Time for Vancouver to Tear Down Its Viaducts?

[rsxstock]

but if it gets teared down, how are we going to get other viaduct movie opportunities?

[WarrenC12]

Does anybody know the details of how much revenue this will bring to the city?

Movies routinely have traffic interruptions, and they pay extra for police services, but this is the most disruptive thing I've heard of in a while.

[dreambrother808]

Originally Posted by csbvan

How perfect for the city. They are essentially getting paid to test the closing of the viaducts.

Yes, but without the planned alternate route upgrades, so not really a direct comparison.

[st7860]

Put the Viaduct issue on a pleb. too!

[Kisai]

Originally Posted by rsxstock

but if it gets teared down, how are we going to get other viaduct movie opportunities?

Hasn't stopped movies from filming here before. But they mostly use "under the viaduct" or "under the bridge", not on top.

And in films, with the exception of a specific scenario (see LGB collapsing in Final Destination 5), they will pick locations that they can close off entirely from traffic. That's not usually possible except out on highways (Final Destination 2 used Highway 19) where shutting down the highway for 20 minutes is less bothersome than construction delays.

If the Viaducts disappear one day, film crews that need them will either change the script to use a bridge (and frame the scene as such,) film somewhere on the Coquihalla and then put the city in the background, or they will send their second unit to go film the part that needs it somewhere else nearby that has one. Worst case, they create one in the computer.

Also the movie being filmed on the Viaduct is Deadpool (X-men franchise.)

BY
KENNETH CHAN
12:57 PM PDT, THU MARCH 19, 2015

...

Traffic closures on the Georgia Viaduct will occur during the following dates and times:

- Closed to all traffic on weekdays from April 6 to April 16 between 5 a.m. to 3 p.m., in time for the evening outbound rush hour traffic travelling out of the peninsula.
- When filming completes at 3 p.m., one lane will reopen to permit traffic to pass a 100-metre screened area. All lanes will open once past this area.
- Supplemental filming will also occur on Sunday, April 5 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday, April 11 from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Shutdowns could also occur on: Sunday, April 12; Friday, April 17; and Saturday, April 18. These dates are being held by the production team for contingency purposes.

[rsxstock]

^imagine being paid to tear down the viaduct for a disaster movie i'm sure some directors love to use no CG

[IanS]

Originally Posted by dreambrother808

Yes, but without the planned alternate route upgrades, so not really a direct comparison.

It would be AT LEAST as comparable as the Olympic experience, IMO.

[jsbertram]

I had the misfortune of hopping a bus from Granville to Main using Pender yesterday.

A typical 5 minute jaunt took over half an hour because of all the traffic that can't use the Georgia Viaduct during the filming of Deadpool is using Pender instead.

However, this was after 5pm, so the excess traffic on Pender was likely people who tried to use the single-lane allowed to use the Georgia Viaduct after 3pm last week, and said "F* this!" to the resulting clog of traffic on Georgia.

What would you do now stuck in traffic at the Library?
2 blocks north to Pender & eastwards, or 3 blocks south to Nelson, loop around BC Place using Pacific, then weave around Main St, Union and Gore to get back on Prior eastbound?
It seems everyone thought Pender was easier.
Too bad it's also one lane for traffic (with parking lanes even during rush hour).

This is a real-world result of closing the Viaduct, so CoV better heed these results before lopping off the two major arteries from the east side of Vancouver getting people & goods downtown.


Now that St. Pauls is moving to the vacant land near where viaducts end at Main St, this would be a greater insanity to lose the two direct connections between the downtown peninsula and the new hospital campus.

Build the long talked-about Malkin connector to the viaducts, and now the new St. Pauls site has good connections to the downtown peninsula (via the viaducts) and the rest of east-side Vancouver (via the new Malkin connector and Clarke drive)

[Vin]

If Strathcona and East Van were to densify more in the future, and with the completion of VAG, Casino and St. Paul's hospital campus, the situation will get much worse without a vital link DT.

Viaducts must remain: nuff' said.

[WarrenC12]

the road capacity is important, however I don't see why these need to be elevated roads for a few hundred feet. I'd rather see some other proposals that include a widened Pacific/Expo Blvd, but also some other increased capacity options.

[AverageJoe]

I live a couple hundred feet away from the viaducts and as a resident I am praying the viaducts stay. The traffic at ground level can get horrendous, and in peak periods I am quite trapped if I have to take the car. I think it's best to keep some traffic separated -- especially the traffic that's to pass through this area entirely -- and not funnel more into the local streets.

I get the idea of the "super road" but that'll be a bigger obstacle (one full of snarled traffic) between the city and False Creek than the viaducts will ever be.

[makr3trkr]

Originally Posted by AverageJoe

I live a couple hundred feet away from the viaducts and as a resident I am praying the viaducts stay. The traffic at ground level can get horrendous, and in peak periods I am quite trapped if I have to take the car. I think it's best to keep some traffic separated -- especially the traffic that's to pass through this area entirely -- and not funnel more into the local streets.

