End to Cambie commuter chaos in sight
Business association intends to file a class-action suit seeking up to $40 million in damages
The end finally appears within sight for the commuter chaos that has crippled Cambie Street since the summer of 2005.
InTransitBC, the company in charge of the massive $2-billion Canada Line construction project, is lifting many of the traffic restrictions that have made travelling along Cambie, or trying to get across it, a nightmare.
Cut-and-cover construction along much of the rapid transit line linking Richmond and Vancouver International Airport with downtown Vancouver has exacerbated the problems.
Original plans calling for bored tunnel construction were changed to reduce costs.
Steve Crombie, spokesman for InTransitBC, said many of the intersections will be turned over to the City of Vancouver for paving, signal installation and line painting between mid-October and December.
Donny Wong, manager of Vancouver's rapid transit office, said the city will complete its work as quickly as possible after InTransitBC clears out, with the goal of reopening streets to regular traffic within two weeks.
"We all want people to have as much access as possible to the street for Christmas shopping season," Wong said.
Cambie Village Business Association director Leonard Schein remained somewhat skeptical.
"We are certainly looking forward to the end of [construction]," said Schein, who estimated his Park Theatre has lost more than $200,000 due to the construction. However, he is less than optimistic about the city's ability to finish its own work quickly.
InTransitBC finished with Cambie in front of the Park Theatre, between 18th and 19th Avenues, last November, but it still hasn't been put back together completely.
"The sidewalks are not totally finished yet," Schein said.
He said there are still traffic cones keeping traffic to one lane in parts of his neighbourhood.
Schein said he expects merchants in the area to file an application for a class-action lawsuit in B.C. Supreme Court next month. He estimated they could seek damages between $20 million and $40 million if the suit is accepted.
Several Cambie companies have gone out of business since construction began and many remaining merchants have complained they've lost massive amounts of money because customers couldn't get to the area or gave up trying.
When the Canada Line is up and running in November 2009, many bus routes will be changed, TransLink spokesman Ken Hardie has warned travellers.
"When you have a high-capacity rapid transit, it becomes like that backbone and the bus system becomes like the ribs feeding into it."
In an interview, he said many east-west routes will feed into Canada Line stations. Buses serving areas south of the Fraser River will connect with the rapid transit line as well.
He said commuters from places such as Richmond might be disappointed that they will have to transfer from buses that have always taken them straight downtown to the Canada Line. But offsetting that inconvenience is the attraction of having more frequent bus service linking with the line than exists now, Hardie said.
Cambie south of 15th Avenue has been open to limited traffic since last November, but work on the stations at 49th Avenue, 41st Avenue, King Edward and Broadway is still impeding traffic flow.
Crombie predicted InTransitBC will be ready to turn over the intersection at 49th and Cambie by the end of September, the north-south temporary bridge over 41st and Cambie should be removed by the end of October and the intersections at 29th Avenue, King Edward and Broadway should be filled in and handed over to the city by the end of September.
The area between 11th Avenue and Broadway still requires work on the utilities along the west side, which will continue until mid- or late December.
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/...?id=e366a1da-b5f8-4fee-8cff-9c88b94860a4
Prev
Linear Mode
