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TransLink Future - Dream's and Aspirations


cleowin

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7 hours ago, Stormscape said:

Well yeah, the idea would be another station or 2 south of Brighouse, I'd say Granville Avenue as the new terminus, and I dunno if it'd be better to route it to Steveston or to Riverport.

I think towards Riverport is a better idea because if there is enough demand in Ladner and/or Tsawwassen then the line could be extended out there easier, since TransLink has mentioned a possible extension out there before. It's probably easier to build a new OMC for new trains going East rather than West towards Steveston, since the current OMC is already reaching capacity with the 12 new trains coming in 2020.

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On 5/23/2018 at 11:59 AM, Transit geek said:

You mean the building with the HSBC on the ground floor? They would probably need to build the second track over it.

Regardless, it would be difficult to add a second track to the current platform without relocating utilities and the such.

Image result for RichmondâBrighouse station

Rebuilding the station might not be any much cheaper than creating a single-track loop through Richmond to keep trains moving.

Here’s a random factoid for you; when I spoke with the designers of the Canada Line years ago. Brighouse was designed that if needed for the future it could be converted to an island platform. For a cost of corse. Basically the design idea was that the current concourse and staircase as well as the elevator would be torn down to make way for a second track. As well as a partial expansion to the current platform to the east. If need be of course. In addition to reconstructing the single track section as well. Right now as it stands the only thing holding back would be if HSBC were to be torn down. As well as funds to double track. From lansdowne south. 

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A new 4 or 6-lane Lions Gate Bridge would be nice, 2 lanes would be used as bus lanes and a new bridge would be high enough to allow newer cruise ships to dock at Canada Place, since the existing bridge is too low.

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3 hours ago, 8010 said:

A new 4 or 6-lane Lions Gate Bridge would be nice, 2 lanes would be used as bus lanes and a new bridge would be high enough to allow newer cruise ships to dock at Canada Place, since the existing bridge is too low.

Any additional lanes for the lions gate would require substantial road expansion through stanley park, cutting down trees to do this would lead to public outcry,

maybe double decking the existing bridge is a better idea?

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48 minutes ago, cleowin said:

Any additional lanes for the lions gate would require substantial road expansion through stanley park, cutting down trees to do this would lead to public outcry,

maybe double decking the existing bridge is a better idea?

Building a new bridge at Clark/Knight? And then designating Knight as a provincial highway similar to Granville?

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57 minutes ago, cleowin said:

Any additional lanes for the lions gate would require substantial road expansion through stanley park, cutting down trees to do this would lead to public outcry,

maybe double decking the existing bridge is a better idea?

Let's get those chain saws warmed up:P

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2 hours ago, cleowin said:

Any additional lanes for the lions gate would require substantial road expansion through stanley park, cutting down trees to do this would lead to public outcry,

maybe double decking the existing bridge is a better idea?

The LG Bridge is 80 years old ... 

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12 hours ago, 8010 said:

I think towards Riverport is a better idea because if there is enough demand in Ladner and/or Tsawwassen then the line could be extended out there easier, since TransLink has mentioned a possible extension out there before. It's probably easier to build a new OMC for new trains going East rather than West towards Steveston, since the current OMC is already reaching capacity with the 12 new trains coming in 2020.

The Canada Line will be unable to support ridership along it's current line for more than a few decades, much less extra growth from extending the line further south. Tsawwassen, Delta, and other SoF municipalities need a regional rail system that connects with the Canada Line (likely at Bridgeport) before continuing downtown.

1 hour ago, cprted said:

The LG Bridge is 80 years old ...  

And has significant historical/heritage  value and is a National Historic Place. Also, the bridge was significantly upgraded/refurbished in 2000-2001. There will not be any replacement or expansion of the bridge due to these factors and that the City of  Vancouver has consistently rejected any possible increase in vehicles into downtown, including when the Lion's Gate was being looked at in the 1990's for possible replacement.

3 hours ago, buizelbus said:

Building a new bridge at Clark/Knight? And then designating Knight as a provincial highway similar to Granville?

A bridge would be insanely expensive, and quite possibly completely unworkable due to crossing a very active and busy port on both sides, as well as the very significant shipping channel.

If Billions of dollars are going to be spent, it will be for a high capacity passenger rail crossing, not yet another road with vastly lower capacity.

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Is there a TransLink network map that has all the roads and Rapid Transit routes but doesn't have any bus route lines on it? I have an insane idea that I want to try and see how it works, if such a map exists since Google Maps is a pain.

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21 minutes ago, 8010 said:

Is there a TransLink network map that has all the roads and Rapid Transit routes but doesn't have any bus route lines on it? I have an insane idea that I want to try and see how it works, if such a map exists since Google Maps is a pain.

http://infomaps.translink.ca/System_Maps/Frequent_Transit_Network_Map.pdf

Closest one dude, go nuts. Has all the FTN routes and skytrain plus roads. 

