Millennium Line - Broadway Extension: Planning & Pre-Construction

[officedweller]

Is there a layover spot where the driver can rest?

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by officedweller

Is there a layover spot where the driver can rest?

They seem to be setup pretty well at UBC for layover facilities so I assume they could just use that.

[Migrant_Coconut]

I hope the left-turn lane across the street becomes much bigger than it is right now. There's going to be at least one bus sitting there at all times.

[scryer]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

I hope the left-turn lane across the street becomes much bigger than it is right now. There's going to be at least one bus sitting there at all times.

We could always extend it all the way to UBC to avoid this problem to begin with .

Personally I am particularly interested in the Mount Pleasant station's design. Specifically I want to know if they will be designing it similarly to Broadway-City Hall station in that it will have walls that can be easily removed to become a future interchange station. I'm pretty sure that it won't be constructed like that because it will be an island platform but Translink has had a habit of constructing infrastructure to be expanded upon later like the King George alignment pointing towards Fraser Highway, the spur of the Millennium line after Coquitlam Central station pointing towards Port Coquitlam, and the Broadway-City Hall Station's "easily" removable walls so I think that outside of the extension to UBC that it will be interesting to see what else they install (or perhaps they don't build any spurs or potential interchange stations at all).

[SpongeG]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

These were the preliminary renderings they posted.





Wild guess will be unload on Arbutus and then two loading bays in the "loop"

it looks very suburban, like something you would see in Vaughn

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by scryer

We could always extend it all the way to UBC to avoid this problem to begin with .

Personally I am particularly interested in the Mount Pleasant station's design. Specifically I want to know if they will be designing it similarly to Broadway-City Hall station in that it will have walls that can be easily removed to become a future interchange station. I'm pretty sure that it won't be constructed like that because it will be an island platform but Translink has had a habit of constructing infrastructure to be expanded upon later like the King George alignment pointing towards Fraser Highway, the spur of the Millennium line after Coquitlam Central station pointing towards Port Coquitlam, and the Broadway-City Hall Station's "easily" removable walls so I think that outside of the extension to UBC that it will be interesting to see what else they install (or perhaps they don't build any spurs or potential interchange stations at all).

Interchange with what at Mount Pleasant?

Also, I'm pretty sure that none of the blowout walls that the Broadway Subway is using at Broadway-City Hall were a result of planning as a future interchange station but secondary exits for the Canada Line or platform expansion?

[Migrant_Coconut]

I think that's the suggestion - secondary exits for the other corners of the intersections. Probably not catastrophic if left out, but Mount Pleasant's only going to get bigger, and it'd be nice to have options.

[scryer]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

Interchange with what at Mount Pleasant?

A future N-S relief line. Again I think it's unlikely but these are qualities that I am particularly keen on looking out for when it comes to any Skytrain extension.

[officedweller]

Yeah, there won't ever be a SkyTrain line down Main St. (too close to Cambie), so any knock out panels would not be for an "interchange" to another line, but could be for additional exit points, but with the pedestrian nature of Main St. and Mt. Pleasant, I doubt they would see the need for it. If the station were across from Kingsgate Mall and a big redevelopment site, then maybe.

Any relief line on the east side would probably be under Victoria and Commercial Drive or Knight and Clark Dr.

Broadway City Hall Station was planned with a Broadway M-Line extension in mind, but more likely it was going to go under 10th Ave. at the time. Not sure if the west-facing mezzanine knock-out panel was intended to access the Broadway extension or just the proposed entrance at Crossroads. Anyways, it's nice to see the proposed layout will allow for access from the platforms, rather than the mezzanine.

[jollyburger]

Yeah, you're correct that it was for Crossroads and a potential Millennium extension along Broadway or 10th Avenue:

A technically less complicated and less costly future underground pedestrian
connection between the station and the NW corner of Broadway and Cambie into the
Crossroads development. As part of the approval of the Crossroads development, the
owner is required to provide space for a future station entrance to better connect the
station with westbound buses and shops on the north side of Broadway. A connection
between Crossroads and the mid-block location would be via the “Dairy Queen” site
(Figure 1). A connection to Crossroads from the platforms under 10th Avenue would
require a more complicated and expensive excavation into the basement of the
VanCity building.
• A location that is “balanced” with respect to future underground connections to a
Millennium Line extension that could be under either 10th Avenue or Broadway

https://council.vancouver.ca/20060711/documents/a9.pdf

[scottN]

Originally Posted by officedweller

Yeah, there won't ever be a SkyTrain line down Main St. (too close to Cambie), so any knock out panels would not be for an "interchange" to another line, but could be for additional exit points, but with the pedestrian nature of Main St. and Mt. Pleasant, I doubt they would see the need for it. If the station were across from Kingsgate Mall and a big redevelopment site, then maybe.

