Cyclist calls for Stanley Park bike lane improvements after crash
Posted August 18, 2023 6:08 pm.
Last Updated August 21, 2023 8:53 am.
A Vancouver resident says she wants the city to make a bike lane in Stanley Park safer after she cycled into a concrete barrier.
Karen Hansen says it happened while she was on a night ride with a friend to cool off around 11:30 p.m. last Friday, in the bike lane on Stanley Park Drive near Second Beach.
Hansen said she was cycling on the path at around 15 km per hour, “really sailing,” and by the time her bike light was able to pick up that there was a barrier in front of her, it was too late.
“I stopped, it wasn’t enough time, and my bike smacked right into it,” she said.
“I flipped over and the bike landed on me.”
(CityNews Image)
Hansen says the crash left her with cuts, bruises, sore muscles, and a headache that won’t go away.
“When I hit it, I was like ‘why aren’t there any cones?'” she said. “There were was no yellow markings, there was no indication to turn, nothing.”
Looking at it in the light a few days later, she could see there was a tiny arrow that was visible, but there were no warning signs ahead of time.
The barrier was added in recent months as part of the removal of the bike lanes on Stanley Park Drive. The lanes had been added during the pandemic, but the ABC majority Vancouver Park Board voted to remove them earlier this year, a decision some cyclists protested.
“I really hope the city paints the barrier, puts up more signage, warns people, I don’t know,” Hansen said. “Something’s got to be done though.”
A Park Board spokesperson tells CityNews that staff are aware of Hansen’s crash and are currently investigating, saying in a statement, “The implementation team is currently finalizing the final stages of the lane removal in the … area.”
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According to the statement, the area will continue to be under construction while changes are made to traffic circulation.
“We urge all visitors … to look out for traffic pattern changes and signage and exercise caution, particularly when accessing the park outside of regular opening hours (6 a.m. to 10 p.m.).”
Hansen says she hopes that by sharing her story, she can stop someone else from crashing into the barrier.
“I don’t want anybody else to get hurt like me,” she said. “This shocked me, to be honest, and I haven’t been in a shocking accident like this in years, since probably a car accident in back 2007.
“It feels the same,” she said. “It feels (like) the same pain.”
