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Blue Line/Southwest Transitway


DavidW

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8 minutes ago, trebor204 said:

 

Overpass over Letellier Sub

Almost looks like one of those toy bridges from the wooden railway train sets I had, as a kid. I'd complain, but then again, it's surrounded by power lines, so probably no reason to make it any more artistic...

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On 6/2/2019 at 5:13 PM, DavidW said:

I wonder if the underpasses are high enough for double decker buses... now that New Flyer is the world's leading manufacturer of double-deckers. ?

Are they even to steep for double decker buses to climb like the overpass at Cheverier can’t imagine that in winter 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Yes, but after we're all buried 6 ft. under for a while. After WW III has occurred. After Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome kinds of scenarios. THEN and only then can Winnipeg can have a light-rail system. And only the cheapest colnstruction version of it.

Of course I mostly jest.

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8 hours ago, LilZebra said:

... THEN and only then can Winnipeg can have a light-rail system. And only the cheapest colnstruction version of it.

Of course I mostly jest.

"Mostly". Thinking small is a civic obsession. The smaller the better. I'm sure if there wasn't commercial interests involved in the upgrade decisions we'd still have horse drawn omnibuses for transit. Of course I jest, mostly. ?

Before construction began on phase 1 City Council passed a resolution requiring the design be convertible to light rail. Since no one set any standards for what that meant it has mostly been ignored. They should have adopted at least a set of geometry rules (maximum slopes, minimum curvatures, horizontal and vertical clearances, etc) but no one ever did.

Obviously some of the corners on Phase 2 (SWT @ Markham, SWT @ South Park, Bohimer @ Stadium) are too tight for normal rail operation. Who knows if the overpasses were built to handle train weight...

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1 hour ago, DavidW said:

Obviously some of the corners on Phase 2 (SWT @ Markham, SWT @ South Park, Bohimer @ Stadium) are too tight for normal rail operation. Who knows if the overpasses were built to handle train weight...

What about a tram-style LRT? If it ran with only one car, the weight might not be an issue.

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13 hours ago, GrandeWest_B35G said:

What about a tram-style LRT? If it ran with only one car, the weight might not be an issue.

The sad thing is though, nothing ever gets done in Winnipeg. If my hometown ever got anything right, we could've had subways in the 1960s, LRT with Duwag U2's as early as the late 1980s, and even a proper BRT when Glen Murray was mayor... 

At this point, it would take a miracle to see trams in Winnipeg, or any light rail. Maybe if they found oil, rare earth minerals or even diamonds & gold in the North End?

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Lots of progress being made on and around the transitway. AT path is complete from Chevrier to Farwell Bay N, and from Somerville Dr to Daniel Street. Gaps remain at the McGillivary overpass and Pembina underpass. The seel station park and ride also appears to be complete, except for signage. 

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  • 1 month later...
2 hours ago, LilZebra said:

Both electronic Next Bus displays north and southbound at Ft. Rouge Stn. are missing. I believe this has been like this for a while now.

When will it be repaired / replaced?

It’s been like that for ever grown use to it not being there probably gonna use the new ones there trying to put a bid out for it 

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  • 3 weeks later...

I walked around Beaumont Station on Monday 19 August 2019.

winnipeg-CWTSBeaumontStation_footpath-daw2019aug19.thumb.jpg.d2026ec1497a5d3aff6cdedb5b2dde3b.jpg  View of Beaumont Station down the sidewalk from Parker Avenue at Beaumont Street.  

winnipeg-CWTSBeaumontStation-daw2019aug19.thumb.jpg.7ccbe82d4fd0613204f623628cb135a8.jpg  Beaumont Station. All of the stations on Phase 2 of the Southwest Transitway are built from common components, and they all look the same to me.

winnipeg-CWTSBeaumontStation_signage-daw2019aug19.thumb.jpg.74af0083a7d2f93b86e3b3b45cf15b04.jpg  So Winnipeg spared no expense for station signage! ?

winnipeg-CWTSBeaumontStation_public_art-daw2019aug19.thumb.jpg.40e3ce489a88307bc29f143f15b2620b.jpg  I assume this twenty foot tall teapot is public art, and the art elements will help to make each station unique. Maybe this will become known as "Teapot Station"...

 

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And i thought the original clone LRT stations out here were bad... i guess that Osborne station will be one-of-a-kind along with Stadium, with this level of copying and pasting station designs. 

Winnipeg Transit should have maybe looked into letting in a designer per station, allocate a budget (public/private) and maybe combine the auction names as well. It could've generated some revenue for maintenance and upkeep, for SW BRT & help to support operations even, if the revenues high enough to maybe offset the cost of some transit service, even if its only for an extra bus or two. 

I do wonder though - when i was last in Winnipeg, none of the stations had CCTV or cameras. Does stage 2 implement cameras? Or status quo, still? 

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Was working all last evening on the Pan Am Pool#History section on Wikipedia. In doing a reference search for other material about that topic, I stumbled upon this paper, published in 2012, about a potential public toilet at Osborne Station. Here's the relevant text:

Quote

Public toilets are the missing link in Western Culture and are the last spaces in architectural projects that are planned, designed, and budgeted... The project investigates sites at Osborne Station, Pan Am Pool and St. Vital Centre located in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The proposed Osborne Station public toilets are designed to meet the needs of a variety of transit users.

Mary Ellen McMurtry, Department of Interior Design, Faculty of Architecture, Univ. of Manitoba, Exploring public toilet design in Western culture: Challenges and responses for the 21st century. 2012.

I guess that idea fell through at some point.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Some pictures from Beaumont Station today. Most of the signage has gone up and I absolutely love it. The additional signage is so much clearer than the existing stations, and it’ll be easier for passengers on the bus to know where they are.

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On 8/30/2019 at 2:13 PM, jhood135 said:

Some pictures from Beaumont Station today. Most of the signage has gone up and I absolutely love it. The additional signage is so much clearer than the existing stations, and it’ll be easier for passengers on the bus to know where they are.

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How is the signage at Beaumont Station different from the stations on Phase 1? Tall vertical sign streetside. Station name on the shelters facing a stopped bus, and station name hung from the canopy facing an approaching bus. Isn't that the same as Phase 1?

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7 hours ago, DavidW said:

How is the signage at Beaumont Station different from the stations on Phase 1? Tall vertical sign streetside. Station name on the shelters facing a stopped bus, and station name hung from the canopy facing an approaching bus. Isn't that the same as Phase 1?

I thought the three side-by-side signs reading “Beaumont” alongside the shelter were new, but upon looking at my pictures of the Phase I stations it’s not. My mistake.

Something about Beaumont does feel more visually appealing though. Not sure what it is.

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What I notice is different between the station appearances of Phase 1 and Phase 2 is the "openness" feeling arising from the lack of trees around the Phase 2 stations. I'm guessing there's a landscaping plan but the new trees just haven't been placed yet.

I hope there are distinctive public art installations or other features planned for each station because otherwise the stations all pretty much look the same. Same structures in the same order, same blue colour placed in the same spots, same basic layout. I can easily imagine looking up from my phone as we pull out of a station and not being sure if we were at Beaumont, Seel, Clarence, Chevrier, Plaza, or Chancellor. (Did I count the over- and under-passes and turns correctly while I stared at my phone?)

No mistaking that it's the Blue Line though...

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