Millennium Line - Evergreen Extension | Completed - Page 399

officedweller · #**7961** Posted **Mar 5, 2015, 7:11 AM**

[video]https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=962243293822175&theater[/video]

officedweller · #**7962** Posted **Mar 5, 2015, 7:15 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Olden Retreiver

There's a short video recently posted on EGRT Facebook page.

"The last segment of the Evergreen Line elevated guideway has been installed! Construction crews celebrate as the final segment of the elevated guideway is lifted in Coquitlam."

Here's the video:

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=962243293822175&theater

https://www.flickr.com/photos/tranbc/with/16716005605/

queetz@home · #**7963** Posted **Mar 5, 2015, 8:12 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeeCee

That certainly seemed to happen quickly. Now all we'll have to watch is the station construction, I guess.

That's true. I admit, this will be a bit hard not to see much visible progress now that the guideways are done. Following the saga of the Evergreen Line for more than 20 years and all.

I guess we can hope more people who are able too would take photos of those hard to see places like nname's pics, otherwise we just have to watch the stations grow, and wait for the government pics and news releases from the tunnel.

Next truly exciting chapter will be this summer when we see the trains being tested at the Burquitlam area.

officedweller · #**7964** Posted **Mar 5, 2015, 10:55 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kisai

And a map of the Upper level:
http://www.ivanhoecambridge.com/~/media/...perties/60001/lease-plan/upper-level.pdf

It would probably make more sense for the passerelle to be reconfigured and the Zara store moved somewhere else in the mall (Probably would make more sense to just reconfigure the entire transit-facing side of the mall so there are more 24-hour restaurant/shops facing the transit side of the mall.) That way there is no silly "go to the ground, cross at grade, come back up" process just to get to the mall. The existing Passerelle gets crowded enough.

Thanks for the detailed maps!

They could move Tommy Hilfiger and have the mall go through there, or go through 2268 and 2270 straight through to the main mall and infill the mall corridor on the west side into a couple of larger retailers.

TransitJack · #**7965** Posted **Mar 5, 2015, 4:14 PM**

In the photos of the "last segment", some of the segments have an extension on the outside of the parapet wall. Any info on their purpose, as it doesn't look like every segment has one.
Thanks

Meraki · #**7966** Posted **Mar 5, 2015, 5:36 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by TransitJack

In the photos of the "last segment", some of the segments have an extension on the outside of the parapet wall. Any info on their purpose, as it doesn't look like every segment has one.
Thanks

Lighting to point at switches perhaps.

dpogue · #**7967** Posted **Mar 5, 2015, 5:42 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by TransitJack

In the photos of the "last segment", some of the segments have an extension on the outside of the parapet wall. Any info on their purpose, as it doesn't look like every segment has one.
Thanks

Whenever there's a track switch, the actual switch machinery is off to the side underneath the side walkway, along with a manual control panel. There's also extensions to the sides where there are electrical transformers and power disconnect switches.

MIPS · #**7968** Posted **Mar 5, 2015, 5:48 PM**

For comparison, this is the Expo Line's last section installed in November 9 1984.

Frame grab courtesy of Yaletown Productions

Quote:

I guess we can hope more people who are able too would take photos of those hard to see places like nname's pics, otherwise we just have to watch the stations grow, and wait for the government pics and news releases from the tunnel.

If I can get photos so hard to take that I'm not even willing to put them online, believe me, there will be photos.

jsbertram · #**7969** Posted **Mar 5, 2015, 11:47 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by nname

Have a chance today to walk and check out the progress of the construction. I always feel the most interesting segment is between the tunnel portal to Coquitlam Central station, as they are far away from major roads and fewest photos are available...

Coquitlam Central Station
<snipped>
Track switches west of the station

It was a nice surprise to see how they are changing from two tracks to three, then to four for the trains to get north up Pinetree and in the future east to Maple Ridge.

Its a shame that the area wasn't reconfigured during the design stage to have Coquitlam Central Station located west of the interlocking and use the extra width between the two tracks as a centre platform for the station so all trains (Lafarge terminal and Maple Ridge terminal) could share a single platform to simplify train transfers.

This also reminds me of how un-neccessarily complicated the design is for Lougheed station - due primarily to the twist-over track concept that was ultimately never used.
If you can imagine this similar view at Lougheed station, the two tracks on the bottom right go up North Road, and the two on the bottom left go to Braid.

Large Cat · #**7970** Posted **Mar 6, 2015, 2:43 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by jsbertram

It was a nice surprise to see how they are changing from two tracks to three, then to four for the trains to get north up Pinetree and in the future east to Maple Ridge.

Its a shame that the area wasn't reconfigured during the design stage to have Coquitlam Central Station located west of the interlocking and use the extra width between the two tracks as a centre platform for the station so all trains (Lafarge terminal and Maple Ridge terminal) could share a single platform to simplify train transfers.

This also reminds me of how un-neccessarily complicated the design is for Lougheed station - due primarily to the twist-over track concept that was ultimately never used.
If you can imagine this similar view at Lougheed station, the two tracks on the bottom right go up North Road, and the two on the bottom left go to Braid.

Does this mean that the poco, Pitt, maple ridge direction will one day be a branch of millenium line, and lafarge direction will be another branch? If so, will there be more expansion north from lafarge-douglas? It would be pretty weird to have a 1-station branch.

hipster duck · #**7971** Posted **Mar 6, 2015, 2:44 AM**

I wonder if it would be cheaper and more efficient to just run some sort of diesel multiple unit (DMU) extension of the Evergreen Line from Coquitlam to Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge along the existing CP/WCE line, rather than plan for a future Skytrain extension. It would be sort of similar to eBART in the Bay Area.