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18 minutes ago, translink said:

http://infomaps.translink.ca/System_Maps/Frequent_Transit_Network_Map.pdf

Closest one dude, go nuts. Has all the FTN routes and skytrain plus roads. 

Thanks man, if any of the routes I want to put in go beyond the map I'll just put a little caption saying "Route ### to ___".

If I ever get it done I'll share it here, basically I want to redo majority of the bus network according to my somewhat insane vision (including the Marine Drive route extensions that not a lot of people were fans of). There will be quite a bit of FTN expansion for routes that I believe qualify (location, ridership, current/future frequency, etc.). I may also include SkyTrain extensions and the Arbutus Light Rail, I'm not too sure yet though. Any routes that I believe are unnecessary (209, 39X, 8XX School Specials, etc.) will be discontinued in my vision in favor of better bus service to adjacent/duplicated routes.

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On ‎5‎/‎27‎/‎2018 at 11:09 AM, translink said:

Here’s a random factoid for you; when I spoke with the designers of the Canada Line years ago. Brighouse was designed that if needed for the future it could be converted to an island platform. For a cost of corse. Basically the design idea was that the current concourse and staircase as well as the elevator would be torn down to make way for a second track. As well as a partial expansion to the current platform to the east. If need be of course. In addition to reconstructing the single track section as well. Right now as it stands the only thing holding back would be if HSBC were to be torn down. As well as funds to double track. From lansdowne south. 

Can they do the same with YVR Station?

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25 minutes ago, Mark Walton said:

Can they do the same with YVR Station?

Because of the stations design; no. They would have to destroy part of the parkade to do so. From the last open house meeting at YVR; as far as I know the plan is to wait till the adjoining parkade is being rebuilt in order for a second platform to be built. I don’t believe that a second track is in the works or planned. However, there are plans for a second YVR station. As the terminal is expanded eastward. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've been trying to figure this idea out for Downtown Granville Street routes for awhile now so any suggestions would help.

Permanently discontinue service along Granville Street between Drake Street and Cordova Street, make Granville Street pedestrian only between Smithe Street and Cordova Street (since people jaywalk in that area quite often and that area is closed off during the nights of Friday-Sunday). All routes would travel Northbound on Seymour Street and Southbound on Howe Street. Additional Northbound stop at Seymour & Georgia would be implemeted for a more convenient connection to North Shore routes.

Seymour & Howe Street Options:

Option 1 - Bus Only streets between Smithe Street and Cordova Street.

Option 2 - Bus Only lanes between Granville & 5th and Seymour/Howe & Cordova Street.

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4 hours ago, 8010 said:

I've been trying to figure this idea out for Downtown Granville Street routes for awhile now so any suggestions would help.

Permanently discontinue service along Granville Street between Drake Street and Cordova Street, make Granville Street pedestrian only between Smithe Street and Cordova Street (since people jaywalk in that area quite often and that area is closed off during the nights of Friday-Sunday). All routes would travel Northbound on Seymour Street and Southbound on Howe Street. Additional Northbound stop at Seymour & Georgia would be implemeted for a more convenient connection to North Shore routes.

Seymour & Howe Street Options:

Option 1 - Bus Only streets between Smithe Street and Cordova Street.

Option 2 - Bus Only lanes between Granville & 5th and Seymour/Howe & Cordova Street.

As a former regular commuter through the downtown core, I’ve got a better feel for downtown after 9pm. Assuming nothing has changed since 2015/2016. I found the crowds stopped at Nelson. So personally I’d rather Granville NB from Nelson be turned into Transit/taxi only. Leaving SB Granville from Smithe be open to regular traffic. Till about 9pm before closing Granville NB from Nelson. Instead of having the full shutdown from Drake. In an idealistic world, I’d like to see cameras positioned at intersections be able to sense when a regular driver enters the bus and taxi zone and be able to take a license plate photo to fine the driver/rental company. Or use license plate recognition software/toll tags.

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9 hours ago, 8010 said:

I've been trying to figure this idea out for Downtown Granville Street routes for awhile now so any suggestions would help.

Permanently discontinue service along Granville Street between Drake Street and Cordova Street, make Granville Street pedestrian only between Smithe Street and Cordova Street (since people jaywalk in that area quite often and that area is closed off during the nights of Friday-Sunday). All routes would travel Northbound on Seymour Street and Southbound on Howe Street. Additional Northbound stop at Seymour & Georgia would be implemeted for a more convenient connection to North Shore routes.

Seymour & Howe Street Options:

Option 1 - Bus Only streets between Smithe Street and Cordova Street.

Option 2 - Bus Only lanes between Granville & 5th and Seymour/Howe & Cordova Street.

Howe/Seymour streets are part of Highway 99. If Howe/Seymour streets are closed to traffic except buses, where will traffic go? Howe/Seymour and Georgia streets are a major connection between Hwy 1/Hwy 99 in West Van and Granville St to Richmond.

