Concerns
- Heavier traffic because of the proximity to Kits Beach
- Free parking means more vehicles circulating for spots
- Most free parking is taken advantage of by nearby workers and non-park visitors
- During the Boat House Restaurant Permit hearing, the Park Board stated there was surplus parking in the in their two paid-parking lots
Possible Solutions
- Create a two-way road-level bike lane on the park side of the street on Arbutus
- Make Arbutus a one-way street with parking on the housing side
- Buffer from traffic with a concrete median (if this is considered too expensive now, during budget constraint, start with green paint)
- Recognize there’s very limited cross traffic along 220 metres of bike lane
- No driveways or laneways
- Only one T-intersection on park-side
- Relocate the Shaw bicycle rental stand
- Realize the loss of 30 on-street parking spots
- Have City engineering optimize one-way vehicle traffic on Arbutus north of Creelman
While prior reviews concluded two rows of parking could be maintained on a one-way street, the minimum width of a parking lane is 2.8 m and for a traffic lane 3.0 m for a total vehicle-way width of 8.6 m—insufficient and unsafe for a bikeway and buffer.
- Revisit options the Park staff presented for beyond the Creelman intersection (which were placed under “Further Study”):
- Option 1: continue the “North Arbutus” Bikeway straight under the trees to the service road and along the south side of the Boathouse Restaurant minimizing the loss of green space under the trees and minimizing conflict with the access path to the children’s playground (favoured by HUB, opposed by the Boathouse as they often use the space behind the restaurant for staff parking even though this violates its Development Permit)
- Options 2 & 3: continue east of the Park along Arbutus into either a route in the parking lot just south of the tennis courts, or a route in the boulevard south of the parking lots