A CLOSER LOOK
/BATTLE BREWING FOR BEACH AVENUE
CYCLISTS RIDING IN FRONT OF SYLVIA HOTEL
by John Streit
(click images to enlarge)
It’s a relatively quiet and recently “traffic calmed” stretch of Beach Avenue which is always seemingly being studied by the City of Vancouver. Portable traffic counters are a common sight with their telltale black tubes stretching across the one lane of motor vehicle traffic into Stanley Park, or the two bike lanes from Morton Ave to Park Lane. Sometimes you’ll find two or three sets. We now know why this street has garnered a disproportionate amount of attention — major changes are being planned.
While the ABC-dominated Vancouver City Council voted to kill the $300-million-dollar West End Waterfront Plan early last month, one portion known as Phase 1 did make the cut. That part of the plan calls for the restoration of two-way motor vehicle on Beach Avenue near the waterfront park, along with the construction of a new protected AAA bike lane and sidewalk at a cost of $16-million dollars, all included.
CONCEPTUAL ILLUSTRATION OF PLANNED BEACH AVE CHANGES (CITY OF VANCOUVER IMAGE)
Phase 1, with a potential construction start date of Fall 2026, will include a curbside lane on the north side of the street. “The curbside lane could support a variety of uses such as parking, accessible parking, loading, public bike share, and bus bulbs when/if transit uses this street,” according to the City of Vancouver.
“As staff develop a more detailed design of the area, we also see the opportunity to improve pedestrian crossings at intersections by incorporating pedestrian refuges, corner bulges, and/or raised crossings,” the city added.
But Phase 1 needs the approval of the park board, according to the city.
“Park Board have requested that their staff return with additional information on Phase 1 implementation and staff are currently planning to bring this information back towards the end of June. City staff have evaluated alternate ways to reinstate two-way traffic on Beach Avenue west of Denman and confirmed that all options would require Park Board approval to ensure continuity into Stanley Park from Beach Avenue.
Additionally, all options that maintain a similar width cycling facility to the existing interim path would require a new pedestrian path to be implemented within Park Board jurisdiction,” the COV told TWEJ.
CITY HOPING TO TURN THIS ENTIRE DIRT PATH INTO PAVED SIDEWALK
The city maintains that no green space will be lost with the creation of a new pedestrian path (currently the brown path next to the benches). “With the significant amount of road space being reallocated - particularly at Morton Park - the park area will increase overall, which will in turn bring significant improvements to park function and usability. The exact amount of this increase will require some further detailed design to determine” the city told TWEJ.
However, Vancouver Park Board approval may not be easy.
PARK BOARD COMMISSIONER TOM DIGBY (PARK BOARD PHOTO)
Green Party Commissioner Tom Digby and the three former ABC commissioners are generally now voting as a block. Digby said his jaw-dropped when he was told by an ABC commissioner that the reason to bring back two-way traffic along Beach Ave was to get the cars moving again. “Is he not aware that Stanley Park is a park? Parks are for people, not cars,” Digby said.
Digby said he was quietly asked by a good friend in North Vancouver to reopen two-way traffic on Beach Ave so he could cut through the park to zip back and forth to the Jericho Tennis Club in his car. "It's just so convenient," the friend pleaded, "and the view is wonderful.” Digby responded "buddy, that is exactly the reason why this commissioner is strongly opposed."
Digby believes the current configuration implemented in 2020 by former Mayor Kennedy Stewart is fine the way it is. “It has created the single busiest bike lane in Canada, possibly in North America, with up to 12,000 riders per day. The current one-lane configuration has provided a safe and attractive route for surging active transport in the region. The other great advantage of the one-lane configuration is that motorized vehicle traffic is so reduced that people living in the West End feel safe and invited to walk to English Bay. Whether seniors with walkers, or electric wheelchairs, or parents with baby strollers, you are not taking your life in your hands just to get to the seawall. And you avoid a cloud of exhaust,” he said.
Digby promises the city won’t get a rubber stamp from the park board for Phase 1. “Several of us commissioners have strong doubts that spending $5 million to move the bike lane 15 feet to the west, (as part of the overall $16 million reconfiguration plan) is not a good investment of taxpayer dollars,” he maintained.
One person pleased with the proposed changes to Beach Avenue is the owner of the historic Sylvia Hotel, Jill Davies. “The cement barriers that went in four years ago have been challenging for the Sylvia. The Sylvia has had no access to the front face of the building for repairs, maintenance, or capital improvements. The cement barricades on Morton serve no purpose and impede access for emergency vehicles and service vehicles,” she said.
Davies, who took over the Sylvia Hotel from her father in 2012, feels the proposed transportation plan addresses most of the safety and accessibility issues, including improved safety with access and exit for first responders on Beach and in Stanley Park, access to repair and maintain buildings, gives residents on Beach access to their front doors for Handy-Dart, pick-up, drop-off, move in/out and provides a AAA protected bike lane. She adds “guests and West End residents continually voice safety concerns about pedestrians crossing the two-way bike lane. There is no controlled intersection for pedestrians to safely access the waterfront.”
