I would disagree that there are a lot of intersections on King George Blvd. Intersection spacing is wholly oriented to vehicle distances everywhere except for Newton, and if improved transit service is planned for that corridor, B-Line or otherwise, then additional intersections and pedestrian crossing will have to be added. What King George Blvd has a lot of is strip malls and these are primarily accessed by vehicles on the far side of the street using a painted centre bi-directional turning lane. If LRT, or a BRT with dedicated and separated lanes, is built, these painted centre bi-directional turning lanes will be removed and vehicle access to these strip malls will become problematic for vehicles on the opposite side of the street, especially when there are so few intersections and a lack of a connected side street grid between arterials. Any budget for LRT/BRT south of the Fraser is going to come with an absolutely huge price tag for road redesign and pedestrian improvements, or in some cases, provisions for pedestrians for the first time. These changes will go just as far as the LRT/BRT itself towards changing the corridors from their current 99% automobile orientation into more complete streets that pedestrians not only have the ability to utilize, but are also a place where people are not expected to drive for all trips all the time. The transformation that is possible along these corridors in the decades ahead is nothing short of a paradigm shift, but I'm not convinced there is sufficient demand or appetite for the streetwall-form of mixed-use development that will transform King George Blvd and Fraser Highway from suburban stripmall arterials into true urban arterial streets.
Here are my photos from Canada Day and the LRT model.
Taken by SFUVancouver, July 1st, 2012.
Taken by SFUVancouver, July 1st, 2012.
Taken by SFUVancouver, July 1st, 2012.
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