Years of Disruption Continue With Fight Over New Bike Lane Design
By Carol Volkart
When residents of four blocks of King Edward from Quesnel Drive to Dunbar learned more than two years ago that there’d be major sewer and water work in front of their homes, they accepted that the city has to upgrade its infrastructure, and that this time, it was their turn.
They did not know that after 36 months of road barriers, noise, paving, repaving, excavating, anxiety and inconvenience, a handful of them would be standing in front of the still-unfinished project angrily telling city staffers that the process was so outrageous they should get a rebate on their taxes.
Water main construction on the south lane of King Edward Avenue between Dunbar Street and Blenheim Street.
Simmering for months, their concerns finally boiled over in October 2024 with the city’s last-minute surprise on bike lanes.
Out of the blue, with no prior consultation, the city had begun painting bike-lane logos in the curbside lane outside residents’ homes. The parking lane was beside that, with whatever parking spots the city decided should remain; many would be lost to new extra-long bus pull-in areas and to the new bike-lane design.
“You’re seeing 36 months of frustration,” one resident told three city staff members at a tense Oct. 25 curbside meeting, set up after an outburst of neighbourhood reaction. She and others described the noise, inconvenience and problems they’d endured so far during the seemingly endless project. But they made it clear that the bike lane was the last straw.
In arguments still being made today in petitions, a video, and emails to City Hall, residents charged the new bike lane design is chaotic and dangerous for residents, pedestrians and bikers alike.
Uphill from Quesnel to Dunbar, it swerves from the curb, around bus stops, to the centre of the road and back to the curb again. Critics say a curbside lane also endangers those who must cross it to access their cars. And passengers, untrained in the necessity of checking for bikes, are likely to fling their doors open into the bike path. They say that in a neighbourhood with many seniors and people with disabilities, the new design, plus loss of parking, will make it harder for emergency services and HandyDart to reach them.
Then there’s the small question of whether it’s smart to put a bike lane right next to boulevard trees that will shed leaves on it every fall. And the bigger one of whether it’s needed at all. Critics say few cyclists use King Edward now, choosing flatter, quieter routes nearby. And after all, it’s not a through route to UBC.
But worst of all was the surprise factor. While the city sent out an Oct. 16 letter saying installation of the new bike lane was “starting in mid-October,” many residents didn’t get it until after work began.
It was particularly startling for one resident, who said her household thought they were being robbed when they woke up to bright lights outside one night. It turned out to be city crews night-painting bike logos on the curb outside her house – something she didn’t even know was planned.
“This is poor communication, exceptionally poor,” the resident said. A city staffer taking notes admitted there was “a communications fail,” adding: “I hear your frustration.”
Residents’ outrage had at least some impact. A Nov. 6 letter from the city’s transportation branch apologized and announced a “pause” to the bike lane painting until the spring, giving the city “an opportunity to respond to the community feedback.”
“We recognize that the notification and information about this installation should have been provided with more advanced notice to allow more opportunity for discussion and would like to apologize for any issues this may have caused,” the letter said.
It promised another update and “next steps” early in the new year. (Well into January, that hasn’t happened yet.)
But the city’s letter also defended the new bike lane design, saying it means parked cars “provide physical protection from motor vehicles for people cycling, increasing comfort and safety.” It said 75 percent of the parking between Quesnel and Dunbar has been retained, and that its removal near intersections will improve visibility for cyclists, drivers and pedestrians.
It also refuted arguments that the new bike lane is not needed. The city said its purpose is to “extend the existing cycling connection on West King Edward westward from Quesnel Drive to Dunbar Street. This will fill a gap in the cycling network and support future connections to UBC.”
While the bike lane issue has taken top, continued billing, the upgrade project itself remains a hot issue among residents.
They still look out, as they have since the summer of 2022, on fences, cones, bollards and construction equipment, and they wonder: How can it take more than two and a half years to upgrade four city blocks? (The city’s Nov. 6 letter said all water and sewer upgrade work is complete, but road-marking and green rainwater infrastructure at medians would continue over the winter months.)
Construction work at King Edward Avenue and Collingwood Street.
King Edward resident Lorna Roxburgh took advantage of the October curbside meeting to ask staffers directly: “Why is it taking so long?” She asked whether it might be a pilot or experimental project that could be done more efficiently next time. Assured that it was just a major, multiple-scope project running from Arbutus to Dunbar, she said: “I’m shocked. This is a tiny part of the city. How is the whole city going to be done?”
Another resident, Sandra Sage, who takes a philosophical approach to the upgrade, counting herself among those who haven’t been particularly upset by it, said: “I’m not an engineer, but it certainly was incredibly long. It was over two years and it was four blocks.”