TWEJ asked Davies if she was consulted by the City of Vancouver about the Beach Avenue changes. “The hotel was not directly consulted on the proposed changes. However, the city was receptive to the concerns expressed about safety and accessibility by the Sylvia, property owners and residents on Beach Ave. Pre-COVID, there was restricted parking, loading areas and emergency access for buildings on Beach Avenue,” she said.
We asked if guests ever complain about the current street configuration. “Guests have been able to reach the hotel by one-way traffic on Morton Avenue and can access the hotel front door on Gilford Street. Most negative comments from visitors are about the congestion around Davie and Denman in both directions,” she said.
Lucy Maloney.
Lucy Maloney is an active transport and traffic safety advocate with Love the Lane and Vision Zero Vancouver. She agrees with Commissioner Digby on leaving Beach Avenue the way it is now. “The installation of the Beach Ave Bikeway and removal of the second general vehicle lane on Beach Ave west of Denman has significantly reduced motor vehicle congestion, noise, air emissions and crash danger for both West End residents and park users. There has been a remarkable and sustained reduction in crashes on the one-way portions of Beach Avenue, but not on the two-way. According to ICBC, since 2020 we've seen the elimination of injury crashes on that stretch of Beach Avenue. For the last four years, West End residents have been blissfully free of drivers cruising along this stretch with music blaring and drivers laying on the horn in frustration at each other or rat-running at speed to avoid congestion on West Georgia Street,” Maloney said.
Maloney believes the proposed changes will increase traffic volumes overnight. “Widening the lanes to accommodate 40-foot buses will increase speeding. Tripling the space allocated to the movement and storage of motor vehicles will reduce park space and pedestrian walkway space. This is a backward step, especially given than this is one of the most popular and well-used tourism and recreation destinations in the whole of Vancouver. This should be a destination, not a highway,” Maloney told TWEJ.
TWO-WAY VEHICLE TRAFFIC AND PARKING COULD BE BACK HERE ON BEACH AVE
TWEJ asked Maloney what she thought city council’s motive was for restoring two-way motor vehicle traffic on that portion of Beach.
“Restoring two-way traffic has been justified on the basis of establishing a bus route along Beach Avenue to Second Beach, but TransLink hasn’t committed or expressed any intention to do so in the short to medium term and has other desperately needed transit priorities to fund across the Lower Mainland. Sadly, I think council is giving in to pressure from a small group of very loud voices who think their driving convenience should be given a higher priority than the physical safety, tranquility and clean air of people who actually live in the West End and use the waterfront park and sea wall.
Most of Stanley Park Drive is one-way. A bus that enters the park through Beach Ave will only get as far as Second Beach. So even if Translink does create a new bus route into Stanley Park from Beach Avenue, it isn't going to help you get to Third Beach, or Prospect Point, or Brockton Point, or any other destination around Stanley Park Drive. That’s why the old No. 52 bus did the full loop, including service to Second Beach, and didn’t enter from Beach. It is not necessary. A bus is 3.1 metres wide. That means a lane for a bus must be 3.3 metre wide (or 11 feet), which is one foot wider than the NACTO urban street design guide recommends for safe, pedestrian-friendly streets,” Maloney said.
Meanwhile, long-time transit advocate Nathan Davidovitz approves of the planned street changes to Beach. But he wants the City of Vancouver to go even further.
“Two-way on Beach Ave. will allow the No. 23 bus to be extended into Stanley Park. Just need one more bus for this extension. However, we need two-way bus service on Beach (Jervis to Howe) as it was prior to COVID. We need to have bus service to the Vancouver Aquatic Centre. Having the No. 23 bus on Pacific instead of Beach is bad accessibility for many disabled and senior bus passengers,” he said.
Davidovitz calls it “an embarrassment” that the top urban park in B.C. and Canada, with 18 million visitors per year, has such poor bus service. “It is mostly the fault of former bad park board commissioners and staff, but TransLink is also to be blamed as they increase bus services to many other parks outside the City of Vancouver but neglected Vancouver. New bus service on Nelson Street (proposed since 1971) could also help Stanley Park be more accessible,” he added.
Holly Hayes is with A Beach for Everyone, a group described as residents with the mission of ensuring beaches and parks are a safe haven where everyone can come to enjoy nature. She believes the current Beach Ave configuration restricts vehicle access to Stanley Park and English Bay beaches. “Yes, even though access to Stanley Park has surpassed pre-COVID levels. Currently, the easiest access is via Georgia, which I believe has increased congestion. Access via Beach requires going through Morton and Denman, adding congestion to Davie, Beach, and Denman. Access via Nelson has increased traffic in an area where residents fought for traffic calming. Interestingly, exiting Stanley Park via Nelson has also led to more traffic in a supposedly traffic-calmed neighborhood, which is quite ironic,” she said.
