Few things divide Vancouverites like a bike lane.
And when that bike lane is part of a temporary public space that diverts traffic away from a popular access route for locals and businesses, well, let’s just say opinions are going to fly.
“Dangerous.” “Stupid.” “Not well thought out.” “Fast fix.” “Half assed.” “Concrete wasteland.”
That’s just a few terms collected over a half-hour spent talking to people using the new Vernon Plaza, a 20-metre stretch of blocked-off road in Strathcona bisected diagonally by a bike lane.
The project is intended to solve the problem of the link between the popular Adanac Bikeway – which can draw up to 5,000 cyclists a day – and its progression onto Union Street, which requires a staggered left/right turn. The city deemed it safer for cyclists to block off Vernon Drive, a well used route for locals running north-south between Pender and Venables.
Cyclists seem happy with the changes. “There’s more visibility, which is better,” said one regular bike commuter the Westender managed to stop.
“We need more separated bike lanes,” said Shera Kelly, another frequenter of the route, who thinks it’s an improvement. “It’s difficult to put in any infrastructure unless it’s done from the start,” she adds, noting the awkward connection between Adanac and Union.
But local residents and businesses aren’t that pleased. Three employees at neighbouring Russell Food Equipment, who were using one of the plaza’s concrete seating blocks during a coffee break and didn’t want to be named, say they’ve seen cyclists get bumped by cars since the roadway was redesigned.
“Cars are turning into cyclists because the cyclists won’t stop,” said one, despite the prominent stop sign at the end of Adanac (still emblazoned with a “HARPER” sticker underneath). During its visit, Westender witnesses most cyclists slaloming through the new route, barely slowing down.
The Russell staff are concerned, too, about truck traffic being rerouted past Admiral Seymour Elementary School further up Vernon Drive.
Perhaps there would have been less local criticism if plaza hadn’t been hyped as a “photogenic” new public space.
“Surprise and Delight: Five new public spaces to enjoy this summer,” chirped a City of Vancouver news release on Aug. 8. Vernon Plaza – “a place to sit, hang out and watch the world roll by” – was included alongside the nine-kilometre Arbutus Greenway, a pedestrianized section off Robson Street, the expansion of seating in Gastown’s Maple Tree Square and a cutesy Parklet project on Main and 27th.
But the reality doesn’t exactly look welcoming, with seating carved out of hulking concrete blocks and grey planter boxes filled with nothing but soil and cigarette butts. A dumped, battered purple couch with scattered trash is the most recent addition.
“Soon somebody’s going to be sleeping here,” says one of the Russell workers.
“Thanks for putting a place for garbage to accumulate,” says Sarah Forsythe, who works at Savoury Chef, a catering company on the other side of the road from Russell. Forsythe says the removal of parking space has also caused delivery headaches for the businesses in the area, while her colleague Lauren Stanley describes how she’s nearly been run over by cyclists whipping around the corner just outside the building’s front entrance.
One young mom pushing a stroller, who didn’t want to be named, relates the same experience. “I’ve almost got hit a few times,” says the area resident, who nevertheless thinks the separated lane is a good solution for this busy bike route. “The park is a secondary consideration,” she concedes. “A fast fix. But as a mom, I appreciate the crosswalk.”
A few seconds after she walks on, more cyclists speed around the corner. They’re followed by a motorcycle using the park as a shortcut.
Sydney Southam, who lives just steps from Vernon Plaza, recalls how a ping-pong table was set up at the park one recent afternoon. She says the new arrangement has slowed down bike traffic, but overall the project is “half assed.”
A driver and a cyclist, Southam is conflicted about bike lanes in general, saying they give both sets of road users an inflated sense of security.
“I bike and I find them annoying,” she says, bridging one of Vancouver’s most polarizing debates in one deft comment.
“As far as keeping cyclists safe, coming round the corner, it probably does its job,” says Ilka, another local resident. “It’s just a shame it’s not a park. A bit of false advertising I feel.
“It’s too bad. It doesn’t look nice. I don’t think it adds to the neighbourhood,” she adds. “It’s a concrete wasteland.”
Paul Storer, manager of transportation design with the City of Vancouver, confirms that Vernon Plaza is a temporary setup.
“It started out being an improvement to the Adanac Bikeway and we saw a real opportunity there to do something with public space as well,” he says, calling the public space a “work in progress.”
“We’d be looking at it as a bigger project to come back in and learn from the interim public space to develop a more permanent public space,” he adds. A mural is scheduled to go into the space before it will undergo further development, with tables and beautification planned.
There will likely be improvements to the bike lane as well, including better signage, Storer says.
