Millennium Line - Broadway Extension: Planning & Pre-Construction

[officedweller]

Jogs in the line also create additional wear & tear, slower speeds and additional braking.

***

I meant politicians (of any ilk) responding to the people to preserve their political lives.

Remember that the Province (BC Transit), when building the Expo Line between Grandview Cut and Nanaimo Station,
defied the City of Vancouver's and residents' demands to place the line in a cut-and-cover tunnel under Commercial Drive
instead of elevated in the alley. The difference in price was $14 million.
That portion of the line in the alley was never approved by the City of Vancouver (or the 1987 Area Plan could be its approval).

Excerpts from the 1987 Broadway Station Area Plan:

[ClaytonA]

https://web.archive.org/web/201601260518...vince-for-broadway-subway-line-1.3300196

With the provincial byelection for Vancouver-Mount Pleasant just a week away, Liberal candidate Gavin Dew is promising if elected he will push for the building of the Broadway subway line.

"I'm hearing on the doorsteps that this is a massive priority for the people of East Vancouver," said Dew in a statement.

...

The congested Broadway corridor has been called North America's busiest bus route with a ridership of over 110,000 people per day.

The express 99 B-line bus, which connect Commercial-Broadway SkyTrain station to UBC, is infamous for its overcrowding. It's not uncommon for commuters using the 99 B-line to wait in long lineups while full bus after full bus pass them by.

...

It's going to continue getting worse with Evergreen and Expo line upgrades. Expect even more spill over onto route 41 for those going all the way to UBC.

[ClaytonA]

https://pricetags.wordpress.com/2014/10/...-silent-revolution-that-could-get-noisy/

[GlassCity]

Originally Posted by ClaytonA

https://pricetags.wordpress.com/2014/10/...-silent-revolution-that-could-get-noisy/

And now with the new Aquatic Centre they're building there isn't even a separate loop for the 99; that line spreads over a big part of the main loop.

[officedweller]

The new office building at Oak & Broadway will only have an emergency exit for the future SkyTrain Station.

The presumption is that if the tunnel is under Broadway itself, then the Scotiabank site would seem like the alternate place for a large stationhouse - or it could be at Laurel on Broadway, closer to the hospitals, if the Oak Street bus can still stop in front of the station.

Otherwise, maybe a tunnel under 10th Ave., but that's not quite consistent with this building retaining an emergency exit.

http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2016/02/988-west-broadway/

...
Plans for the building originally called for the inclusion of a station entrance for the Broadway Subway, the future underground extension of SkyTrain’s Millennium Line to Arbutus or as far as UBC. However, according to BlueSky Properties CEO Dale Bosa, those plans have been canceled.

“It’s our understanding that the station has moved and won’t be here on the site, so we don’t know the exact location… we did have some communication with the City of Vancouver that the station will not be on the site now,” Bosa told Vancity Buzz.

He adds that although a large entrance is no longer needed, the building will still provide space for an emergency access into the underground station structure. Some plans for the building are being reworked, mainly with a reconfiguration of the building’s permanent retail space and expansion of the office lobby. Under the originals plans, temporary retail space would have occupied the corner space designated for the station entrance.

Vancity Buzz reached out to the City of Vancouver for comment on the precise station location. The following statement was received from a spokesperson: “The City, in partnership with TransLink, has been working with development projects along the Broadway corridor to secure provisional access to future stations. The primary entrance for the future station near Oak Street is still to be confirmed at a future stage of the project’s design.”
...

http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2016/02/988-west-broadway/

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by officedweller

The new office building at Oak & Broadway will only have an emergency exit for the future SkyTrain Station.

If they don't use the new station as an opportunity to open up a new full-sized entrance on a different corner (preferably the opposite one) then it will be a major missed opportunity.

[Waders]

Does developer get any money from Translink/COV to use it's property as station entrance? May be all parties couldn't agree on a price?

[idunno]

I'd say it's the Scotiabank site. That building could become a large station house.

[Waders]

Originally Posted by idunno

I'd say it's the Scotiabank site. That building could become a large station house.

I guess no decision has been made yet or there is a change of mind.

The City of Vancouver bought the building that houses the Scotiabank at Oak and Broadway earlier this year for $5 million. It was assessed at $3.5 million.

And late this year Translink bought a building at 1909 West Broadway, near the line’s terminus at Broadway and Arbutus, for $6.2 million. It was assessed at $5.2 million.

Both agencies said they don’t anticipate the buildings will be used for transit stations, but are rather investment properties.

“The property was purchased as an income producing asset and currently houses an office building with retail that generates revenue for Translink. The intent of this acquisition is to look ahead and invest in property along anticipated transit corridors that generate income,” said Derrick Cheung, VP of Real Estate for Translink.

Source

[Migrant_Coconut]

And late this year Translink bought a building at 1909 West Broadway, near the line’s terminus at Broadway and Arbutus, for $6.2 million. It was assessed at $5.2 million.

Both agencies said they don’t anticipate the buildings will be used for transit stations, but are rather investment properties.

I sure hope that one's not going to be a station. Aside from liking the restaurant, the place is on Cypress, halfway between Arbutus and Burrard. Not a good position connectivity-wise, now or later... especially when there's a perfectly useable Rogers store and next-door vacant lot right on Arbutus.

