanged at least thru the next election on the Fall of 2026
4 Before Summer 2024, the prominent intersection of Granville and Robson streets in downtown Vancouver, known for its high pedestrian traffic, will be converted into a six-way pedestrian scramble crossing on a pilot project basis.
A pedestrian scramble includes a long signal phase enabling pedestrians to cross in all directions of the street, including diagonally. This will make the intersection safer for cyclists as well & is cycling infrastructure in my view.
5 Ok grasping at straws here but as the Viaducts will remain intact through this capital plan and CC Governance the Dunsmuir Viaduct separated bike lane will stay intact as well without 2 or 3 years without it due to the Viaduct tear down and new street build.
6 Several times since in Power CC has stated a strong interest in the 3 blocks of Waters Street becoming car free to some level and in effect cycling infrastructure, this is encouraging. This summer for two months a block of waters street will be car free along with Maple Tree Square with the two blocks in between them car light with no rat runners and only local traffic as the closing off of Maple Tree Square will preclude all rat running & non local traffic.
7 As well recently CC has indicated a strong interest in a major cycling infrastructure upgrade along the length of the Portside Greenway & directed staff to study it, again if this was not so then City Staff would not be even considering this Greenway upgrade with new bike lanes nor directed city staff to look into this.
8 Since in Power CC has approved the final playland upgrade physical location in Hastings Park & know it will not interfere with the Still ck. daylighting & paved parallel bike lane with it, as a result the daylighting of Renfrew Creek in Hastings park that runs thru it right to New Brighton has been approved with detailed design engineering commencing this spring.
The daylighting & parallel paved multiuse pathway detailed design & drawings will soon commence for the Hastings Renfrew Stream daylighting which is a shared project between the CoV Engineering and the Park Board.
There is not funding currently available in this capital plan for implementation of the day-lit creek. Cov are currently planning to solicit consulting services in the New Year as the project parameters have evolved due to the PNE Amphitheatre project.
9 CC recently approved Staff looking into a separated bike lane along about 6 blocks of Cornwall.
10 They also approved the 10 block Drake St. separated bike lane which is under construction.
11 CC also approved the Granville St. Bridge separated Bike Lane/Sidewalk project including the connection to the Arbutus Greenway & a separated bike lane along Granville St. till Drake St. where they could have killed both & have expedited & 1st phased them all, this is under construction.
12 As well with the Granville St. Bridge North loops being taken down this will create much improved ingress & egress cycling infrastructure leading onto & off of the bridge proper vie Rolston Street.
13 ABC has told staff to put together a Bute St. Cycling infrastructure plan including Separated Bike lanes, car free zones, traffic calming features for eventually the full length of Bute St. creating a Bute Street Greenway with 2/3 of it being built in the next 2 years, this is now underway, they could have killed this project.
14 The Kits Beach Bike lane seems to be a full go, they have allowed the final Master Plan detailed design Engineering drawings contract to continue to fruition and have not removed the interim bike lane.
In regards to the Kits Beach Permanent design Separated Bike Lane the project is currently in the detailed design phase and Cov are targeting for tender in early Q1 2024 with construction commencing in Spring 2024. They will be utilizing their Board approved pre-qualification list of contractors for this work.
15 The massive Residential Housing project below and on either side of the Burrard St Bridge will have a new street plan supporting it that is already approved by this CC, new separated bike lanes that are a part of this street plan include Chestnut St., Creelman Av., Cypress St. as well as a new bike lane connecting Chestnut St. thru Vanier park with the seawall as well on the other south side of the Burrard St. Bridge there will be a major connecting bike lane from the Arbutus Greenway to the seawall as well as other bike lanes.
Phase 1 interim construction is now well underway while final permanent detailed design drawings have begun as their eventual replacement.
Phase two is now just starting construction.
16 A two block car free zone on Yew Street leading into Kits Beach Park was tried last year & hopefully will be brought back in improved form this coming summer.
There is currently a concrete barrier once again in place of the island/median that was at York/Yew pre-pilot & was temp. removed for it.
Staff are still reviewing data from the pilot and awaiting further direction for what (if anything) might happen on Yew Street in summer 2024, and that will dictate what happens to that barrier / island/median at that time. summer.
17 Approving $2 Million to upgrade & make 2 blocks of the Beatty Protected Bike lane permanent.
18: 7 block separated Bike lane completed on North Grandview Highway from Clark to E. Broadway a year ago.
19 On East Adanac Bikeway new construction approved by CC from Rupert to Boundary Av. 4 Block separated Bike lane with one block car free zone on Windermere & one block car free zone on Skeena St. with retention of 1 block separated Bike lane running thru Hastings Community Park was approved by this CC as well as 30 km speed limit, corner bulgesm closed off roadways, intersection lights & flashing lights etc.
20 Reducing speeds on Cornwall from 50 km to 40 km and about 2/3 of it at 30 km during school days, keeping the causeway Stanley Park Drive connection closed from 3:30 to 6:30 Mon. thru Fri. as has been the case for over 40 years to prevent rat running.
21 Rolston Street - Drake Street to the False Creek Seawall
The City of Vancouver’s contractor is currently constructing a separated bikeway on Rolston St. from Neon St. to Pacific St., as approved by Council. Additionally, a dedicated bicycle connection on Rolston St. (north of Neon St.) is underway to link with the pending separated bikeway on Drake St.
The bikeways under construction on the Granville Bridge, as well as the existing bikeway on Richards St. will complement the bicycle facilities under construction on Rolston St.
22 Richards Street bicycle facilities - extension along Beach Crescent
Council has approved extension of the bicycle facilities south and west along Beach Crescent (from Pacific St.) as part of the City of Vancouver’s Active Mobility Plan connecting it to the existing Beach Av. Bikeway.
23 Arbutus Greenway and West 41st Avenue intersection improvements now under construction.
Shifting the greenway to line up with the crossing of West 41st Avenue at East Boulevard
Providing more physical separation between people walking and biking on the greenway
Constructing a new bus bulb east of East Boulevard
Adjusting turning lanes
Changing some vehicle movements to improve safety and traffic flow
Installing green rainwater infrastructure and a space for sitting and gathering
Arbutus Greenway and West 41st Avenue intersection improvements
24 CC directed Staff to study a proposed Kent Avenue active transportation upgrade The Kent Avenue Bikeway on the Fraser river from Granville St. to Boundary Road.
25: A 1 block separated bike lane from Burrard St. connecting into Drake Street was completed last year as well as installing a 1 Block separated bike lane extension on the Comox/Helmcken Greenway connecting into the existing separated bike lane was completed last year.
wiki.bikehub.ca/images/c/c4/2021-10-12_Kent_Ave_Bikeway_Proposal_V2_Oct_12_2021.pdf
Most Encouraging of all is that aside from the SPD bike lane CC has not indicated that any current existing cycling infrastructure will be removed or even altered, even the Temp Kits Park bike lane has stayed intact.
The fears that ABC was really NPA 2.0 or as a moderate party that was in realty a right wing Trojan horse with the NPA playing the role of a right wing beard have not proven to be the case at least in terms of cycling infrastructure, so in closing I find hope in not just retention of current cycling infrastructure but in it's expansion as well as i have listed.
Things would be far worse if Barker, Coupar and the NPA or TEAM were in power as there would be none of the planned new bike lanes and much in existence would have been ripped out by them, think Point Grey Rd. Greenway, Hornby, Richards St., Dunsmuir St. & Beach Av. etc.