Brunette Interchange and United Boulevard Connector

[Metro-One]

By far the best option is option A. A free flow connection between highway 1 to the Pattullo Bridge and to the SFPR would actually bring some completion / true connection to our highway system.

Not expecting any free flow movements under the NDP. After they removed the free flow movements from the Pattullo Bridge project on the Surrey side and reduced the Steveston Interchange from a triple stacked with rapid bus station to essentially retaining the current design with bus on shoulder… not to mention the complete elimination of any interchange upgrades on the 99 south of the tunnel…

[mcj]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

By far the best option is option A. A free flow connection between highway 1 to the Pattullo Bridge and to the SFPR would actually bring some completion / true connection to our highway system.

That's wrong, option A would not be free flowing. There's still a light at the E Columbia Street intersection and the Cumberland Street intersection that Option C completely avoids. Not to mention the light at Richmond Street and the light for the Front Street turnoff...

[Metro-One]

Originally Posted by mcj

That's wrong, option A would not be free flowing. There's still a light at the E Columbia Street intersection and the Cumberland Street intersection that Option C completely avoids. Not to mention the light at Richmond Street and the light for the Front Street turnoff...

I didn’t say that option A alone completed the free flow movement, but it is the closest to building towards that.

The interactions with highway 1 are free flow towards and from the the west.

Option C ovoids some of that but had no free flow connections with the highway.

I would actually support option C if made free flow with the highway connections.

But this entire conversation is mute anyways, since what we will likely get under this government is minimal improvements (likely retaining existing structures, or at most a 1 to 1 replacement) with a few new bike lanes. (Please note, this is not anti bike lanes, but they are likely all we are going to get for any real improvements)

[rickvug]

I wonder if this will end up being for a much more limited scope. I'm specifically thinking about the bottleneck and safety disaster that is the intersection of East Columbia and Brunette. Tragically there was a pedestrian fatality there in February of 2023. Before this there was citizen lobbying about this specific section of sidewalk, which also happens to be a notable gap in the Central Valley Greenway. I know that the CNW views it as a priority but have been frustrated by the high cost and complexity (ie. expropriation requirements). The fatality along with the Pattullo Replacement Project may have finally pushed this work up the priority list and secured funding.

No inside info on this, just a guess based on having followed the situation.

[Bobert]

Option c, and really B aswell would be nice if they had some sort of Tupper Ave on-ramp to remove the truck traffic from Brunette. Seems like a big omission to build a new overpass but still have westbound highway 1 traffic funnel into brunette

[mcj]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

-snip-

Yeah Option C could have better connections with the Highway. Any option that involves an intersection at E Columbia Street will never be free-flowing though, as there's just not enough physical space there to build an interchange without needing to demolish parts of the Brewery District or remove the CN mainline tracks.

Although I think you're correct that we're likely to see modest improvements though. This was projected in the $500 - 650M range back in 2016, placing the likely figures 8 years later at somewhere north of a billion for something similar in scope.

Will be interesting to see what options are presented and the figures associated with them.

[SpongeG]

where are y'all seeing options and info? is it online or did you attend an event?

[mcj]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

where are y'all seeing options and info? is it online or did you attend an event?

We are referring to the 2016 options / info. Nothing for 2024 available yet.

[SpongeG]

ah ok.

[dharper]

I don't live in this area so I don't get any updates on this project, so would like to know if this project is dead, or in is it in the permanant re-design phase?

[mcj]

Originally Posted by dharper

I don't live in this area so I don't get any updates on this project, so would like to know if this project is dead, or in is it in the permanant re-design phase?

Permanent re-design phase. Likely north of $1B if the scope was the same as ten years ago. The Province has other priorities to fund.

[moosejaw]

Originally Posted by mcj

Permanent re-design phase. Likely north of $1B if the scope was the same as ten years ago. The Province has other priorities to fund.

I was hopeful some news but 99% sure this will be downgraded from the options in 2024. I’m sure BC will find a way to squeeze in a traffic light or twO. Free Flowing/overpasses/stacked interchanges seems to counter the narrative

[mcj]

Originally Posted by moosejaw

I was hopeful some news but 99% sure this will be downgraded from the options in 2024. I’m sure BC will find a way to squeeze in a traffic light or twO. Free Flowing/overpasses/stacked interchanges seems to counter the narrative

The options were from 2016, in 2024 there was a webpage made for reviving this but the link is now completely dead so I don't think this is happening any time soon. The MoTT has the Highway 1 upgrades from Abbotsford to Chiliwack, GMT Tunnel Replacement, UBC Extension, BRT lines and SFU gondola to fund ahead of this (might as well other projects on deck).

[madog222]

For posterity, the 2024 webpage text:

The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure is considering safety, transit and active transportation improvements at the Highway 1-Brunette Avenue Interchange. Current work builds on design concepts developed in 2016 and subsequent engagement with Coquitlam and New Westminster, TransLink, Metro Vancouver and kʷikʷəƛ̓əm First Nation.

Located between North Road and King Edward Street, the Brunette Avenue Interchange serves as a multimodal hub, providing access to key destinations like Braid SkyTrain Station and Royal Columbian Hospital. It connects New Westminster and Coquitlam to Highway 1, Lougheed Highway, the Port Mann Bridge and the Pattullo Bridge. It is also an important transit, rail and truck route.

The Brunette Avenue Interchange was originally constructed in the 1960s, and it has changed very little as surrounding communities and traffic have grown. Planning for improvement or replacement of this complex and vitally important interchange has been underway since 1990, with multiple design concepts considered. Plans for updates as part of the Port Mann/Highway 1 Improvement project in the early 2000s were postponed, pending additional planning to develop a more robust long-term solution. Residential and mixed-use developments in the area have grown substantially over the past several years, with more planned or underway.

The purpose of the study is to develop a clear and supported long-term plan for the Brunette Avenue Interchange – one that reflects the needs of transit and active transportation users; goods movers; and government priorities for climate change resilience and integrated planning.

Status
Concept development.

Schedule
Planning and concept development: 2018-2023
Public engagement: Spring 2024

https://web.archive.org/web/202402252358...mainland/brunette-interchange-area-study

I believe the aforementioned public engagement never happened.

[CanSpice]

Originally Posted by mcj

Permanent re-design phase. Likely north of $1B if the scope was the same as ten years ago. The Province has other priorities to fund.

And the site has only got more complicated. One of the options from the previous round had Blue Mountain Street extending over the freeway to connect up with United, but Metro Vancouver's built the transfer station right where that would have happened. And now the Trans Mountain Pipeline runs right underneath that interchange, so there's that to design around. Add in the railway wye and the Brunette River and it's a really difficult site to design.