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

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by GMD

Yes, I could see this, it is tough to build to the North Shore. I am pushing for a line from Newton to Guildford. I don't think people really appreciate just how much ridership goes N-S through Surrey now, that route would get a ton of ridership and wouldn't be that hard to build (King George is super wide, and you don't need any bridges or tunnels, and Surrey in general is more supportive of construction than other areas). Of course, it could be set back by the BRT, or maybe huge ridership on the BRT will help it move forward. Time will tell.

After the current transit building boom, I can see the Burnaby Mountain Gondola happening and then... BRT. I actually don't mind there being a lot of plans for RapidBus and BRT routes across the region as it'll take a lot of time before most of them would be converted into Skytrain - meanwhile most areas need more rapid transit routes yesterday.

For a King George Skytrain, would they connect it with Guildford (aka the current RapidBus route) or would they have it turn west instead and connect with a Scott Road line? It's something to consider, and we'll have plenty of time for that before they make an announcement for another SoF Skytrain line.

[officedweller]

Yeah, it hope they reconsider that to add Scott Rd. somehow.

[idunno]

Then there's the 1% chance that the feds could come in with an Ironworkers Memorial Bridge replacement that includes transit, which suddenly launches the possibility of (at least part of) the Purple line into reality in the 2030s!

[Migrant_Coconut]

Is the IWMB critical to trade, or just getting on/off the North Shore and the Sea to Sky? Seems like the feds would expand the rails to the ports instead, if anything.

[madog222]

There is zero chance the 2nd Narrows would be a federal project. They can contribute funding at their discretion but it’s not their responsibility.
We are getting quite off topic…

[Vin]

Originally Posted by madog222

During the last major concrete pour for GNW - Emily Carr a few days ago a special edition Loonie featuring TBM namesake Elsie MacGill was embedded in the station roof. This would be the southern part of the station where Thornton Street will be restored overtop.

Imprint of maple leaf with special edition Loonie featuring Elsie MacGill by B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Transit, on Flickr


Special edition Loonie featuring Elsie MacGill by B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Transit, on Flickr

Love her! She's a Vancouver aeronautical engineer during WW2 and designed the famous Hurricane fighter which saw action during the Battle of Britain. Together with the Spits, these turbo-prop planes helped ward off Nazi Germany's invasion of Britain, and thus allowed the Allies a piece of land to assemble an army for the liberation of Europe. This is a suitable tribute to a Vancouverite who helped steer us to the freedom we have today.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by Vin

Love her! She's a Vancouver aeronautical engineer during WW2 and designed the famous Hurricane fighter which saw action during the Battle of Britain. Together with the Spits, these turbo-prop planes helped ward off Nazi Germany's invasion of Britain, and thus allowed the Allies a piece of land to assemble an army for the liberation of Europe. This is a suitable tribute to a Vancouverite who helped steer us to the freedom we have today.

She didn't design the Hurricane. That was designed by Hawker, in England, by Syney Camm in 1937. She supervised the factory that produced some of them from 1939 to 1943 in what's now called Thunder Bay, in Ontario.

[Hooknose]

Originally Posted by VancouverOfTheFuture

i think this is the most accurate take. we have been very lucky with the SkyTrain expansions, literally a large project ever decade, since the 1980s.

• Expo-Line - 1980s
• Extension to Surrey - 1990s
• Millennium-Line - 2000s
• Canada-Line - 2000s
• Evergreen-Extension - 2010s
• Broadway Subway - 2020s
• Langley Extension - 2020s

the only next line i see that we should already have, is UBCx.

after that is done, i see a lull in building SkyTrain until probably 2050, because the next line should be the Purple-Line. and that will be expensive, complex, long, and connect a lot of communities, and existing lines. its not a "must have."

ALLOW ME to point out the number one possibility - and that is the Coquitlam to maple Ridge extension.

It is the SAME length as the Langley line. The posts for the crossing across the Pitt River are ALREADY in place ... and ..

by my crude estimate, some 85% or better of ALL remaining land in the UBC to Hope corridor which can be used for housing and employment lands is in Maple Ridge and Mission.

The ultimate goal for the MIllenium line s a UBC to downtown Haney line which would connect "just about everything".

Imagine that you a) would never need a car and b) could be connected to everything on a reliable RR system with a choice of 20 different housing possibilities, a hundred employment possibilities and all the medical and educational resources anyone could want.

