Metro Vancouver Road Infrastructure Discussion

[VancouverOfTheFuture]

Originally Posted by giallo

Canada sort of has a global responsibility to let other members of this planet have access to basic things like clean water and land.

i never understood this. Why? why should we always be bailing out the world? we aren't the united nations. if they want resources, they can pay for them whatever we decide to sell them for, or they can get their own.

but when immigration to Canada = everyone moving to the same cities, that really doesn't do much for us at all. it also doesn't help us when many have dual citizenship; who are they actually going to support in a conflict? i have yet to see any benefit to Canadians with this mass immigration.

it also doesn't help when the Lieberal government gets rid of long running policies that prevent people from being a drain on our already strained medical system. because that is what we need, more people who have never paid into our system to — out resources from it. someone has to pay for it, and it isn't them.

[GeeCee]

This is the road infrastructure discussion thread, right?

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by Klazu

How about the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade statistics I had on the quickly dwindling number of businesses in Vancouver while suburbs are seeing double-digit growth? You conveniently left that out... of course.

It provided no numbers other than "losing businesses" which is a weird way to frame things, since job numbers are increasing, and commercial office space is experiencing a building boom. I guess all of those idiot investors aren't clued in to the parking situation.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by Klazu

It's not really all that complicated and we either need to invest into our infrastructure or limit the number of people coming in. These are both just as viable political decisions, but strong ideology prevents crucial decisions on both.

You're an immigrant aren't you?

[CanSpice]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

It provided no numbers other than "losing businesses" which is a weird way to frame things, since job numbers are increasing, and commercial office space is experiencing a building boom. I guess all of those idiot investors aren't clued in to the parking situation.

I suspect because a storefront with a FOR LEASE sign is a lot more visible to the general public than an office space in a tower that's empty. They may be intentionally framing or unintentionally biased by the more visible signs of "losing business" because it's right in people's faces.

[Tvisforme]

Originally Posted by VancouverOfTheFuture

i never understood this. Why? why should we always be bailing out the world? we aren't the united nations. if they want resources, they can pay for them whatever we decide to sell them for, or they can get their own.

We are the United Nations in the sense that the UN is the sum of its parts; it is more than just an organization, it is based on the idea that we share one planet. We help the less fortunate because we are a very wealthy country with bountiful resources and living conditions that are the envy of much of the planet. Put simply, it is the right thing to do. If you want a more pragmatic justification, we're a small country by population standards; while geography may work in our favour for self-defence, we don't have the means to defend ourselves from large-scale attacks. I'm certainly not suggesting that we should give away everything without consideration of our own needs. However, if we sit here, awash with riches, refusing to help the less fortunate parts of the world, what sort of position would that put us in when global power shifts?

[logicbomb]

Originally Posted by VancouverOfTheFuture

i never understood this. Why? why should we always be bailing out the world? we aren't the united nations. if they want resources, they can pay for them whatever we decide to sell them for, or they can get their own.

but when immigration to Canada = everyone moving to the same cities, that really doesn't do much for us at all. it also doesn't help us when many have dual citizenship; who are they actually going to support in a conflict? i have yet to see any benefit to Canadians with this mass immigration. .

It is a touchy subject. This country needs immigration to support the economy as we are seeing massive labour shortfalls that necessitate more temporary foreign workers. May as well get a stable workforce via immigrants than rely on excess TFW's that send money. We aren't doing this from any global obligation or the kindness of our heart. It's not a matter of doing this from a global obligation, but a matter of doing this to ensure we are an economic player in the global economy.

The problem is our cities are heavily lagging behind in meeting the demands of a larger population. Road infrastructure is laughable and many arterials that are already heavily congested are seeing more intersections and developments added to it. You see this in the GTA area and the Metro Vancouver area as well. SE Marine Dr has seen many lights added to it and the high levels of traffic will further congest that SE Vancouver area.

Politicians are overly ambitious about upping population without appropriately building things. Adding to the issue is the negative stigma behind road and infrastructure when we still need roads and road improvements.

