SkyTrain Station Renovations

[ssiguy]

With all these renos of the Expo line stations, are they actually extending the stations themselves to handle bigger trains or are these renos simply for accessibility and esthetics?

[Large Cat]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

With all these renos of the Expo line stations, are they actually extending the stations themselves to handle bigger trains or are these renos simply for accessibility and esthetics?

I think the biggest concern leading to these improvements has been passenger movements and crowding before/after riding the train. Accessibility (wheelchairs, strollers, scooters, bikes) is a secondary issue but still a very important incentive to renovate certain stations. Platforms are not being extended--rather, ways of entering and exiting stations are being added to accommodate the current trains/frequencies actually being used to capacity by the ridership. When the stations were first built it was too early to tell whether that ridership growth was ever going to happen. That we are even thinking about platform length over the long term is an indication that the system has been wildly more successful than expected 30 years ago. Right now the rest of the station infrastructure just has to catch up to the capacity lent by the current platform length.

[MIPS]

The photos I mentioned the other day.


Image courtesy of MIPS

Image courtesy of MIPS

Weather or not they were originally stolen, they do make great novelty hose, wire and coat hooks once you give em' a scrub.

[Waders]

Looks like renovation work at Metrotown station will start at the platform level.
The platform area on the west side of the elevator has been fenced off. The emergency stair is still accessible through narrow passage.
A pile of fences are also placed at the middle of platform area.

[dandor31]

Does anyone know if Translink will proceed with an expansion of Burrard Station? It seems to be highlighted as a priority for stations access expansion in the 2010 Expo Line Upgrade Strategy to included a new enterance. I've always assumed on the east side of the street by the Park Place building (666 Burrard St). It was estimated is would exceed capacity in 2012, which definitely seems true. The consistent use of the emergency exit for normal egress (it's actually partially signed) seems to suggest Translink is well aware of the problem. The occasional shut down of an escalator for work often exacerbated the problem. The Upgrade Path on page 37 seems to suggest the work should have been done in 2011/2012. I guess I'm just surprised I haven't heard anything about it which makes me think they haven't even started planning for it.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by dandor31

The consistent use of the emergency exit for normal egress (it's actually partially signed) seems to suggest Translink is well aware of the problem.

Metrotown Station has left the emergency exit open for quite awhile now, and I'm sure these aren't the only stations that do this. For the moment TransLink is really only working on 'the big seven' - Commerical-Broadway, Main, Joyce, Metrotown, New West, Scott Road and Surrey Central.

[WBC]

These station renovations are so slow that if condo developers used the same pace it would take them 10 years to complete a condo tower. I am hoping the pace is slow because it is cheaper to do it slowly...

[Kisai]

Originally Posted by WBC

These station renovations are so slow that if condo developers used the same pace it would take them 10 years to complete a condo tower. I am hoping the pace is slow because it is cheaper to do it slowly...

Condo subcontractors don't have to work around live power/water when it's a new building.

There's two things to consider:
1) Safety - Live electricity, especially closest to the tracks. All it takes is a tool or someone to fall in and it shuts down the station.
2) Revenue - There is already some revenue losses from people avoiding using stations that are being renovated, partially because they don't like the noise/safety-issues and partially because people who don't regularly use it would see all the construction junk around and not sure if it's open at all.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by Waders

Looks like renovation work at Metrotown station will start at the platform level.
The platform area on the west side of the elevator has been fenced off. The emergency stair is still accessible through narrow passage.
A pile of fences are also placed at the middle of platform area.

I'm not sure if the emergency exit is still open (didn't check, but they had exit signs on the fence pointing away from it). They've removed most of the inner ceiling panels now.

[Waders]

Originally Posted by Sheba

I'm not sure if the emergency exit is still open (didn't check, but they had exit signs on the fence pointing away from it). They've removed most of the inner ceiling panels now.

The emergency exit is still open. However you will have to navigate a long narrow passage near the platform edge to get to it.
Today half of the platform on the west side is fenced off, leaving only may be a 2 feet narrow passage for passenger to board/exit train. I just don't feel safe walking along that narrow passage.
Honestly I wish Translink implemented a shuttle train service similar to the Train2Main shuttle service used during the Main station renovation. I think platform crowd control would be necessary during rush hour.

