Millennium Line - Evergreen Extension | Completed

[officedweller]

From the Coquitlam Now:

Evergreen needs one more stop: Coquitlam

John Kurucz
Coquitlam NOW

Friday, April 23, 2010

Coquitlam council agreed Monday to lobby the province for a third Evergreen Line stop, one located in the City Centre area.

Council voted unanimously to forward a letter to the province asking for the stop to be located somewhere in the area of Lincoln and Northern avenues.

A consultant's report outlining the positive spinoffs of a third station includes a projected $55 million in additional fares, provincial property purchase tax revenues of $12.9 million and residential and non-residential property tax revenues of $76.1 million by 2031.

The consultant's report also suggests that ridership would jump by 2.3 million by 2021 and 3.7 million a decade later.

If a park and ride were to be added near Douglas College, those numbers are projected to jump to 2.9 million and 4.2 million, respectively.

Currently, two stations are slated for construction in Coquitlam: one near the city's bus exchange and another at Douglas College.

However, Coquitlam council is not the only group pushing for more stops.

The Port Moody Western Station Committee, a group consisting of Moody Centre businesses, residents and organizations, released poll findings late last year that suggest 73 per cent of respondents would support a western stop near Barnet Highway, and 63 per cent of respondents would use it.

Results from last November's Mustel Group telephone survey also suggest that only 24 per cent of those surveyed would use the Evergreen Line if it's built with only the stations currently proposed at St. Johns and Williams streets and at Ioco Road.

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© Coquitlam Now 2010

http://www2.canada.com/coquitlamnow/news/story.html?id=331cfe2d-93be-456c-b7bc-aecf8386a749

[Alex Mackinnon]

Originally Posted by officedweller

I doubt there will be a future station at Cameron St. - the guideway is slated to run down the middle of the street meaning that extra tall columns would be required to build a station (to fit a mezzanine across the street below the guideway, like Brentwood). Side-of-the-street stations are much easier to build as future stations.

The thing is that ROW has already been changed to accommodate a station there. When I was working on a line painting crew last summer we did the block where the station would go. There's about 4 extra lane widths on that section of North Rd., it's freaking massive.

[GeeCee]

The retail density there is pretty low, and it's so friggin close to Lougheed.. Lincoln makes a hell of a lot more sense than Cameron does.

[Zassk]

Can't we just eliminate Lougheed Station and move it to Lincoln? Consolidate the two. Build a pedestrian bridge from the station over to WCE if that link is so precious.

[deasine]

Originally Posted by Zassk

Can't we just eliminate Lougheed Station and move it to Lincoln? Consolidate the two. Build a pedestrian bridge from the station over to WCE if that link is so precious.

I do hope you mean Coquitlam Central. And that will be quite a far walk from the Coquitlam Central loop, WCE, and the bus loop, not to mention the Park & Ride.

[officedweller]

I could see Lougheed Town Centre having 2 stations - Brentwood Town Centre does (Gilmore and Brentwood). Originally, a station was proposed between Production Way and Lougheed Station (at Beta Ave.).
Coquitlam is a Regional Town Centre (not a smaller Municipal Town Centre like Brentwood and Lougheed) so I could see it having 3 stations (or 4 if Falcon is a future station too).
Richmond Centre has 3 (to be 4 ) stations.
Port Moody is shooting for 3 stations.
New West has 2 stations.
Metrotown has 2 or 3 stations (depending whether you count Royal Oak).
Surrey has 3 stations.

Originally Posted by Alex Mackinnon

The thing is that ROW has already been changed to accommodate a station there. When I was working on a line painting crew last summer we did the block where the station would go. There's about 4 extra lane widths on that section of North Rd., it's freaking massive.

Interesting.
I wish that the allignment was on one side - that would increase the likelihood of a station.

[SpongeG]

didn't coquitlam centre ask for a station and was willing to commit money but they said no they didn't want one there so coquitlam centre backed out of their offer?

[cabotp]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Don't forget about the GEB. So much talk of "suburb to suburb commuting", yet that bridge is below expectations. Meanwhile yet another line into Downtown Vancouver exceeds ridership predictions.

I do feel once the toll is on the Port Mann. More people will be on the GEB. Right now people are avoiding it and deciding to go the long way to skip the toll.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by cabotp

I do feel once the toll is on the Port Mann. More people will be on the GEB. Right now people are avoiding it and deciding to go the long way to skip the toll.