[CivicBlues]

The notion that we have to populate our untamed wilderness in the North in order to "defend" it is a bit anachronistic don't you think? Mass armies moving around invading countries is so last century. Great powers want resources and they'll be able to get resources without firing a shot if they need to.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Russia's been a bit annex-happy, but they're hardly short on wood. It's bigger than defence though - like I mentioned in another thread, BC's eventually going to need a second city.

[logicbomb]

Frustrating at how Vancouver has created more congestion on Nanaimo St by reducing it to 1 lane between East 1st Ave and Dundas. Just incredibly slow going through that stretch. Apparently Renfew is next as well.

[Klazu]

Originally Posted by logicbomb

Frustrating at how Vancouver has created more congestion on Nanaimo St by reducing it to 1 lane between East 1st Ave and Dundas. Just incredibly slow going through that stretch. Apparently Renfew is next as well.

Was the new bike lane also congested?

[logicbomb]

Originally Posted by Klazu

Was the new bike lane also congested?

I saw 1 cyclist...and he was without a helmet.

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by logicbomb

Frustrating at how Vancouver has created more congestion on Nanaimo St by reducing it to 1 lane between East 1st Ave and Dundas. Just incredibly slow going through that stretch. Apparently Renfew is next as well.

I've actually found it to flow very nicely. There are now dedicated left- and right-turn lanes at every intersection, so there's no longer any delays for through traffic except when dimwitted drivers block the through lane waiting to turn. These are apparently the same oblivious maladroits who don't have the courtesy to pull over close to the curb while making right turns on other streets with parking lanes so that traffic can flow past them.

[Klazu]

Originally Posted by logicbomb

I saw 1 cyclist...and he was without a helmet.

You don't say! That sounds like something CoV will urgently fix with more bike lane along the entire Nanaimo Street.

I am going to miss the old Nanaimo. The last non-congested and smoothly flowing arterial on Vancouver soil and there's the problem they will look into fixing. It has almost felt like a cheat when driving between Metrotown and the northern part of Downtown.

[hollywoodnorth]

NDP Bandage mentality >>


New interchange, Highway 99 improvements to relieve traffic congestion

A request for qualifications for the Steveston interchange replacement was issued on Tuesday, June 22, 2021, with a request for proposals planned for early fall 2021. With a successful contract award, construction on the Steveston interchange is planned to begin in 2022 and be completed in 2025.

Tenders for the Highway 99 bus-on-shoulder lane extension and the transit and cycling improvements at Bridgeport Road and Highway 17A will go out this week. Work is expected to begin this fall.


https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2021TRAN...A5r3dsOlHaKG8CbxHguFaXzhxkM-osr4D9VnUsb4

[xd_1771]

Okay hold up:

Transit improvements:

• South of the tunnel, bus-on-shoulder lanes along Highway 99 will be extended in both directions. This work will include:
  • (southbound, 2.5km from Hwy 17A to Hwy 17)
  • (southbound, 3.4km from Hwy 17 to Ladner Trunk)
  • (northbound, 3.5km from Ladner Trunk to the existing HOV lane)
• At the Highway 99/Highway 17A interchange, the Highway 99 northbound off-ramp and on-ramp will be widened to add a second lane for bus priority.
• Highway 17A lanes will be widened and reconfigured to support eastbound bus/HOV priority.
• North of the tunnel, at Bridgeport Road, a new bus-only access will be created from Bridgeport Road to Highway 99 southbound. This will improve access to the highway for transit and make the commute even quicker.
  • This means adding new and widening existing southbound Highway 99 on-ramps to give transit priority from Bridgeport Road, and the addition of multi-use path connections from Oak Street Bridge.

IDK about you guys but as a transit user (and as someone who personally finds the shoulder bus lanes to be quite fine), these improvements kind of excite me! It is regretful that there won't be a new Highway 17A/99 bus exchange, but honestly, that's about it. Plus, having experienced the median bus stations of the Silver Line in Los Angeles, I've decidedly become not a fan of the style of bus station that was proposed previously.