[hollywoodnorth]

and yet another sad update on Main Street Station

yet again today I get in the mail a notice from Translink saying they have been granted permission to extend the late night hours work exception thru late August now. true story....I have been getting 1 of these notices every month for like a year and a half now .. they keep needing more time ... MORE time .... more time ... MORE time. all I can say is this is one of the poorest run construction projects I have ever seen .... also in all the $$ used to mail out to local residents month after month about the delays they could have hired an extra few people to work on the site. This Project was to be finished already what 6 months ago?

I feel SO bad for the people of Metrotown ....... get ready for a delayed and bloated construction situation that never ends .....

[WBC]

Originally Posted by hollywoodnorth

and yet another sad update on Main Street Station

yet again today I get in the mail a notice from Translink saying they have been granted permission to extend the late night hours work exception thru late August now. true story....I have been getting 1 of these notices every month for like a year and a half now .. they keep needing more time ... MORE time .... more time ... MORE time. all I can say is this is one of the poorest run construction projects I have ever seen .... also in all the $$ used to mail out to local residents month after month about the delays they could have hired an extra few people to work on the site. This Project was to be finished already what 6 months ago?

I feel SO bad for the people of Metrotown ....... get ready for a delayed and bloated construction situation that never ends .....

Ready and waiting...It took about 3 months to put up the construction fence and paint a mural on it...We just have to keep it in perspective - the European cathedrals in same cases took 100 years to complete...And they did not have to deal with unionized labor, bird nests, 2 CEOs and the distractions that modern construction technology represents or the fact that trains are going through them...But I am very confident that when these mythical another million people show up in 30 years we will have at least those 3 new elevators finished @ Metrotown...Who knows maybe we figure out the gates too...

[BCPhil]

Originally Posted by hollywoodnorth

and yet another sad update on Main Street Station

yet again today I get in the mail a notice from Translink saying they have been granted permission to extend the late night hours work exception thru late August now. true story....I have been getting 1 of these notices every month for like a year and a half now .. they keep needing more time ... MORE time .... more time ... MORE time. all I can say is this is one of the poorest run construction projects I have ever seen .... also in all the $$ used to mail out to local residents month after month about the delays they could have hired an extra few people to work on the site. This Project was to be finished already what 6 months ago?

I feel SO bad for the people of Metrotown ....... get ready for a delayed and bloated construction situation that never ends .....

It's not exactly the impression we want to leave all the visitors for the World Cup is it?

Sure visitors don't know how long it has been going on for, but usually you expect infrastructure near an important event venue to be complete in time for the games. What is this, Brazil?

Between this, all the road closures happening right now, a still unfinished Port Mann Bridge, and other unfinished job sites around downtown, you would think that every level of government completely forgot that Vancouver is hosting it's biggest international event since the Olympics.

[dreambrother808]

Hopefully one day we'll be like all of those magical, mythical cities that don't experience construction delays...

[Vin]

6 months of delay is way too long! No wonder people are losing confidence in Translink. Last weekend, I saw one or two construction guys milling about the Main Station work-site at around 10pm. I remember making a remark to my friend that it would be great if they could just employ more people to finish the upgrade off faster. Well, then again, this is government-funded and not a private entity. Tax dollars put to good use indeed!

[city-dweller]

This is just speculation and anecdote. I go by the Main street project weekly and the site is busy.

Does anyone actually know:

1) For each station, are they behind schedule?
2) If yes, why?

[MIPS]

Gotta love that "getting in Touch with Nature" theme they are applying to these renovations. Next time you stroll through Main Street - Science World, please take a moment of your time to look up and admire all the mildew growing on the brand new white ceiling panels.

[Sheba]

I was at New West station yesterday and asked the guys what the scaffolding is up for - they're starting to paint the green metal tubing white now. They were treating it as a make work project and expect to be back in a few years to paint it some other colour ('cause white is going to show the dirt really quickly... ).

[VancouverOfTheFuture]

the green the tubing is now is literally the perfect colour. it is the exact green of moss/mildew and anything else that would grow/show. they should just repaint it the same colour.

[MIPS]

They've been slowly repainting all the stations a darker shade of green for the past few years. That and they repainted various ivory panels pure white.