Broadway Subway - Millennium Line Extension to Arbutus | U/C

[jollyburger]

They've been closing off the North side of Broadway the last two days so I assume they are doing work at Quebec with the new intersection for buses.

EDIT: Looks like they might be installing new traffic signals. They just announced the closure will start at 7AM on Jan 26th.



https://trafficcams.vancouver.ca/mainBroadway.htm



https://www.broadwaysubway.ca/construction/current-work/

[madog222]

^The closure is listed until 1 May on Road Ahead, shorter than the four months originally announced. Of course, that’s not a definitive end date.

[officedweller]

Project twitter today:


Once the roof over each underground station is completed, crews stamp it with a maple leaf. Arbutus Station was the 6th and final station to be stamped.
In this photo from December, can you spot the Loonie featuring Elsie MacGill imprinted into the concrete?
https://x.com/broadwaysubway_/status/2011906323936350303

[whatnext]

Those road closures are going to be devastating to nearby businesses and will mess up traffic in an area already heavily impacted with various closures. Won’t this put closure at Cambie right around the time of FIFA? According to this article the project is two years behind schedule and $100 million over budget:

https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2026/01/25/vancouver-broadway-closure-subway-construction/

[dpogue]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Those road closures are going to be devastating to nearby businesses and will mess up traffic in an area already heavily impacted with various closures. Won’t this put closure at Cambie right around the time of FIFA? According to this article the project is two years behind schedule and $100 million over budget:

https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2026/01/25/vancouver-broadway-closure-subway-construction/

As far as I know, there has been no mention of a complete closure at Cambie or any other station sites. That sounds like complete speculation from the director of the BIA.

Also worth pointing out that none of these businesses currently have street-facing vehicle access because of the road decking, so it's not clear to me why the argument holds that this 4 month detour will somehow cause more significant lost business.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Those road closures are going to be devastating to nearby businesses and will mess up traffic in an area already heavily impacted with various closures. Won’t this put closure at Cambie right around the time of FIFA? According to this article the project is two years behind schedule and $100 million over budget:

https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2026/01/25/vancouver-broadway-closure-subway-construction/

It's two years behind an initial estimate of how long construction might take, but that was in 2020, before a strike by concrete plants, and six months extra for the tunnel boring. A fall 2027 date for opening was announced in May 2024. And the government Fall 2024 fiscal update noted that the project had seen a relatively slight cost increase of 4.5% or $127 million, growing from $2.827 billion to $2.954 billion.

[jollyburger]

They are working overnight today to get the road changes in place for the closure.









https://trafficcams.vancouver.ca/mainBroadway.htm

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by dpogue

As far as I know, there has been no mention of a complete closure at Cambie or any other station sites. That sounds like complete speculation from the director of the BIA.

Also worth pointing out that none of these businesses currently have street-facing vehicle access because of the road decking, so it's not clear to me why the argument holds that this 4 month detour will somehow cause more significant lost business.

They've said each station will be unique but unless the utility restoration work is not as bad at other intersections it's hard to see how they avoid road closures.

Work to remove the remaining four traffic decks along Broadway will be staggered as much as possible to minimize the impact on people moving through the corridor. The conditions at each station site are unique, and each site will require a customized approach to complete this work efficiently. We’ll have more details to share in advance of work beginning at each station block.

https://app.webtrackz.com/?q=email/view/14U6K4yY9lOgsO0T9RrdVKbrsykn0dGUEY_uhI94AE3nsLSbgiqv17sg

[madog222]

I’ve wondered about how the proximity of the Lee Building adds to the complexity at Main.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by madog222

I’ve wondered about how the proximity of the Lee Building adds to the complexity at Main.

Yeah maybe there's more intricate work than on the other sites



https://blog.allnorth.com/minimizing-impact-on-traffic-calls-for-specialty-engineering-solutions

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

They've said each station will be unique but unless the utility restoration work is not as bad at other intersections it's hard to see how they avoid road closures.

The fact that they aren't sharing plans means either it's bad news or they have no idea what they are doing.

[jollyburger]

Allnorth developed a novel design which allows for installation without halting traffic, while supporting both vertical traffic loads and horizontal soil pressures on station excavation.

The design of the traffic decks has two key objectives. First, the decks must support both the weight of traffic above, as well as act as struts between excavation faces, supporting earth pressure. Second, a construction sequence, installing the decks in pieces, must be developed to minimize the impact on traffic.

This construction sequence has led to the following specialty solutions to be applied to the structure:

Bolted splices on the main beam to allow for modularization
Precast foundations for easy installation
Adjustable connections to allow for quick installation of the deck on steel driven piles
Considering the loading and the construction sequence, the design has resulted in a total of 6,500 tonnes of steel to be used for temporary purposes. Each traffic deck constitutes multiple bays of a beam-girder system with deck panels consisting of maximum 12m long x 3m wide x 11 mm thick plates, supported by six W460 beams, which are in turn supported by W1100 transverse girders underpinned by W610 piles.

