Proposed plan for the Stanley Park Causeway hopes to improve safety
Posted December 2, 2014 11:47 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The Cycling and Pedestrian Safety Improvement Project primarily focuses on widening the sidewalks and installing safety fencing along the Stanley Park Causeway, a 2.2 km segment of Highway 99 which provides one of two connections between Vancouver and the North Shore
Ashok Bhatti with the Ministry of Transportation says the targeted consultation began with cycling groups, active transportation groups and Stanley Park interest groups almost a year ago.
“The incentive for this project is the cycling community has been growing especially on this corridor. We have done numerous counts prior to coming up with our options so for example we are noticing on average there is about 2,400 cyclists on the weekends and about 2,200 on the weekdays on a daily basis,” he explains.
“We are fairly confidant in the proposal. There has been a lot of consultation that has been leading up to this point and the Vancouver Park Board has actually seen this proposal a number of different times so really this is the final proposal.”
News1130 asked people who attended the public consultation what they thought of the plan.
“My concern though is where ever you have cyclist and pedestrians in too close of a proximity you have the same kind of problems that you have between cars and cyclists,” one man told us.
“They are looking at wider opportunities for passing when people do that anyways,” said another.
Cyclist Peter Scholefield noted it was well thought out, “I think it respects the environment by not removing too many trees.”
But Chair of Vancouver’s Active Transportation Policy council Tanya Paz doesn’t think much of the proposal which would see the east sidewalk allow for one-way cycling and two-way pedestrian traffic while the narrower west sidewalk would provide a one-way cycling path.
“Their plan is to tell pedestrians that they can only use the east sidewalk and not the west side to walk across and I don’t think pedestrians are going to listen to that,” Paz cautions.
Bhatti adds the province wants feedback and people are encouraged to look over the proposed changes and share your thoughts on the government website.
