Safer cycling in Stanley Park?

Vancouver parks board commissioner Constance Barnes says the board will consider any and every option that will result in safer cycling along the Stanley Park causeway.

Right now,there is no barrier between the busy commuter road through the park and the sidewalk shared by pedestrians and cyclists.

Last month, a 61-year-old North Vancouver cyclist veered off the causeway and was struck and killed by a bus.

Barnes' proposal to investigate both short-term and long-term safety improvements passed at a board meeting on Monday night with a 4 to 2 vote.

"We need to look at safety in all directions to make sure that causeway is safe for folks who are walking or peddling," Barnes, a cyclist herself, said in an interview with Rick Cluff on CBC Radio One's The Early Edition.

Possible solutions range from widening the causeway to putting a barrier between the road and the shared sidewalk, re-routing cyclists through the park, or having pedestrians use one sidewalk and cyclists use another.

CBC reporter Steve Lus spoke to cyclists this morning in the park, saying "they say whatever the cost, a barrier is a good idea."

Since the provincial Ministry of Transportation has jurisdiction over the causeway, the board's decisionwon't ensure an immediate solution.

But Barnes said it will work with theministry to develop both short- and long-term solutions for bikes on the causeway.