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

[Jimbo604]

Edit

[djh]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

Sorry, but how is the Kingsgate Mall is one of the most valuable and underdeveloped lots in the city?

.

What I mean is not in terms of land value, but in other measures. Great location, at a major node for transit, in a great community, easy to access the water, great services and shopping and social facilities and reasonably-priced housing nearby. There aren't many locations that match it in all of those terms. So it does make it a valuable location to redevelop.

[jollyburger]

More pre-demo work around the South Granville Station:

The Broadway Subway Project Corporation (BSPC) will be in your neighbourhood next week to begin abatement work along the 1400 block of West Broadway. Abatement work is required prior to structural demolition at the following buildings along West Broadway: 1409, 1431, 1441 and 1451. We will provide an update before demolition begins. We are coordinating our construction activities with PCI‘s active projects in the area to minimize disruption to your community.

[mcminsen]

Originally Posted by Jimbo604

Main and Broadway future station site

Photo credit: me

Demolition under way today at the SW corner of Main and Broadway.




Feb.17 '21, my pics

[Mac Write]

I really wish they had used the bank building as the station house as I felt it was a historic building and would have made a nice station house with the dark granite along the bottom and light granite along the top.

[scryer]

Originally Posted by Mac Write

I really wish they had used the bank building as the station house as I felt it was a historic building and would have made a nice station house with the dark granite along the bottom and light granite along the top.

We're talking the Bank of Montreal building on the corner and not the Lee Building, right? Just double checking .

Yeah it would be nice to have a heritage station but from a developer's perspective it would be much easier to redevelop a parking lot than to retrofit a heritage building with a smaller floorplate (old BMO building) to handle Skytrain capacities. Just to jump into fantasy mode: I think that if the station were to look to develop a second entrance then maybe the BMO building could be retrofitted then?

Personally I foresee the BMO building getting bought up by a developer and integrated into a tower of some sort.

Back to the station: I may have just missed this in the conversation but would Mt. Pleasant station actually be viable to be constructed upon at a later time (much like the South Granville station)? My apologies if this has already been discussed. A simple "yes" or "no" works in this case.

[madog222]

Originally Posted by scryer

Back to the station: I may have just missed this in the conversation but would Mt. Pleasant station actually be viable to be constructed upon at a later time (much like the South Granville station)?

Yes, both Mount Pleasant and Great Northern Way stations are designed to allow for development above the station in the future.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by scryer

We're talking the Bank of Montreal building on the corner and not the Lee Building, right? Just double checking .

Yeah it would be nice to have a heritage station but from a developer's perspective it would be much easier to redevelop a parking lot than to retrofit a heritage building with a smaller floorplate (old BMO building) to handle Skytrain capacities. Just to jump into fantasy mode: I think that if the station were to look to develop a second entrance then maybe the BMO building could be retrofitted then?

Personally I foresee the BMO building getting bought up by a developer and integrated into a tower of some sort.

Mac Write was probably talking about the Bank of Commerce (CIBC) that's just being demolished for the new station.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by madog222

Yes, both Mount Pleasant and Great Northern Way stations are designed to allow for development above the station in the future.

I guess all the stations are designed to accomodate development adjacent or above with their more flat rectangular station design. I think one of the early Mount Pleasant station designs had a huge 2 storey glass entrance.

Specifically Mount Pleasant has a 3m wide gap to the east for columns of an overhead development and concourse level knockout walls for connection.

Broadway-City Hall has a removable or replacable roof design for connection to any development next door.

[scryer]

Originally Posted by Changing City

Mac Write was probably talking about the Bank of Commerce (CIBC) that's just being demolished for the new station.

I see. I stand corrected. I usually lose my orientation on that specific intersection anywho. Thank you.

[casper]

Originally Posted by scryer

I see. I stand corrected. I usually lose my orientation on that specific intersection anywho. Thank you.

Some people think of it as a Tim Horton. But many still remember it as a CIBC with wood paneling and a a large mural. Sad to see it go.

[Jimbo604]

Photo source: me

Kaput and almost kaput.

[Feathered Friend]

Ironically, the only Broadway Subway station that can’t accommodate further development is the same one that a 1,400 signature petition sought to halt. A lack of foresight means Vancouver’s Arbutus stop will only be able to add further landscaping to calm these voices.

The province’s authority means the Development Permit Board’s unanimously endorsed recommendations may never come to pass. Despite this, they added language calling for washrooms, & extra elevators to responds to our city’s future needs, & one hoped for more bike parking too.

They also believed these stations should better reflect their respective communities, & that more consultation with the First Nations was needed. Only three public speakers attended this meeting, with two expressing that the Arbutus station was unacceptably close to a nearby school.

https://twitter.com/City_Duo/status/1365105895751831554?s=20

[Migrant_Coconut]

Let's be real - the moment the planners declared Arbutus would have a bus loop, there was no chance in hell of a station development. Most you can get now is a short pavilion like the 720 Beatty one beside the stadium.

[madog222]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

Let's be real - the moment the planners declared Arbutus would have a bus loop, there was no chance in hell of a station development. Most you can get now is a short pavilion like the 720 Beatty one beside the stadium.

I think the idea is when the line is extended to UBC and the 99 is retired the bus loop can be removed and development built.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by madog222

I think the idea is when the line is extended to UBC and the 99 is retired the bus loop can be removed and development built.

That's a bingo! Probably without too much underground parking either.

[scryer]

Originally Posted by madog222

I think the idea is when the line is extended to UBC and the 99 is retired the bus loop can be removed and development built.

I wouldn't quite count the chicken just yet .

If a future study reveals that the Arbutus Greenway LRT is needed after the Millennium line extends westwards then they may repurpose the bus loop into a transfer station for LRT vehicles.

Granted, there is a way to have both a significant development structure and a transfer station all within the same lot but I foresee that Arbutus station will be left alone for a little while longer than the other stations until the COV makes a commitment to an Arbutus greenway plan - whatever the transit technology they choose to pursue for this route.

Before anything can happen, the bus loop needs to become obsolete and the 99 needs to retire as you said. And I am hoping that Translink will try to funnel other N-S bus routes (west of the Canada line, where it makes sense) into Arbutus station to try to induce a N-S demand while connecting people more conveniently to the core transit network (Skytrain). Then if the Arbutus LRT plan goes through, then Translink can redirect those N-S bus routes feeding into Arbutus Station into E-W bus routes that connect with N-S Arbutus LRT stations. But now I'm heading into fantasy mode ...

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by madog222

I think the idea is when the line is extended to UBC and the 99 is retired the bus loop can be removed and development built.

Thing is, the bus loop itself isn't conducive to development:

Either it's possible to build on top of the utilities rooms, and it's going to be a little cramped, or it isn't, and it's going to be even more cramped.

[officedweller]

Good idea to preserve flexibility for the streetcar station though.

[Feathered Friend]

Those who have pointed out that the bus loop is only an interim condition are absolutely correct. It will be gone as soon as the UBC extension is approved, which several at the meeting expressed will happen sooner than later, but will only be replaced with more landscape, and integrated into the Arbutus Greenway Walking/Biking Path. Nothing was mentioned about the the street car.

However, it’s the layout of the underground component that will permanently make it impossible to provide the foundation needed to accommodate a future building that would be economically feasible. That would have been different had the urban planning gone ahead earlier, or at least been better integrated into this process.

Sorry for not making that more clear.