[BCPhil]

I have a feeling the Cypress property is an actual investment. That part of town will explode when they start building the line. The property might also be useful for an emergency exit location and they are just buying the building while they can to facilitate that. Or maybe the area around Arbutus might have some cut and cover so that they can install proper switches and pocket tracks for train storage and turning them around (Think of how long the actual footprint of the tracks and switches at Waterfront is). As far as a station house, almost any property on the corners of Arbutus can be expropriated at a reasonable price as there are no substantial "improvements" on them.

But my bet is the station house will be where the Scotiabank is on Oak. Why would you pay that much for it and not use it? The 17 Oak stops right infront of it, and all the other bus stops are just across one street from it.

[officedweller]

Another possibility is TransLink buying a nearby redevelopment site (i.e. mid-block?) for the station, then selling the airspace parcel for redevelopment (think King Edward Station) - an entrance in someone else's building wouldn't allow that.

[jsbertram]

Originally Posted by Waders

Does developer get any money from Translink/COV to use it's property as station entrance? May be all parties couldn't agree on a price?

Its private property owned by the developer who is building on the site.

Any space that Translink wants to use within the building envelope will be leased by the owner (the developer) to Translink.

[jsbertram]

Originally Posted by idunno

I'd say it's the Scotiabank site. That building could become a large station house.

With all the core drills done on Laurel north and south of Broadway, plus the change of the station entrance at the new Broadway/Oak building to an emergency exit, my guess is the main entrance will be at Broadway/Laurel.

Which makes this a convenient spot for the nearby VGH workers to use a quiet street like Laurel to get to/from work.

It helps that on 3 of the corners at Broadway/Laurel there are old low-rise properties - one of which could be bought (expropriated?) for the station entrance.

[officedweller]

Laurel would be my guess too.

I couldn't see them forcing 1000s of hospital workers to cross Oak St. each day to the Scotiabank site.

In addition - an emergency exit is usually at the "other / far" end of the platform. Scotiabank would place the 2 exits too close to each other.

I could see the station name being "Vancouver Hospital - Laurel St."

[jbrizzy]

Does anyone think we could see a full two-entrance station? With one at the Scotiabank site and the other at Laurel here?

https://www.google.ca/maps/@49.2633308,-...E5FrhQ8XHkaMts758P93A!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

That would really be the best of both worlds.. But the entrances would be approximately 180m away from each other, with the platform under an entire city block. With 80m platforms, each walkway/stairway up to the stationhouse would have to be 40-50m long.. which is long, but could be worth it.

Having the entrance in the new office building would bring the distance down to 150m. Given that they're saying it will just be an emergency exit though, it wouldn't make sense for them to be planning a main entrance across the street, farther from the platform, in that scenario..

Maybe the Scotiabank site is just for the property development and we won't be seeing a stationhouse there, with the office building entrance being downsized (but hopefully still more than an 'emergency' exit) after Translink realized they would prefer the main entrance to be at Laurel. I think this is a pretty reasonable scenario.

[Jebby]

I'd hope the platforms would be built longer than 80m, even if only to accomodate more people on the platform. A 5-car train would be abut 87m long.

[squeezied]

Originally Posted by jbrizzy

Does anyone think we could see a full two-entrance station? With one at the Scotiabank site and the other at Laurel here?

https://www.google.ca/maps/@49.2633308,-...E5FrhQ8XHkaMts758P93A!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

That would really be the best of both worlds.. But the entrances would be approximately 180m away from each other, with the platform under an entire city block. With 80m platforms, each walkway/stairway up to the stationhouse would have to be 40-50m long.. which is long, but could be worth it.

Having the entrance in the new office building would bring the distance down to 150m. Given that they're saying it will just be an emergency exit though, it wouldn't make sense for them to be planning a main entrance across the street, farther from the platform, in that scenario..

Maybe the Scotiabank site is just for the property development and we won't be seeing a stationhouse there, with the office building entrance being downsized (but hopefully still more than an 'emergency' exit) after Translink realized they would prefer the main entrance to be at Laurel. I think this is a pretty reasonable scenario.

Does the city own any property at Broadway and Laurel? The fact that the city bough the Scotiabank site suggests that they're eyeing that site for the future station. I still feel Oak should be the location of the station. Spacing-wise it's in the middle between Granville and Cambie. Granted VGH is a substantial ridership generator, but they're not the only ones generating ridership. There are residential, commercial and retail all along Broadway. But I do agree that ideally there would an entrance at oak and at laurel.

[Spork]

Originally Posted by squeezied

Does the city own any property at Broadway and Laurel? The fact that the city bough the Scotiabank site suggests that they're eyeing that site for the future station. I still feel Oak should be the location of the station. Spacing-wise it's in the middle between Granville and Cambie. Granted VGH is a substantial ridership generator, but they're not the only ones generating ridership. There are residential, commercial and retail all along Broadway. But I do agree that ideally there would an entrance at oak and at laurel.

I completely agree. VGH stretches from Oak to Cambie - no reason to have the station in the middle of that section.

[ssiguy]

Whatever route/stations they eventually agree upon, Translink and the City better gets it's ass in gear and make some concrete decisions. The forthcoming infrastructure funding from Trudeau will b e for shovel ready projects and not ones that can start construction 3 or 4 years from now.

Infrastructure spending is dolled out by provincially and not on a city to city basis so in other words, if the routes/stations, and environmental reviews are done quickly, Christy will use those funds for her pet highway projects.