Expect Stanley Park Causeway delays as tree removal gets underway
Posted December 15, 2023 8:15 am.
Drivers heading between downtown Vancouver and the North Shore and being warned of delays this coming weekend, as the urgent removal of moth-damaged trees in Stanley Park gets underway.
On Saturday and Sunday, one lane will be closed from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure says cyclists and pedestrians heading north will be detoured through the park and to the west side of the bridge and causeway.
“While efforts are being made to keep impacts to a minimum, people should plan for delays and transit changes to and from the North Shore, and to consider using the Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Crossing as an alternative during the times noted above,” the MoT said Friday.
The closure and expected delays come after the Vancouver Park Board said about 160,000 trees in the city’s park will be felled for public safety reasons after a years-long infestation of western hemlock looper moths.
“Removing trees is not something we take lightly, but this work is essential to restarting the forest afresh and giving it the strongest chance at withstanding future threats to its health,” Amit Gandha, director of parks at the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation, said in a statement earlier this month.
The board says about 25 per cent of Stanley Park’s trees have been damaged by looper months. It adds the city’s Urban Forestry team continues to manage and remove individual trees, the situation has escalated beyond its capacities and has required the need for “external personnel … to mitigate risks.”
Impacted areas will be replanted with native species, including Douglas fir, western red cedar, grand fir, big leaf maple, and red alder.