One annual pass on the M line plus housing and all you need to buy is food and electricity.

[BaddieB]

Skytrain to Maple Ridge is not even in the top 10 in the list of corridors that need Skytrain.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by Hooknose

ALLOW ME to point out the number one possibility - and that is the Coquitlam to maple Ridge extension.

I forgot that there's a plan to (at some point) have a branch off the Millennium Line at Coquitlam Central to PoCo - but that would likely be a couple stops at most. I don't rem hearing anything about extending it out to Maple Ridge.

[chowhou]

Originally Posted by BaddieB

Skytrain to Maple Ridge is not even in the top 10 in the list of corridors that need Skytrain.

It's probably in the top 10. There's a reason the R3 exists. One might argue that Skytrain to Langley is not in the top 5 in the list of corridors that need Skytrain. Off the top of my head: UBCx, Purple Line, Hastings, 41st, Scott Road, King George, all "need" Skytrain more than Langley does. It's not always about need.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Langley at least allows for a revamp of the busy Surrey bus network; Maple Ridge can't even pack the R3. "As many daily boardings as the bus to Tsawwassen" doesn't scream "urgent priority."

[chowhou]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

Langley at least allows for a revamp of the busy Surrey bus network; Maple Ridge can't even pack the R3. "As many daily boardings as the bus to Tsawwassen" doesn't scream "urgent priority."

Sure? Tsawwassen would probably theoretically be in or around the top 10 as well. Again, Translink's priorities for Skytrain are not in order of need. From day 1 Translink's priority has been connecting regional urban centres. In order: Downtown Vancouver/Metrotown/New West + Surrey + Lougheed + Richmond/YVR + Port Moody/Coquitlam + West Broadway + Langley (+ UBC + North Vancouver + Port Coquitlam/Maple Ridge?) The above order wasn't done in order of need, it was about building a regional rail network and probably still is.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by chowhou

- snip -

Sure, and said regional network can probably stop at Port Coq, the end.

[chowhou]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

Sure, and said regional network can probably stop at Port Coq, the end.

You're free to have your own opinion. Believe it or not Metro Vancouver which is Translink's mandate continues south of the Fraser. Once SLS is complete, Lonsdale and Maple Ridge will be the two remaining regional centres not connected. Only once they're connected can Translink say that a regional network has been built.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by chowhou

- snip -

Which is likely why the West Coast Express still exists and may eventually be upgraded to 2WAD east of Coquitlam. Actual SkyTrain demand ends around Port Coq.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by chowhou

It's probably in the top 10. There's a reason the R3 exists. One might argue that Skytrain to Langley is not in the top 5 in the list of corridors that need Skytrain. Off the top of my head: UBCx, Purple Line, Hastings, 41st, Scott Road, King George, all "need" Skytrain more than Langley does. It's not always about need.

Yep exactly. I do see a line over to Pitt Meadows/Maple Ridge in the medium term.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

Which is likely why the West Coast Express still exists and may eventually be upgraded to 2WAD east of Coquitlam. Actual SkyTrain demand ends around Port Coq.

You're just presenting your opinion as fact, again.

If "actual Skytrain demand" was the most important metric, we'd already have it to UBC and the North Shore.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Yep exactly. I do see a line over to Pitt Meadows/Maple Ridge in the medium term.

Long term, maybe. It's not an opinion that Maple Ridge is as far as Langley but with roughly half the catchment and 1/8th the growth potential - not a great use of $6 billion.

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

If "actual Skytrain demand" was the most important metric, we'd already have it to UBC and the North Shore.

We're getting both. There's a world of difference between "Richmond or Coquitlam or Surrey/Langley going first" and "Maple Ridge being anywhere near the top five;" the latter does not seem to be growth-serving or growth-shaping, nor do they have enough political pull to jump the queue like a Newton SkyTrain would.

Edit: Check the TSPR if you don't believe me. Coquitlam and Port Coq each get about as many WCE boardings as Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge combined.

[chowhou]

It's hard for me to understand why you lean so heavily into growth projections and ridership numbers when Translink clearly does not. I don't think you can make the argument for the Langley SkyTrain before 49th/41st, Scott Road, or King George with your personal analysis, but that's demonstrably Translink's order right now.