Millennium Line - Broadway Extension: Planning & Pre-Construction

[GeeCee]

Originally Posted by dpogue

They tried to restrict access to Stadium station to solely from the Expo boulevard side, but it was so crowded that staff had trouble even getting to the Beatty street side to lower the grilles.

Aren't they able to turn off the Compass gates and lower the station gates from the control center?

[jollyburger]

Well the downtown stations have those weird connections to Sinclair Centre etc.

I doubt Translink has the budget to say install entrances on all four corners of Broadway and ongoing maintenance.. even if they wanted to do it.

[cganuelas1995]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

Well the downtown stations have those weird connections to Sinclair Centre etc.

I doubt Translink has the budget to say install entrances on all four corners of Broadway and ongoing maintenance.. even if they wanted to do it.

Couldn't they have smaller entrances like NYC subway style entrances, all going down to the concourse?

[Alex Mackinnon]

Originally Posted by aberdeen5698

Umm.... isn't it better to have more and bigger exits in the event of a fire?

I'm mostly saying you can't just build them to the same standard underground. Fire exits for underground station need to have their own ventilation, and are built to be mostly isolated from the rest of the structure.

[CanSpice]

Originally Posted by GeeCee

Aren't they able to turn off the Compass gates and lower the station gates from the control center?

They do but staff needs to be on hand to make sure the gates can actually be lowered. Hard to do if there's a large crowd there.

[Sheba]

The Buzzer Blog - Get involved in the environmental and socio-economic reviews for both rapid transit projects

Today, we are launching the Environmental and Socio-Economic Review process for both the Vancouver and Surrey rapid transit projects.

To get involved, please review the technical summaries for each project. Next, fill out the online surveys until November 6 for the Millennium Line Broadway Extension and Surrey–Newton–Guildford LRT projects.

[dpogue]

Originally Posted by GeeCee

Aren't they able to turn off the Compass gates and lower the station gates from the control center?

In theory the Gate Monitoring Centre could set gates to exit-only mode, but I think someone at the station needs to call up and provide them the gate ID numbers.

Station grilles can be raised remotely (and usually are in the morning) but I think they have to be lowered using a key at the actual station. Would be a huge mess of paperwork if they lowered a grille remotely and ended up trapping someone inside the station.

[Hooknose]

A Translink article said that they expect to get final commitment on the Arbutus Line and the Surrey LRT in 2018.

Does any one know if they mean January 2018 or December 2018.

[CanSpice]

Originally Posted by Hooknose

A Translink article said that they expect to get final commitment on the Arbutus Line and the Surrey LRT in 2018.

Does any one know if they mean January 2018 or December 2018.

From this story:

When it comes to Phase 2 funding, Buda said the goal is to get a funding agreement in place with the province by the end of this year or early next year.

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by Hooknose

A Translink article said that they expect to get final commitment on the Arbutus Line and the Surrey LRT in 2018.

Just to be clear, it's the "Broadway Line" that goes to Arbutus, not the "Arbutus Line".

An "Arbutus Line" would be one that follows the Arbutus corridor from Broadway southbound.

And sorry, but I have no idea when in 2018 they expect to get under way.

[M00dy]

Originally Posted by aberdeen5698

Just to be clear, it's the "Broadway Line" that goes to Arbutus, not the "Arbutus Line".

An "Arbutus Line" would be one that follows the Arbutus corridor from Broadway southbound.

And sorry, but I have no idea when in 2018 they expect to get under way.

After the funding is approved, it'll be who knows how long to put an RFQ together, RFQ Process, shortlist bidders, RFP process, and finally select a contractor.

Construction is still years away...

[casper]

Originally Posted by M00dy

After the funding is approved, it'll be who knows how long to put an RFQ together, RFQ Process, shortlist bidders, RFP process, and finally select a contractor.

Construction is still years away...

I would assume translink can get started on other aspects of the projects in parallel to the RFP.

They need to acquire land for stations, negotiate agreements with interconnected properties, probably another layer of environment and soil assessment etc. Start to think about what they do with the arbutus station to allow integration with a future arbutus line.

[M00dy]

Originally Posted by casper

I would assume translink can get started on other aspects of the projects in parallel to the RFP.

They need to acquire land for stations, negotiate agreements with interconnected properties, probably another layer of environment and soil assessment etc. Start to think about what they do with the arbutus station to allow integration with a future arbutus line.

True. I hope some of that is already in progress.

[twoNeurons]

Originally Posted by VancouverOfTheFuture

probably wont happen with Translink wanting everyone to go through 1 entrance/exit. hell that underground walkway at Stadium is still full of sand and gravel.

What is this underground walkway you speak of? I'm intrigued. Any images?

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by twoNeurons

What is this underground walkway you speak of? I'm intrigued. Any images?

From Wiki:
The station was originally constructed with a passageway under Beatty Street to the west in anticipation of future development. When the Amec Building built across Beatty Street did not link to the underground passage, the passage was closed and is currently occupied by the Lost Property Office. The staircase on the west side of Beatty was filled with sand and topped with a concrete sidewalk, so that the passage could be reopened in the future.

From a Vancouver Council Report:
The pedestrian connection to SkyTrain under Beatty Street was kept open until about 1992, and then closed because of security concerns. The isolated location and corner blind spots in the connection were considered to be a problem because of low pedestrian volumes, even after additional security measures including cameras and enhanced lighting were added. The closure did not impair station access as there is a convenient surface route across Beatty Street using the signal at Dunsmuir Street. The surface route is direct and has a slightly shorter walking distance than the underground connection, but lacks the protection from weather and traffic that the connection offers. Wheelchair access was not affected by the closure as the connection has no ramps.

[Feathered Friend]

I went down to City Hall today to see if there would be a model of 33 Cordova (Blood Alley), as the project was before the Heritage Commission today. No dice on the model, but in the Townhall room COV staff were giving a presentation to Broadway Corridor business owners. I didn't have a chance to pop into the meeting as it was closed to the public, but I thought worth posting to show the wheels really are motion.

[Metro-One]

Good to hear, thanks for the tip.

With recent highway project cancellations and the Surrey LRT becoming worse in design and capacity at every turn this is essentially the only major project I am excited for in our region (The Pattullo is also exciting but the planned 4 lane opening is anti-climatic and has resulted in some terribly planned merge points, all taking away from the excitement in that project).

I hope they don't drop the ball on this as well.

[logan5]

Originally Posted by Feathered Friend

I've heard from several sources that a Broadway Corridor rezoning plan will start next year, so hopefully it won't be a long wait/process.

This will be a tough one for the Cov. Will they be willing to rezone the walk-ups along the corridor? Up to now the City has left affordable walk-ups alone. Then there are all the detached homes on the west side.

Somethings gotta give, otherwise there's not much opportunity to up zone except along Broadway itself.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Say, any ideas on where they're going to put the Main or Granville stations? There isn't much room left on either street...

[a very long weekend]

@ logan: the city won't do anything but the province could upzone the broadway corridor (or anything else it wanted). there's a great misapprehension among almost everyone, including many on this very board, that the vancouver charter or some imaginary constitution precludes that sort of action, but it doesn't. people are imputing american constitutional norms to canada. in fact (and, of course, at law), the city is a creation of the province and the legislature could do anything it desires, as vancouverites saw with how the province replaced the school board. that includes upzoning the city of vancouver at will. so, if the city situation looks hopeless because the NIMBYs and city property value mafia command the politicians' attention, there's still a path forward: the province. but even there, it's not all that likely, since the NDP won pretty much the entire broadway corridor.