City Restores Original King Ed Bike Lane
By Carol Volkart
The city has backed off on a controversial new bike lane design for West King Edward Avenue.
In a Feb. 3 letter to area residents, the city said it will “maintain parking next to the curb, as it was prior to construction” from Quesnel Drive to Dunbar Street, instead of creating a bike lane next to the curb with a parking lane beside it.
The letter only hints at the reason for the city’s change of heart. “While the previous design (with a parking-protected bike lane) supported an All Ages and Abilities (AAA) bike lane, current connectivity to other AAA routes is limited, reducing its benefit.”
But it also suggests this may not be the final decision: “The city will monitor safety and operations of the new bike lane to ensure safety of all road users and will consider future changes if needed.”
The city’s switch came months after residents, infuriated by the sudden appearance of bike logos on the curbs outside their homes last fall, demanded a rethink.
In petitions, and emails, and on-site meetings with city officials, they said the new design was dangerous and confusing to bikers, pedestrians and drivers alike. Uphill from Quesnel to Dunbar, it swerved from the curb, around bus stops, to the centre of the road and back to the curb again. Along with the new extra-long bus stops, it also eliminated many parking spaces.
In November, the city apologized for failing to give residents notice of their plans, and paused the bike-lane painting until the spring so it could respond to the community feedback.
“Common sense prevailed,” said King Edward resident Anil Singh after this month’s letter that the old bike lane design would be restored. “It’s safer for the cyclists, it’s safer for seniors, it’s safer for kids and it’s safer for drivers. Now there’s a safe way for kids to get on and off the sidewalk.”
But he doubts the furor has taught the city anything about consulting residents, even though its online summary says: “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.”
Instead of consulting residents about its latest plan, Singh noted, the city just came up with it and announced it as an edict.
While he has no quarrel with the bike-lane decision, he’s mystified by the city’s announcement of a concrete “pedestrian refuge” at King Edward and Collingwood, to be positioned between the bike lane and the motor vehicle lane.
While the city said this is in response to residents’ concerns, Singh said he’s not aware of this being an unsafe intersection, especially since there’s a flashing light there now. If there is a real safety issue – and he’d like to see data on accident rates there – the city should put in a regular pedestrian-operated traffic light, he said.
Another King Edward resident, Nancy McLean, isn’t convinced the bike-lane fight is over. She’s wary of what the city might have in mind when its letter says it will monitor safety of the bike lane and “consider future changes if needed.”
Nor has the city made clear exactly which parking spots will be eliminated under the new plan. “The information is critical to those who are caring for children and those with disabilities,” she said in a letter to the city asking for specifics on future parking on King Edward.
The city’s summary of residents’ concerns and the city’s responses is at https://vancouver.ca/files/cov/west-king-edward-upgrades-bike-lane-feedback-summary-january-2025.pdf