King Edward resident Anil Singh, who has kept a close eye on the project while walking his golden retrievers, has been struck by its inefficiency. The project “100 per cent took too long,” he said in an interview. He’s building a house in Maple Ridge, he said, “and if our guys did anything like what I’ve seen on King Ed, we’d be bankrupt.”
In an October 2024 Dunbar mail list posting, Singh outlined what he’s seen outside his front windows since the project began:
“It has been very interesting watching one crew digging up the road, doing its work, then a second crew arriving, digging up the road, doing its work and moving on before the third crew digs it up all over again before the paving crews arrived,” he wrote. “Over the life of the project, there were days and weeks when no crews showed up for work.”
Most confusing, he said, was the manhole work. “On the south side of King Edward, the paving crew worked with the sewer crew to set the manhole heights as it paved. On the north side of King Edward, the paving crews paved over the manholes, brought in a crew to jackhammer the new paving to expose the buried manholes, another crew came in to reset the manhole levels and then a crew came back to patch the roadway around the manholes.”
The close-up view of the King Edward project revealed other problematic city behaviour.
Singh was particularly unimpressed with the city’s “arrogant” attitude. As a police officer whose job sometimes involves ensuring that builders are complying with the rules, he’s been struck by how casually the city disobeys them. “There is a sense of entitlement that they can do what they want.”
For example, trucks “blatantly ignored” traffic management plans, using streets they shouldn’t have instead of following truck routes. City crews parked personal vehicles in the no-parking construction zone while residents were required to park elsewhere until he raised enough fuss that the practice was changed. And buckets were used to excavate sidewalk trees when the rules require it be done by hand to protect the roots.
But the major complaint about the overall project – as it was for the bike lanes – was lack of information and communication with residents.
“We got generic letters that said to send an email to a generic email address, but you never hear anything back,” Singh said, adding many seniors are not going to email or text or do chat messages. “At least have someone to answer the phone, or have the courtesy to return phone calls. Or be honest and say, ‘We’re not going to return your calls.’”
It’s tough, too to get a response from councillors or senior leaders at City Hall, he said. Because of the at-large electoral system, where councillors are elected citywide instead of representing specific areas, “at the local level, we get no response.” In his role as a police officer, he gets answers, he said, but as a private citizen, he’s ignored. “I don’t understand why we can’t have access to senior leaders.”
King Edward resident Nancy McLean also stressed the difficulty of contacting the city. “The current way the city operates is to tell you there’s a team, not a person,” she said. “The new approach is not communication, it’s just talking at you. There’s lots of city-splaining.”
Roxburgh, who has been in her King Edward house for 33 years, said in an interview there should have been consultations with residents at the start, then posting of regular notices on the website to keep people informed. She also suggested an escalation process, common in bigger institutions, so questions not answered at one level go up to the next. “If people were well informed, there’s not so much annoyance,” she said. “If they had updated us every three months, it would have gone a huge way.”
Her advice for residents facing similar projects: Ask for a meeting at the start, and for regular consultations and updates. Get senior people’s names and contact information so there’s somewhere to go with questions.
Given their experience, King Edward residents might be curious to know that a June 2022 staff report to city council describing the project promised “targeted street and transportation improvements that will make West King Edward Avenue more comfortable for everyone.” Bike lanes were not mentioned.
The report outlined a six-point communications strategy that included not just advance notification letters to residents and businesses, but also “day-to-day support of area businesses and residents provided by a community liaison.” There was to be a website “allowing for regular project updates.” Plus, “meetings and check-ins with the local neighbourhood, residents, businesses and key stakeholders along the project corridor as needed.”
And the anticipated completion date for the project? “Late spring 2024.”
Traffic cones and bollards on King Edward Avenue between Dunbar Street and Blenheim Street.
Thank you for this article.
I, too, have wondered why this process has taken so long… not many answers from the city. The contrast between efficient coordination between paving and sewer access crews on the south side compared to the lack of coordination on the north side might provide one answer.
Question: are the crews of the south side and of the north side fun by different companies; by the city vs private contractors; or is the inefficiency at the supervisor or team manager? Or a combination of these issues?
Hi Marjorie. It took me awhile, but I asked Anil Singh, a King Ed resident who has watched the construction closely, about your question. His reply: “The crews on both sides of the street I assume were city employees as they were using equipment/vehicles/etcetera with the City of Vancouver logo emblazoned on the sides. The difference is the paving crew on the south side worked hand in hand with the sewers crew (the ones that placed the manholes) and were meticulous in their attention to detail. The north side crew – paved over the manholes, jackhammered them free, raised the manholes, paved over them again, jackhammered them free, raised the manholes and then patched the roadway.”