Broadway Subway - Millennium Line Extension to Arbutus (II) | U/C

[officedweller]

Thanks for the info!

From the project twitter:

June 25th:


Crews at GNW-Emily Carr Station have fully removed all TBM support equipment from site, freeing up space for station construction to continue unobstructed.
https://twitter.com/broadwaysubway_

June 27th:


Crews are constructing the internal walls of the future Mount Pleasant Station.
https://twitter.com/broadwaysubway_

[Lexus]

2024-06-29

Mt. Pleasant by Main Street

Untitled by Lexus LX, on Flickr

[madog222]

From the May project update:

Updated project schedule.


From Oak looking west to Granville.

Images from Broadway Subway Project https://www.broadwaysubway.ca/app/up...t_May_2024.pdf

[BaddieB]

I did not know it took about a year of just testing and commissioning. That's crazy. Why does it take so long?

[Tvisforme]

Originally Posted by BaddieB

I did not know it took about a year of just testing and commissioning. That's crazy. Why does it take so long?

Little-known TransLink secret, the Mark V cars are not just automated but also sentient. Much like a teenager, they need time to mature before they're ready to drive on their own.

[JYVR]

There are many systems to test, not just rail and train control, but fire, tunnel vents and fans, power, etc.
They also need to have time for training of staff, handover of responsibilities, trial running, and working out any bugs or issues that come up during these processes.
The end result is to have enough time that when the system goes into revenue service there are little or no issues - aka a smooth transition and operations.

[WBC]

Originally Posted by Tvisforme

Little-known TransLink secret, the Mark V cars are not just automated but also sentient. Much like a teenager, they need time to mature before they're ready to drive on their own.

Boggles the mind that it takes 6 years to build stations...Can someone who knows the construction business comment on this?

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by WBC

Boggles the mind that it takes 6 years to build stations...Can someone who knows the construction business comment on this?

A lot of the early station work is just waiting. Excavation, building the temporary roadway on top, then build the platform level/exterior walls, wait for the TBM to pass through, then gradually build up floors, install mechanical systems etc. The concrete strike added some time as well.

[Hooknose]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

A lot of the early station work is just waiting. Excavation, building the temporary roadway on top, then build the platform level/exterior walls, wait for the TBM to pass through, then gradually build up floors, install mechanical systems etc. The concrete strike added some time as well.

People see the excavations, road diversions. TBMs and the concrete but they don't see the endless horsing around with finicky mechanical systems.

[BaddieB]

Originally Posted by WBC

Boggles the mind that it takes 6 years to build stations...Can someone who knows the construction business comment on this?

This is why we need to normalize elevated rail in dense areas. Not just along stretches of nothing like we normally do. Underground is just way more complicated.

Or, alternatively, they should have just done cut and cover along 8th or 10th.

[Jimbo604]

The minister of transportation is happy with this project's progress, so we move on... we move on. What can you do.

Hopefully removal of the boring machine, conveyors, etc. does speed up the construction progress.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by BaddieB

Or, alternatively, they should have just done cut and cover along 8th or 10th.

10th was a no-go; according to one of the reps at the open house, there's too many utilities to make it practical.

[BaddieB]

(Wrong thread)

[WarrenC12]

All the more reason to get started on the next stage of this project. It will take 7 years from shovels in the ground if this is any indication.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

All the more reason to get started on the next stage of this project. It will take 7 years from shovels in the ground if this is any indication.

So far we haven't got a funding committment from the Federal Government. They have contributed to the planning for the route design and in September 2022, the Province took on leadership of the UBCx planning to support the development of the Business Case. That's suppoosed to be available by Fall 2024.

It's possible reduced federal expenditure will mean there isn't any funding decision before an election, and I'm not at all sure that a Conservative win will mean any funding for transit (anywhere) - and even less likely in a riding that isn't going to vote Conservative to say thank you.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by Changing City

It's possible reduced federal expenditure will mean there isn't any funding decision before an election, and I'm not at all sure that a Conservative win will mean any funding for transit (anywhere) - and even less likely in a riding that isn't going to vote Conservative to say thank you.

The CPC are supposed to fund transit contingent on upzoning. What the means exactly for this line is an open question, but as it stands, it's running through some pretty sparse areas for Vancouver.

[chowhou]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

The CPC are supposed to fund transit contingent on upzoning. What the means exactly for this line is an open question, but as it stands, it's running through some pretty sparse areas for Vancouver.

Keep in mind that the BC provincial TOD legislation should apply to future stations, so theoretically if the CPC are true to their word everything is already ready for transit funding from them if/when they win next year.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by chowhou

Keep in mind that the BC provincial TOD legislation should apply to future stations, so theoretically if the CPC are true to their word everything is already ready for transit funding from them if/when they win next year.

I don't have any confidence that anything said so far by Poilievre can be certain of becoming policy. He has so far indicated he would withdraw funding for transit projects if municipalities don't increase housing starts by 15% year on year on year. As that almost certainly couldn't happen, it seems like a mechanism to not fund transit.

How it could apply to projects that have already had funding approved, or money already spent, I have no idea. I doubt whether he knows. Similarly, how it could apply to a provincial agency developing a transit line in more than one jurisdiction I'm also unclear about.

Mark Strahl, the Chilliwack-Hope MP and Conservative shadow transport spokesman has so far only endorsed building more roads, and if he's said anything about transit it hasn't been well reported.

[BaddieB]

Originally Posted by Changing City

So far we haven't got a funding committment from the Federal Government. They have contributed to the planning for the route design and in September 2022, the Province took on leadership of the UBCx planning to support the development of the Business Case. That's suppoosed to be available by Fall 2024.

It's possible reduced federal expenditure will mean there isn't any funding decision before an election, and I'm not at all sure that a Conservative win will mean any funding for transit (anywhere) - and even less likely in a riding that isn't going to vote Conservative to say thank you.

I think the difference and unique thing about UBCx is it wouldn't be built to get votes for West Point Grey. In fact, that neighbourhood would probably be actively be against it (at least the most vocal ones). Rather it benefits UBC students, who live all over the region, and would be good for their vote and even their parents + UBC staff. The Conservatives are doing better with younger voters than the Liberals and who knows, maybe Poilievre will make it a campaign promise to court the young, urban BC vote. The Toronto By-election shows the CPC can do well anywhere, even in cities, and they might strategize to win city votes.

[mcj]

Originally Posted by Changing City

I don't have any confidence that anything said so far by Poilievre can be certain of becoming policy. He has so far indicated he would withdraw funding for transit projects if municipalities don't increase housing starts by 15% year on year on year. As that almost certainly couldn't happen, it seems like a mechanism to not fund transit.

Exactly this, anyone who thinks we're getting transit built under a CPC government to anywhere near the same pace we're doing now is not seeing this promise for what it really is. It's an impossible task that is a thinly veiled way of reducing funding for infrastructure projects. Considering the massive increase in OAS payments, and the fact we're being pressured to double our military spending, among other pressures with our current demographic crisis (like healthcare, which will become more and more privatized under a CPC government). Couple that with the unwillingness to raise taxes, and the only solutions are to massively slash spending and/or continue to pump up our ballooning deficit.

I don't envy whomever forms the next government, they'll have some difficult financial times to navigate and will very likely be a single term government as the fiscal situation for the country won't get better with our current attitude towards finances.