Any relief line on the east side would probably be under Victoria and Commercial Drive or Knight and Clark Dr.

Broadway City Hall Station was planned with a Broadway M-Line extension in mind, but more likely it was going to go under 10th Ave. at the time. Not sure if the west-facing mezzanine knock-out panel was intended to access the Broadway extension or just the proposed entrance at Crossroads. Anyways, it's nice to see the proposed layout will allow for access from the platforms, rather than the mezzanine.

I think the best option for an Expo relief line should head out of downtown along Main Street then along Kingsway then turn south on Fraser or Knight. This would pick up downtown bound trips from southeast Vancouver and bypass them around the Expo line peak demand segment of Commercial Broadway to Main Street. While any such development is a long way off, that doesn't mean we can't plan for it. After all the evergreen line built a switch for an extension to port coquitlam that isn't on the translink long term plan, and the expo and millenium lines still have several yet to be build "future stations".

[logan5]

A relief line going up Main Street to at least Broadway makes some sense. Mt. Pleasant is already quite dense, but will be even denser once the Broadway Line is complete. And with a massive new hospital and lots of new development along the Main Street corridor, there will be high demand for transit.

The Broadway corridor is going to look much like downtown Vancouver in a few decades, so having another Skytrain line close by should feel quite normal, just as there are Skytrain stations from 2 different line close together downtown.

[officedweller]

I don't think you'd be able to build another diagonal line. The Expo line took advantage of the old Interurban RoW. Under Kingsway may make sense - depends which neighbourhoods are prioritized because Mt. Pleasant will have a station on the Broadway extension and the tech developments on Main are on the edge of walkability to Main St station.

I could see a Hastings line branch to the south along Clark or Commercial.
(ie exit downtown to the north of Expo line to hit unserved Strathcona / northern Commercial Drive, then south) - but then again, Commercial Drive has Commercial-Broadway station and is resistant to development.

Originally Posted by jollyburger

Yeah, you're correct that it was for Crossroads and a potential Millennium extension along Broadway or 10th Avenue:

https://council.vancouver.ca/20060711/documents/a9.pdf

Nice, thanks for looking that up.

[VancouverOfTheFuture]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

I hope the left-turn lane across the street becomes much bigger than it is right now. There's going to be at least one bus sitting there at all times.

what i heard is it is being lengthened to hold 2, 60ft buses. i think they should add in some extra space for more than just 2 buses, but it is the CoV we are talking about. we are lucky they aren't removing the turn lane.

[bluefox]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

it looks very suburban, like something you would see in Vaughn

I think you meant to say "neighbourhood character", this is NIMBYland after all.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by VancouverOfTheFuture

what i heard is it is being lengthened to hold 2, 60ft buses. i think they should add in some extra space for more than just 2 buses, but it is the CoV we are talking about. we are lucky they aren't removing the turn lane.

I guess they can equip them with priority lights for the buses as well.

[scottN]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

I guess they can equip them with priority lights for the buses as well.

Commercial & Broadway, which is far busier with both automobile and bus traffic doesn't have any bus priority measures today. It's just a normal sensor activated advance left turn.

[logan5]

delete

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by VancouverOfTheFuture

what i heard is it is being lengthened to hold 2, 60ft buses. i think they should add in some extra space for more than just 2 buses, but it is the CoV we are talking about. we are lucky they aren't removing the turn lane.

Heh, if it were Vision in office, I'd be quietly shushing you right now.

[Aroundtheworld]

Before any relief rapid transit line down Commercial Dr., you will see a Rapidbus route down Commercial Dr., one that can hopefully be gradually upgraded to BRT through signal priority and a dedicated corridor.