Plans for bike path through Vancouver beach park raise controversy

A recent Vancouver Parks Board decision to build a separate bike path through Kitsilano Beach Park has met resistance from some local residents and non-cycling users. The $2.2 million path, approved last week, would be part of the proposed Seaside Greenway, a bike path that would wind its way from Canada Place in downtown Vancouver to Stanley Park before heading along False Creek to Jericho Beach.

Critics, such as local man James Goodman and Canada One Athletic Foundation chairman Howard Kelsey object to a path that would run through picnic areas and inconvenience some users instead of following the adjacent streets. In an article in The Vancouver Sun, Kelsey laments the board’s decision to “pave a 12′ swath for a bike highway parallel to Arbutus Street through a highly-used recreational area” when “$10,000 worth of paint” could be used to make bike lanes on the streets of the park’s boundaries.

A park board report states that since Kitsilano Beach Park has some of the highest pedestrian volumes in the city, a segregated path would be beneficial to both cyclists and pedestrians. Contrary to Goodman’s charge that there wasn’t enough consultation, Vancouver Park Board vice-chairman Aaron Jasper says that his organization spoke directly to 390 park users, who responded with 90 per cent positivity to a separated, paved path. Jasper adds that a senior management team walked the proposed route and concluded that moving a few picnic tables would not affect the area.

Goodman, Kelsey and Kits Point Resident Association member Adam Smith, a cycling enthusiast and bike commuter, all find the path an expensive alternative to designing a route along the surrounding streets.