I get the idea of the "super road" but that'll be a bigger obstacle (one full of snarled traffic) between the city and False Creek than the viaducts will ever be.

http://www.news1130.com/2015/04/14/futur...w-st-pauls-hospital-bcs-health-minister/

Future of viaducts could affect access to the new St. Paul’s Hospital: BC’s health minister
April 14, 2015

BC’s health minister is expressing concern about Vancouver’s idea to tear down the nearby Georgia and Dunsmuir Viaducts.

"We have to work closely with them to make sure that we have access, that we don’t have congestion in that area."

As they stand now, the viaducts would provide direct access to the new site.

Vancouver City Councillor Geoff Meggs believes Pacific Boulevard and Prior Street would be improved, explaining there would be a direct link to Georgia Street:

"Arguably the new connections would be far superior and I’m certain that we will hear from neighborhoods in the east side that while they may welcome an acute care hospital east of Main, they want to be sure their neighbourhoods aren’t a magnet for traffic."

[s211]

Originally Posted by makr3trkr

Vancouver City Councillor Geoff Meggs believes Pacific Boulevard and Prior Street would be improved, explaining there would be a direct link to Georgia Street:

"Arguably the new connections would be far superior and I’m certain that we will hear from neighborhoods in the east side that while they may welcome an acute care hospital east of Main, they want to be sure their neighbourhoods aren’t a magnet for traffic."

So that's what it sounds like when someone thinks they can have cake and eat it to.

Meggs, you can make my blood boil just by getting up in the morning.

[Metro-One]

Wow, that comment right there says it all in how much of a farce this entire campaign has been.

You can be against the viaducts because you don't like cars / large road structures etc... but to actually claim that the planned alternative to them, which will include several new large traffic light controlled intersections, among other new barriers (such as the 90 degree turn at the proposed base of Georgia) will be faster and more efficient than the free flow elevated viaducts that land at the base of the new hospital site is completely delusional or purposely lying through one's teeth.

So much data and facts have been fudged throughout this process I am not even surprised anymore.

I remember actually confronting Meggs in person once at an open house, and grilling him on all aspects of the project, eventually he had no decent responses and only said, "but they are ugly......" There is the logic behind all of this right there.

[osirisboy]

Meggs is a complete bullshitter! And what's with his ocd about them? They aren't even ugly. What's ugly is what's under and around them which is what they should be focusing on changing instead

[twoNeurons]

The viaducts have always been about building a legacy and development. Why do you think developers are taking so long to build anything on that land. Once a building goes up with the existing viaducts, they can't reshape the area.

I'm not really for or against the viaducts, but just irritated that they're tearing down perfectly good infrastructure. My feeling is that the land will be FAR more valuable 30 years from now and we will end up with more varied architecture. In short, the last 25 years have been the era of glass point towers, the previous 25 years to that was apartment buildings and commercial structures of the CBD, and it would be nice to wait a few years to see what architecture has in store instead of just more of the same.

[Vin]

It just doesn't make sense that the viaducts are taking up valuable land. If Pacific Blvd. were to be widened to allow higher traffic capacity, wouldn't that be the same as occupying the land currently underneath the viaduct? If land is so important, then why not shift Pacific Blvd. under and closer to the viaducts to free up a bit more land for Megg's condos? The skytrain guideway would still remain,so except for the small area east of Main, the logic to tear down the viaducts to "free up land" just doesn't make any sense.

I think that since this City is going "green", tearing up structures catering for cars just looks good on the books (since it's currently the rage in other cities). Meggs wants his name cited for "doing something good for mother earth" in the history text. Hogwash.

[logan5]

Is it even preferable for an ambulance to drive across a viaduct? If something goes wrong up ahead, if for some reason a car is blocking the ambulance there are no alternative routes. You're stuck. On a surface street you have way more options if you need to reroute.

Just to follow up on that thought... Looking at the exit ramp onto Prior St., there are 2 lanes and no shoulder or parking lane for cars to get out of the way. These 2 lanes are almost always occupied, so how is an ambulance suppose to get through there?

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by Vin

It just doesn't make sense that the viaducts are taking up valuable land. If Pacific Blvd. were to be widened to allow higher traffic capacity, wouldn't that be the same as occupying the land currently underneath the viaduct?

I think the biggest issue is that buildings can have frontage on a ground-level street whereas that's pretty difficult to do with the viaducts, particularly given the fact that they won't last as long as newly constructed buildings will.

[Metro-One]

Originally Posted by logan5

Is it even preferable for an ambulance to drive across a viaduct? If something goes wrong up ahead, if for some reason a car is blocking the ambulance there are no alternative routes. You're stuck. On a surface street you have way more options if you need to reroute.

Just to follow up on that thought... Looking at the exit ramp onto Prior St., there are 2 lanes and no shoulder or parking lane for cars to get out of the way. These 2 lanes are almost always occupied, so how is an ambulance suppose to get through there?

Given that the viaducts have no points of conflicts (intersections) accidents are very rare on them that will block all 3 lanes. (the new surface roads will likely have many more accidents)

Also, seeing how many apps there are these days with real time traffic conditions, I am sure any ambulace will have such traffic technology available to them.

If there is an accident on the viaduct, I am sure the surface options that exist today will still be there.

I am sure the viaducts can be retrofited when the new hospital opens to have an emergency vehicle only lane / off ramp. Wont be very hard to do. And there is also the main street off ramp.