That's another 3 long years of Translink making big payments they can't afford on a bridge that isn't generating enough revenue...

[racc]

Originally Posted by cabotp

I do feel once the toll is on the Port Mann. More people will be on the GEB. Right now people are avoiding it and deciding to go the long way to skip the toll.

I wouldn't be so sure of that. You would think people would be avoiding it now due to construction chaos. I expect that once the Port Mann opens and the tolls start, less people will use both bridges.

[Metro-One]

Where is this idea coming that the GEB is a flop?

I live in Maple Ridge and it seems to be getting busier over the last few months and has a nice constant flow throughout most of the day now.

I used it yesterday myself

Also to RCC, there is no construction chaos yet along the Port Mann Bridge. Any construction chaos so far is west of the Port Mann Bridge, where it doesn't matter if you take the GEB or not.

[Zassk]

It would be nice to see some up-to-date numbers. Canada Line numbers today are way higher than at opening, and I imagine the same might be true of GEB. I only recall having seen a single set of monthly numbers for GEB since the toll began.

[twoNeurons]

You can't judge a bridge with a 50+ year lifespan as a flop in the first year.

[WarrenC12]

Stats came out after the first few months with lower than projected crossings.

I'm not calling the bridge a flop (yet), but it is already impacting Translink's budget negatively. They have to make those payments, so that money has to come from somewhere.

[Mininari]

It really isn't a huge surprise to me that volumes might be lower than expected at first. In about the same time frame as the new PMB comes on line, I would expect new housing and employment growth in the Maple Ridge / Langley corridor to induce plenty of new suburban traffic, going back and forth between those new suburban office parks, and big-box facilities.

Meanwhile, another traffic light is added somewhere along Lougheed.

[racc]

People are making fewer trips and taking transit more.
http://www.translink.ca/en/About-TransLi...uver-Travel-Profile-Getting-Greener.aspx

It is not surprising trips on the GEB are below the targets. The traffic models used older data and assumptions based on the number of trips growing, not decreasing. I expect the usage of the new Port Mann will be below what was projected as well. Seems like highway projects will be big money pits.

[paradigm4]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Stats came out after the first few months with lower than projected crossings.

I'm not calling the bridge a flop (yet), but it is already impacting Translink's budget negatively. They have to make those payments, so that money has to come from somewhere.

You what's been a real flop? The 595 express route that connects Langley to Maple Ridge. Nobody ever rides that thing. Maybe five people max. The idea that people would take the bus to avoid the toll has been totally proven false.

[Metro-One]

The opening of the bridge also seemed to coincide with the largest economic recession we have had in decades, that usually slices off a decent % of daily commuters as well, especially commercial vehicles.

While it is good that we now have bus service between the two regions, the ridership has been a big flop, hopefully this will improve as time goes by. It would also be nice to see some new numbers from the bridge, instead of going off the same old first couple of months (during the summer period no less) we have been given.

I sure am happy the bridge exists, for i do use it regularly And it does seem to be getting quite a bit busier over the last few months, especially for commercial traffic (lots of cube vans and dump trucks i notice). Also, there are always a few commercial vehicles exiting the Lougheed and traveling up the GEW southbound ramp every time I pass that intersection.

[cabotp]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

That's another 3 long years of Translink making big payments they can't afford on a bridge that isn't generating enough revenue...

It would have been nice to see people switch right away. But a lot of people are doing the old I'll drive a bit longer just to get around the toll. Once that option is taken away people will go back to just using the shortest route.

Originally Posted by racc

I wouldn't be so sure of that. You would think people would be avoiding it now due to construction chaos. I expect that once the Port Mann opens and the tolls start, less people will use both bridges.

Well there really isn't all that much construction chaos and most of it is happening late at night. Also some people probably just don't want to pay the toll and are willing to deal with the construction chaos.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by paradigm4

You what's been a real flop? The 595 express route that connects Langley to Maple Ridge. Nobody ever rides that thing. Maybe five people max. The idea that people would take the bus to avoid the toll has been totally proven false.

Interesting. This adds to my argument that the "suburb to suburb" commuting pattern simply isn't as high as people think it is. I await Dec 2013 to be proven wrong.