TransitFreak · #**7972** Posted **Mar 6, 2015, 3:56 AM**

There may be an opportunity for passengers westbound from Poco to cross platform to train headed to Lafarge lake...the platforms wouldn't line up side by side but more end on end. What this will mean is four distinct platforms with 2 destined for VCC-Clark on opposite sides. I wonder if this was done on purpose with the final end game being the poco west bound platform really serving as a cross transfer to lafarge and the lafarge lake westbound platform to serve the bus loop traffic?

dpogue · #**7973** Posted **Mar 6, 2015, 3:59 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Large Cat

Does this mean that the poco, Pitt, maple ridge direction will one day be a branch of millenium line, and lafarge direction will be another branch? If so, will there be more expansion north from lafarge-douglas? It would be pretty weird to have a 1-station branch.

I think if Millennium Line continues out to PoCo, it will probably only go as far as Shaugnessy.

Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge do not have the density to make SkyTrain worthwhile, and probably won't for the forseable future (most of Pitt Meadows is agricultural land, and Maple Ridge seems happy to keep sprawling out to the east).
I think Maple Ridge is one place that LRT could actually work, although there's probably no benefit over buses. There is an HOV lane westbound on Lougheed highway that could basically be reserved as a ROW from the PoCo side of the Pitt River Bridge all the way to 200th St.

GeeCee · #**7974** Posted **Mar 6, 2015, 4:00 AM**

The stub track is intended for Pitt Meadows & Maple Ridge.. I haven't heard anything about it heading towards the Lafarge area in South Coquitlam. There's not really much down there to service. It would be much more efficient to service the future residential development there with a bus from Braid.

Large Cat · #**7975** Posted **Mar 6, 2015, 4:05 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeeCee

The stub track is intended for Pitt Meadows & Maple Ridge.. I haven't heard anything about it heading towards the Lafarge area in South Coquitlam. There's not really much down there to service. It would be much more efficient to service the future residential development there with a bus from Braid.

Sorry, by lafarge I just meant lafarge lake Douglas station. I wasn't aware there was a neighbourhood called lafarge.

go_leafs_go02 · #**7976** Posted **Mar 6, 2015, 4:08 AM**

Rather see all-way bi-directional West Coast Express. Other preference is to extend the line south from Mission into Downtown Abbotsford and start there. The Mission station would be obsolete, but it's not really that significant and could probably be moved to be immediately north of the Fraser River and south of the Highway 11 connector half-built freeway (not sure if it has a name)

GlassCity · #**7977** Posted **Mar 6, 2015, 4:23 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by go_leafs_go02

Rather see all-way bi-directional West Coast Express. Other preference is to extend the line south from Mission into Downtown Abbotsford and start there. The Mission station would be obsolete, but it's not really that significant and could probably be moved to be immediately north of the Fraser River and south of the Highway 11 connector half-built freeway (not sure if it has a name)

Instead of extending the West Coast Express into Abbotsford, I'd rather see a second commuter rail line go there via Surrey to help alleviate the Expo Line too.

go_leafs_go02 · #**7978** Posted **Mar 6, 2015, 4:28 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by GlassCity

Instead of extending the West Coast Express into Abbotsford, I'd rather see a second commuter rail line go there via Surrey to help alleviate the Expo Line too.

Don't see a suitable rail line that works south of the Fraser. The CN line hugs the Fraser River and doesn't go anywhere close to any urban areas really. There is the Interurban line that has some value through Surrey and into Langley, but then it takes a rather inefficient route that goes up and down.

The Abbotsford - Vancouver WCE would be something that could gather those types of commuters heading to downtown Vancouver from the Fraser Valley.

Some sort of rapid bus along Highway 1 would suffice. I'd love to see more rail south of the Fraser, I just don't see an existing rail line that would work.

Interesting this is that there used to be a rail line running through Cloverdale, Langley, Murrayville, Aldergrove into Abbotsford and then into Chilliwack. Hasn't been there since 1931, but the alignment of the route (you can still follow it pretty good through Langley on Google Earth) would be pretty good for commuter rail now for South of the Fraser. Too bad it's largely been developed in many areas.

GlassCity · #**7979** Posted **Mar 6, 2015, 4:35 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by go_leafs_go02

Don't see a suitable rail line that works south of the Fraser. The CN line hugs the Fraser River and doesn't go anywhere close to any urban areas really. There is the Interurban line that has some value through Surrey and into Langley, but then it takes a rather inefficient route that goes up and down.

The Abbotsford - Vancouver WCE would be something that could gather those types of commuters heading to downtown Vancouver from the Fraser Valley.

Some sort of rapid bus along Highway 1 would suffice. I'd love to see more rail south of the Fraser, I just don't see an existing rail line that would work.

Interesting this is that there used to be a rail line running through Cloverdale, Langley, Murrayville, Aldergrove into Abbotsford and then into Chilliwack. Hasn't been there since 1931, but the alignment of the route (you can still follow it pretty good through Langley on Google Earth) would be pretty good for commuter rail now for South of the Fraser. Too bad it's largely been developed in many areas.

Yeah, our short-sightedness in terms of rail corridor development is really gonna cost us fairly soon. Richmond had a great street car right of way that was recently made into a bike trail. More generally, I'm just trying to figure out a way to get an express service to parallel the Expo Line.

SOSS · #**7980** Posted **Mar 6, 2015, 6:19 AM**

SoF is better served by BC Transits Route 66 FVX set to begin operating April 6, 2015. The rail corridor does exist however is not very direct. I can see this service being popular enough to lead to expanding Hwy 1's shoulders to be Bus-Only lanes similar to Hwy 99.

Lafarge-Lake Douglas station does have double tracks (unlike Richmond-Brighouse) which would allow for future expansion north towards David Ave. However I think this is unlikely since density is medium at best (4 story low rise condos and townhouses).