This project is exceptionally complicated as it takes place in an extremely busy area of Vancouver. As a result, there were continuous challenges that necessitated ongoing problem solving and the application of out of the box solutions. Several sophisticated innovative approaches were developed such as a novel and unique construction sequence solution that resolved the continuous traffic flow problem which drastically reduced the construction schedule for the traffic decks. Another major challenge was supporting the Capilano #5 watermain, a 1,800mm diameter pipe with wall thickness of 12.7mm spanning across 20m over the excavation, ensuring contingency and non-disruptive utility service throughout construction.

https://www.allnorth.com/projects/broadway-subway-project/

[jollyburger]

DH has video/photos of all the detour intersections





https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/broadway...nue-subway-construction-detour-vancouver

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

...there were continuous challenges that necessitated ongoing problem solving and the application of out of the box solutions. Several sophisticated innovative approaches were developed such as a novel and unique construction sequence solution...

I sure hope an engineer was overseeing these "innovative approaches". There are an awful lot of disasters caused by contractors deciding to make "small and inconsequential" changes to things to facilitate construction.

[jollyburger]

Spring 2025 newsletter from the Vancouver Geotechnical Society has an indepth section about the Arbutus shoring work

https://issuu.com/kelmanonline/docs/canadian_geotechnique_spring_2025

The steel work was from Saskatchewan Saskarc

Steel detailing is the quiet backbone of excavation support projects and it doesn’t always get the credit it deserves. Done well, it turns complex engineering intent into clear, buildable instructions that make fabrication accurate, installation straightforward, and crews safer. Done poorly, it can stop cranes mid-lift, force costly redesigns, or bring an entire jobsite to a standstill.

In this article, we dig into why steel detailing is so critical for temporary works like struts, walers, traffic decking and equipment decking. You’ll see how good steel detailers anticipate problems, whether it is heavy members, changing site conditions, or tight schedules, and often save clients far more than the detailing fee itself. We will also share real project lessons, showing how proactive involvement can prevent issues long before steel arrives on site.

https://inframod.com/what-is-steel-detailing-in-support-of-excavation-projects/

https://inframod.com/wp-content/uploads/...IED.pdf#toolbar=0&navpanes=0&scrollbar=0

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

Spring 2025 newsletter from the Vancouver Geotechnical Society has an indepth section about the Arbutus shoring work

Nice find, thanks!

Interesting to see the amount of engineering that goes into these "temporary" works, it helps to explain where all that money goes...

[s211]

Put up your hand if you think that road closures at the other stations will be kept secret as long as possible, and be just as disruptive as the closure at Main, if not even greater. Broadway at Cambie would be gridlock.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by s211

Put up your hand if you think that road closures at the other stations will be kept secret as long as possible, and be just as disruptive as the closure at Main, if not even greater. Broadway at Cambie would be gridlock.

I mean if Broadway/Cambie has a similar detour/timeline then it will be safe to assume the rest of the stations will have a similar setup. I guess finding some way to squeeze the 99 through those detours might be their biggest issue and Cambie will have a lot more pedestrian foot traffic than this corner of Main.



https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/local...re-vancouver-drone-traffic-2026-11799433

Jan 2026 project update.

Rails now run all the way from VCC-Clark Station to Arbutus Station in the westbound tunnel, connecting the Millennium Line to the west side of Vancouver through the Broadway corridor.

More than 19 kilometres of rail was installed in 2025 out of a total of 22 kilometres that make up the Millennium Line extension. As rail installation nears the finish line, crews are now turning their attention to the other components that make up the SkyTrain tracks.

Next up is the Linear Induction Motor (LIM) rail. Installation has started on the elevated guideway and will move east to west across the alignment. Made of aluminum and steel, the LIM rail is what drives the SkyTrain forward. The SkyTrain reacts with the rail using electromagnetic energy to accelerate or brake.

The final piece of the puzzle to complete the SkyTrain track is the power rail, which runs alongside the track and delivers electricity to the train. Installation of the power rail will begin later this year. Alongside the track, new communications cables are also being pulled into place to control the trains.

https://app.webtrackz.com/?q=email/view/14U6K4yY9lOgsO0T9RrdVKbl6s5h_HvZNexvj7We1Ha6gLSbgiqv17sg

[bluefox]

Originally Posted by s211

Put up your hand if you think that road closures at the other stations will be kept secret as long as possible, and be just as disruptive as the closure at Main, if not even greater. Broadway at Cambie would be gridlock.

Assume this is true... what would be the alternative? An even longer timeline to completion? People will be unhappy either way. It's a massive transportation project disrupting a major employment, transit and healthcare corridor in one of the densest parts of the metro; quite frankly, it's a miracle we've only seen it delayed to next year.

[officedweller]

Note the vents (not an exit) in the sidewalk on Quebec St. in that pic above.


https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/l...-2026-11799433


https://www.broadwaysubway.ca/mount-pleasant-station-image-gallery/