If you see a large group of cyclists banded together near Vancouver City Hall tomorrow, they might just be members of Critical Mass.
Critical Mass typically participates in a “celebratory ride and roll” through Vancouver’s streets on the last Friday of every month.
Due to a now controversial decision that the City recently approved, the group is hitting the streets early this month while still holding an event later this May.
Critical Mass
According to ABC Councillor Peter Meiszner, the council-approved plan restores two-way traffic on Beach Avenue west of Denman Street to allow for future transit and a new pedestrian pathway. There will also be a new separated AAA bike lane.
In his post on X, Meiszner calls it a “win for everyone.”
However, some cycling community members and other councillors, like Green Councillor Pete Fry, do not agree.
The bike lane changes were the only portion of the $300 million West End Waterfront Plan that passed. Fry supported the plan as he says it involved three years of public and expert consultations and a 30-year vision for the city that included climate measures, greenspaces, skateparks, dog parks, and sports courts.
But it was”Killed by Ken Sim & ABC,” Fry said.
3 years of consultation w/ staff, residents, public, stakeholders for a 30 year WestEnd waterfront vision: climate resilience, natural systems, sports courts, skate plazas, dog park, active transportation, placemaking,++
Killed by Ken Sim & ABC
More cars and traffic though😕 pic.twitter.com/7t6vpvgn7b— Pete Fry (@PtFry) May 8, 2024
This is why Critical Mass has called a special event for this Friday, directing much of its ire toward the ABC Party and Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim.
“There is a lot of anger and resentment towards ABC Vancouver in the cycling community due to the continuous erosion of bike infrastructure in the city,” a Critical Mass member told Daily Hive.
It called the ABC decision to add more parking and restore a lane of car traffic “ludicrous.”
The Critical Mass member also called the old plan “visionary.”
“The plan would have protected 38 acres of land from storm surges from sea level rise and included all kinds of great amenities for residents and visitors for decades to come; instead, Mayor Sim’s party decided to pave over hundreds of square meters of parkland,” they said.
ABC Councillors Mike Klassen, Sarah Kirby-Yung, Lisa Dominato, Rebecca Bligh, Peter Meiszner, Lenny Zhou, and Mayor Sim voted against the visionary plan.
City of Vancouver
According to City files, the full vision would have cost around $300 million, which Critical Mass also questioned.
“To put things in perspective, we are spending $581 million to host seven FIFA Soccer matches for a political party that talks fiscal responsibility; their spending choices sure are dubious.”
The decision for the World Cup was made before ABC, while the City’s portion of the World Cup costs are at least mostly funded by the new temporary added hotel tax.
This Friday’s event is being called a “Mass Die-In.”
“This Die-In is about showing ABC Vancouver the human cost of prioritizing car traffic, showing them that when cyclists and pedestrians die or get hurt, it’s no accident but because they’re making choices that prioritize the convenience of people in cars over everyone else.”
Critical Mass was previously “mad as hell” about the Stanley Park bike lane decision.