HOLLY HAYES FROM A BEACH FOR EVERYONE.
Hayes dispels fears of idling buses and car traffic clogging Beach if the new plan goes ahead. “This concern seems like a classic case of NIMBY (Not In My Backyard). Traffic congestion at the Davie and Denman intersection is already significant (as mentioned earlier). There’s also increased congestion along Pantages Lane and See-em-ia Lane as drivers try to bypass Davie and Denman. The situation is chaotic and likely to worsen as the weather improves, especially with limited parking access,” she told TWEJ.
Hayes feels many arguments against these changes are ill-informed, based on assumptions and fears. “There’s been a lot of inflammatory rhetoric stirring up unnecessary passions. A more thoughtful approach is needed. The bike lane is not going away, however neither are the vehicles. Vancouver is now one of the most congested cities in North America. All modes of transportation and access for all modes of transportation need to be considered moving forward,” she said.
Former Vancouver Heritage Commission member Anthony Norfolk lives a block away from English Bay and believes the West End Waterfront Plan was flawed from the start.
“I applied for appointment to the Community Advisory Group intended to assist. I noted that the application form was only concerned with demographic profile, omitting inquiry about background and experience relating to the project involved. I was not surprised that I was not appointed (wrong demographic profile). That is when I discovered that the list of those appointed was being kept secret. When pressure resulted in a partial release of names, I recognized two names. At one point, I inquired of a member about the ‘communication’ provision in the terms of reference: “Members will share project communication materials with their communities and networks to help support project communications.” I was informed that there had been no materials to share in this manner. These should be a matter of public record as should be a record of the Advisory Group’s proceedings,” he believes.
Norfolk says he attended all the public events he knew about (the City of Vancouver says there were three rounds of public engagement undertaken, in addition to direct engagement with stakeholders and equity denied groups) and was surprised at the final report, created “by theme park proponents.” A couple of the many troubling issues he identified were the Davis Fountain at Jervis and Pacific being replaced by a parking lot and a pavilion plonked in front of the Sylvia Hotel. “I sensed some level of discomfort at park board. At council the same discomfort was apparent and acted upon. They were correct: the English Bay Waterfront Plan is not ripe for decision having serious flaws,” he maintained.
Norfolk feels talk of buses entering Stanley Park via Beach Ave is putting the cart before the horse. “Phase 1 is incomplete, pending the formal involvement of TransLink. At a meeting at Barclay Manor, TransLink stated that the No. 23 is the subject of a mountain of complaints. They propose to replace it with 40-foot buses. Running these into the park where they can turn around has the added advantage of providing bus access to the south side of Stanley Park, in the same way that the No. 19 serves the north entrance. Phase 1 will facilitate this, and council’s approval for this is supportable, but will require a lot more detailed work,” Norfolk told TWEJ.
He’s hoping the COV continues the West End Waterfront Plan but with new direction. “With the prospect of significant sea level increase the resumption of the waterfront planning process is essential. The retaining of a Norwegian firm with no relevant local background is illustrative of the problem; it came as a complete surprise to many. At least there appears to be a reduction in hard surfaces proposed in comparison to an earlier design. Park board’s attempt to grab community amenity contributions needed for a densifying community is disgraceful,” Norfolk explained.
Lucy Maloney was on board with other elements of the plan. “If we have millions of dollars to implement some of the project now, we should be building the skate park, the playgrounds, the dog park, the safety improvements to Pacific, roller skating and roller hockey, the in-park bike route, and improvements to bathrooms and concessions,” she said, adding, “a waterfront park plan should be about creating a great park, not a great arterial road for through-traffic. City taxpayers deserve better than a waste of money that adds a net-zero amount of cycling infrastructure and isn’t even needed for the Stanley Park exit.”
Park Board Commissioner Tom Digby is hinting at the battle for Beach Avenue to come.
“Well, we're kinda stuck here. It's a standoff. Council wants to open up Beach and park board opposed it because we don't like the impact on Stanley Park. And at the same time they rejected the West End Waterfront Plan which park board roundly supported. I'm going to raise my battle flag in Morton because that is where the city and park board need to swap land to make the road configuration work. Obviously, park board and council need to work together to find a solution. This has happened with every council and park board for 136 years running, except for this particular council and particular mayor who refuses to cooperate with the park board. In fact, they are creating situations where they can attempt to demonstrate that park board is blocking progress in the city. I suggest if they want to make the city work, they need to get off their butts and invite park board commissioners to discuss the future of these civic assets.”
West Ender John Streit has been a B.C. radio, TV and online journalist
for more than 20 years. You can listen to John anchor
Global News on 980/CKNW in Vancouver.
