Expo Line - Surrey Langley Extension: Planning & Pre-Construction

[Sheba]

Who here has sent in their comments about the three lines (Fraser Hwy, the L Line and Broadway) to TransLink and / or our new provincial government? It's not enough to just rant about it on here.

[CanSpice]

Originally Posted by flipper316

What cyclists? It's Surrey. The car is king. The only regular people you see riding bikes are the street people and the elderly east Indians.

Turns out that Surrey's got plans for separated bike lanes all down King George, 102, and a load of other roads in the area. The PDF linked in the tweet goes into a lot more detail, but makes zero mention about LRT. It's almost like they're planning the two separately, and somehow it's all going to magically work out.

[GMasterAres]

We should all suggest that Surrey seriously consider the streetcar down 105th. I don't entirely understand why they are so stuck on putting it down 104th yet expanding 105th. Should they not instead just leave 104th and then put the train down 105th?

105 is so close to 104th it would still benefit.

Also I sent a message to them with my feedback and got a response back that also indicated 108th as an alternate. I then responded saying 108th has virtually no left turn lanes for a large stretch between Surrey Central and Guildford which causes Vancouver-like traffic congestion problems, so unless they are planning on adding left turns, 108th is NOT an alternative to 104th.

[GMasterAres]

Originally Posted by VancouverOfTheFuture

damn that corner 102@King George. turn right across a crosswalk and 2 sets of tracks with 2 straight through lanes then crossing across 2 straght through lanes and a right turn lane 1 block away. that's many accidents waiting to happen in the span of a block.

The problem is right of way. Honestly they should be cutting over and across the parking lot at the mall. So at 101 Avenue cut diagonal across corner to corner then swing up then over and cross 102 up at the top. Rather than this cross to the center then turn then turn.

But alas because that land is all owned by someone I doubt they can do it. Either that or they should do the swing over at 100th by King George SkyTrain. So don't go all the way to 101, instead swing up at 100th to where the BestBuy used to be then cut along the mall and across 102. To me that would be far smarter.

Basically follow the SkyTrain line from King George Station to Surrey Central Station.

[Whalleyboy]

Originally Posted by jhausner

The problem is right of way. Honestly they should be cutting over and across the parking lot at the mall. So at 101 Avenue cut diagonal across corner to corner then swing up then over and cross 102 up at the top. Rather than this cross to the center then turn then turn.

But alas because that land is all owned by someone I doubt they can do it. Either that or they should do the swing over at 100th by King George SkyTrain. So don't go all the way to 101, instead swing up at 100th to where the BestBuy used to be then cut along the mall and across 102. To me that would be far smarter.

Basically follow the SkyTrain line from King George Station to Surrey Central Station.

this has been my thought as well!

[WaxItYourself]

Originally Posted by jhausner

Basically follow the SkyTrain line from King George Station to Surrey Central Station.

Or they could cross the intersection of 102 and King George, put in another light for the southbound lanes and have the tracks turn onto the newly built 102A Avenue, which will run beside the GEC education centre, and travel onward to University Drive where they will make a right turn into the station. The city plans on buying the land anyways I believe I read.

[Trainguy]

Here is an interesting news item to compare with Surrey's street car.


11 August 2017

First Track Laid for Toronto's $5.3 Billion Eglinton Crosstown Light Railway

Toronto Ontario - A major milestone has been achieved in Toronto with the first track being installed on the Eglinton Crosstown light rail system.

Phase 1 of the 19 kilometre system, which includes a 10 kilometre underground section, will have 25 stations and is expected to open in 2021, connecting Mount Dennis station in the west with Kennedy station in the east.

Once operational the LRT will carry an estimated 5,500 passengers per week.

The Ontario government is fully funding the LRT to expand transit in the city of Toronto, with an investment of $5.3 billion.

Ontario's minister of transportation Steve Del Duca said, "The installation of the first piece of track is a significant milestone for the Eglinton Crosstown LRT project. It is exciting to see how far we've come since work began in 2011. This investment will provide fast, efficient, and reliable transit for residents, commuters, and visitors in Toronto."

[VancouverOfTheFuture]

Originally Posted by Trainguy

Here is an interesting news item to compare with Surrey's street car.


11 August 2017

First Track Laid for Toronto's $5.3 Billion Eglinton Crosstown Light Railway

Toronto Ontario - A major milestone has been achieved in Toronto with the first track being installed on the Eglinton Crosstown light rail system.

Phase 1 of the 19 kilometre system, which includes a 10 kilometre underground section, will have 25 stations and is expected to open in 2021, connecting Mount Dennis station in the west with Kennedy station in the east.

Once operational the LRT will carry an estimated 5,500 passengers per week.

The Ontario government is fully funding the LRT to expand transit in the city of Toronto, with an investment of $5.3 billion.

Ontario's minister of transportation Steve Del Duca said, "The installation of the first piece of track is a significant milestone for the Eglinton Crosstown LRT project. It is exciting to see how far we've come since work began in 2011. This investment will provide fast, efficient, and reliable transit for residents, commuters, and visitors in Toronto."

thats it?!?!?! 5,500 a week????

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by VancouverOfTheFuture

thats it?!?!?! 5,500 a week????

Meanwhile the Canada Line has 138,700 and the 99B-Line has 55,700 weekday entries.