In particular, the new bus-only access from Bridgeport Road to Highway 99 (bolded) excites me greatly. When departing Bridgeport, the double intersection and the (terribly short) left turn from Great Canadian Way to Sea Island Way have become a massive bottleneck for all buses leaving Bridgeport. In peak hours it's become impossible to get through without a lengthy multi-signal wait.

Bus access from Bridgeport, I imagine, would look something like this (note that I've also highlighted the bus-only lane that TransLink independently plans to create on Bridgeport):



So rather than passing through the Bridgeport signal and turning left onto Sea Island, buses can take the first left turn onto Bridgeport (I imagine this turn lane will be extended or become bus-only as part of the TransLink/City of Richmond project).

This will also allow the commuter buses (351, 601 etc.) to stop at Gage Rd in both directions, assuming TransLink is willing to add stops. This will be extremely useful since there's a huge office complex being built on the other side of the Oak Street Bridge (where the dirt mounds are in the photo top-right) that's almost complete. If TL introduces stops, that complex will gain access to South of Fraser commuters.

[VancouverOfTheFuture]

Originally Posted by xd_1771

In particular, the new bus-only access from Bridgeport Road to Highway 99 (bolded) excites me greatly. When departing Bridgeport, the double intersection and the (terribly short) left turn from Great Canadian Way to Sea Island Way have become a massive bottleneck for all buses leaving Bridgeport. In peak hours it's become impossible to get through without a lengthy multi-signal wait.

man the NDP really did butcher this project. they cancel the Massey replacement, (which included this) to end up spending more money , for what i am sure will be something less. then they start to piecemeal these worse designs from the project that was already designed, approved, and under construction.

so we get less, spend more, and it takes longer.

Originally Posted by officedweller

The good stuff is in the Technical Presentation.

Go to the Document Library:
http://engage.gov.bc.ca/masseytunnel/documentlibrary/

http://engage.gov.bc.ca/masseytunnel/fil...2-16_Technical-Briefing-Presentation.pdf
Note Bridgeport transit ramp from HOV to a new(?) road under the Oak St. Bridge

Originally Posted by urbancanadian

[xd_1771]

Originally Posted by VancouverOfTheFuture

man the NDP really did butcher this project. they cancel the Massey replacement, (which included this) to end up spending more money , for what i am sure will be something less. then they start to piecemeal these worse designs from the project that was already designed, approved, and under construction.

so we get less, spend more, and it takes longer.

You mean the awkward curved ramp that requires buses to come to a full stop (stop signs!?!) and where the off-ramp is located just before the point where the median HOV lane merges left into regular traffic??? Like, there's a 100% chance that this exit would be blocked by traffic on a daily basis, with buses forced to wait in the lineup of cars until they actually reach the exit, which is not the case today.

A bus lane is a bus lane, whether it's in the shoulder or in the median - although I should point out, the original design would put buses in HOV lanes, not bus exclusive lanes, meaning they would be mixing with significant commuter traffic.

Honestly, I've come to realize (esp. as I've become a regular user of the tunnel buses) that the original George Massey and Highway 99 expansion had a design that was not only looking for excuses to spend all of the money, but for the most part offered downgrades (yes, I believe it would have not been an upgrade) to the experience for South of Fraser transit commuters.

I didn't like the freeway median island bus platforms in Los Angeles and I don't think I would have liked them here.

[Metro-One]

The shoulder bus lanes are terrible because the shoulders are where you also park broken down vehicles, they cut across every on and off ramp, and they directly conflict with any potential cyclists.

Also your idea has the bus lane cutting directly across the off ramp to Aea Island Way, which will for sure require a traffic signal.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

The shoulder bus lanes are terrible because the shoulders are where you also park broken down vehicles, they cut across every on and off ramp, and they directly conflict with any potential cyclists.

Any potential cyclist on Hwy 99 needs their head examined.