[Bdawe]

Originally Posted by Sheba

Meanwhile the Canada Line has 138,700 and the 99B-Line has 55,700 weekday entries.

guys, this is an obvious error. That's the peak hour passengers per direction

[VancouverOfTheFuture]

Originally Posted by Bdawe

guys, this is an obvious error. That's the peak hour passengers per direction

i would hope so. although i don't know anything about the line so can only go with what is written in the article. is it supposed to be like Surrey's? crappy in every way?

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by Trainguy

Here is an interesting article proposing fixing grade separated crossings.

9 August 2017

Could Rail Overpasses Improve Safety for Cars?

Coquitlam British Columbia - Two Tri-City mayors say a proposal to build overpasses at key intersections in the region to improve rail capacity could go a long way towards reducing driver inconvenience while also improving safety along a narrow stretch of Lougheed Highway in Coquitlam that was recently the scene of a tragic car accident.

Three overpasses are proposed for Colony Farm, Pitt River Road, and Kingsway Avenue while an underpass at Westwood Street is viewed as the best solution for separating rail traffic from cars, according to the Gateway Transportation Collaborative Forum.

...

...meanwhile Surrey wants to put rail down the middle of a busy road

[Bdawe]

Originally Posted by Sheba

...meanwhile Surrey wants to put rail down the middle of a busy road

These are mainline tracks, used by long, slow freight trains that can take a very long time to pass, not light rail tracks used by light rail trains that can pass in seconds

[Trainguy]

Originally Posted by Sheba

Meanwhile the Canada Line has 138,700 and the 99B-Line has 55,700 weekday entries.

Here is the link to the whole project:

http://www.thecrosstown.ca/

[scryer]

I have been following the crosstown Eglington project for a while here you guys.

I just want to highlight that most of it is underground, especially when it passes through the busiest parts of Eglington.

skytrainforsurrey.org

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by Bdawe

guys, this is an obvious error. That's the peak hour passengers per direction

Originally Posted by scryer

I have been following the crosstown Eglington project for a while here you guys.

I just want to highlight that most of it is underground, especially when it passes through the busiest parts of Eglington.

skytrainforsurrey.org

What is the Crosstown?

The Crosstown is a light rail transit (LRT) line that will run across Eglinton Avenue between Mount Dennis (Weston Road) and Kennedy Station. This 19-kilometre corridor will include a 10-kilometre underground portion, between Keele Street and Laird Drive.

...

The Crosstown will have up to 25 stations and stops. It will link to 54 bus routes, three subway stations and various GO Transit lines.


High Capacity

The projected ridership of the Crosstown is 5,500 passengers per hour in the peak direction by 2031. The capacity of an LRT is 15,000 passengers per hour, per direction. LRT cars can be removed or added easily, thus providing the flexibility to accommodate ridership demands.

[cornholio]

Originally Posted by CanSpice

I know that bike lanes aren't on this map and that King George isn't really meant for bikes, but bicycles are probably going to be going down King George every now and then. The low "angle of attack" between the direction bikes will be going and the rail lines will lead to numerous single-rider crashes as described in this article. Watch the video of people bailing and imagine how bad King George & 101 Ave is going to be. 102 Ave is going to be bonkers for cyclists too.

Here in Prague the LRT / trams cause fairly serious issues for cyclists. My brother last month nearly killed him self when his tire got caught in one the tracks with a on coming tram. (keep in mind Prague has 145km's of LRT/tram track with a annual ridership of 358 mill as of 2015...compared to Vancouvers skytrain network with only 137 million riders in 2016). So those 143km's see lots of use, 399 trams in operation at peak times to be exact.

They work pretty well and move as you can see lots of people but their also not rapid transit, they serve shorter routes and work along with the subway (456mill annual riders 2015) serving longer distances and the integrated rail network with another 36 mill riders 2015 serving even longer distances.

The point trams lines are most definitely not bike and pedestrian friendly.

Side note interesting info/data here about the transport network in Prague for anyone that is interested (all modes and in English...lots of numbers) http://www.tsk-praha.cz/static/udi-rocenka-2015-en.pdf

Trams:
21 day lines and 9 night lines
52% dedicated track bed, 48% shared
272 stops + 596 stops by signal
average distance between stops 525 meters
average speed 18.8km/h
ridership 358,284,000 anual (1,188,000 daily)
399 trams at peak
operating 24 hours a day

I still have no idea why Surrey is building this. It does not fill their need. The distances and lack of grade separation makes this useless as a single tram line. I just feel so sorry for the region and where it is headed with this sort of planning for the little infrastructure they are building.

Side note. Prague also has some growing and impressive bike infrastructure outside of the old center that is just on a whole other level from anything in Vancouver.

[Sheba]

Is this TransLink's way of saying they don't like Surrey's LRT plans without coming right out and saying it?

Buzzer Blog - Links and Tidbits
• Video Link

[Bdawe]

Originally Posted by Sheba

Is this TransLink's way of saying they don't like Surrey's LRT plans without coming right out and saying it?

Buzzer Blog - Links and Tidbits
• Video Link

what a surprisingly hostile thing for them to draw attention to

[VancouverOfTheFuture]

Originally Posted by Bdawe

what a surprisingly hostile thing for them to draw attention to

drawing attention to facts is hostile? okay then.