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Random thought came to my head not so long ago 

If Metro Vancouver was told that over 10 million people would be moving into the region over the course of the next 10 years. What do you think Translink would do to cope with the drastic population growth. 

A few ideas I came up were:

-  A bi-directional loop line around the downtown area. Starting from Waterfront station heading west on Pender St -> south on Denman towards English Bay -> east on Beach Blvd -> cut across false creek to Granville Island -> along 6th Ave -> north on Main St -> then towards Chinatown and back at Waterfront Stn. 

- Having the 3, 8, 10, 20, 43, 44, 49, 95, 100,130, 239, 319, 320, 321, 375, 502, 601, and 701 turn into either a Skytrain or Subway Line. 

- Have all routes that currently operate to near FTN levels to become FTN routes 

- All day bi-directional service on the West Coast Express with dedicated tracks. 

- New commuter rail service between Surrey Central Stn and Chilliwack with stops in Abbotsford. 

-New all day express train service paralleling the Expo Line. 

 

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2 hours ago, Ninja Bus Fan said:

Random thought came to my head not so long ago 

 

If Metro Vancouver was told that over 10 million people would be moving into the region over the course of the next 10 years. What do you think Translink would do to cope with the drastic population growth. 

 

A few ideas I came up were:

 

-  A bi-directional loop line around the downtown area. Starting from Waterfront station heading west on Pender St -> south on Denman towards English Bay -> east on Beach Blvd -> cut across false creek to Granville Island -> along 6th Ave -> north on Main St -> then towards Chinatown and back at Waterfront Stn. 

- Having the 3, 8, 10, 20, 43, 44, 49, 95, 100,130, 239, 319, 320, 321, 375, 502, 601, and 701 turn into either a Skytrain or Subway Line. 

- Have all routes that currently operate to near FTN levels to become FTN routes 

- All day bi-directional service on the West Coast Express with dedicated tracks. 

- New commuter rail service between Surrey Central Stn and Chilliwack with stops in Abbotsford. 

-New all day express train service paralleling the Expo Line. 

 

Interurban line in Surrey operated to Abby?

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15 hours ago, Ninja Bus Fan said:

Random thought came to my head not so long ago 

 

If Metro Vancouver was told that over 10 million people would be moving into the region over the course of the next 10 years. What do you think Translink would do to cope with the drastic population growth. 



A few ideas I came up were:

 

-  A bi-directional loop line around the downtown area. Starting from Waterfront station heading west on Pender St -> south on Denman towards English Bay -> east on Beach Blvd -> cut across false creek to Granville Island -> along 6th Ave -> north on Main St -> then towards Chinatown and back at Waterfront Stn.  

- Having the 3, 8, 10, 20, 43, 44, 49, 95, 100,130, 239, 319, 320, 321, 375, 502, 601, and 701 turn into either a Skytrain or Subway Line. 

- Have all routes that currently operate to near FTN levels to become FTN routes 

- All day bi-directional service on the West Coast Express with dedicated tracks.  

- New commuter rail service between Surrey Central Stn and Chilliwack with stops in Abbotsford. 

-New all day express train service paralleling the Expo Line.

Assuming, enough housing could possible be built in that amount of time, one of the first things that comes to mind is that money will be very constrained if that happens in such a short period of time, so things would need to be built to handle massive amounts of people, very efficiently.

This would almost completely rule out all subways, partly because they are so expensive, and partly because they take longer to built than surface infrastructure.

1. Kingsway would become a LRT route, likely with median tracks on a separated ROW, with 80-150M platforms, running from Scott Rd Stn, following existing railroad ROW to 12th St in New West, and Kingsway to Main, either ending at Pacific Central Stn, or continuing to Waterfront.

2. There would be express/regional trains from Pacific Central, using new double-tracks through the Grandview Cut, splitting around Braid Stn to PoCo/Pitt Meadows/Maple Ridge and to Scott Rd/Surrey/Langley/Fraser Valley via SRY ROW. These would likely use 100-250M trains/platforms.

Some combination of one or both of these is already needed within the next 20 years as the Expo Line will be at max build-out capacity by ~2040.

3. Arbutus corridor would become a main passenger rail corridor, providing access from Vancouver to Marpole (connecting with the existing rail ROW to New West), and Bridgeport, where is would split into local LRT service along Garden City Rd and down to Steveston, and regional service, likely along Hwy 99, to Delta where it would split into 3 lines to Ladner/Tsawwassen, White Rock, and Langley.

4. Rail lines (separated LRT or elevated rail) along many of the lines you mentioned, including (but not limited to) Hastings, King Edward/22nd Ave/Kincaid/Canada Way (UBC-Central Burnaby), 41st Ave, 49th Ave, Main, Fraser, Commercial/Victoria, Willingdon, Scott Rd, Granville, Dunbar/Alma, Lynn Valley/Grand, Marine Dr/Keith/Mt Seymour Pkwy, Nordel/88th Ave, King George(to White Rock)

Basically, this map for all longer/regional connections, plus more "local" lines such as along Granville, 128th in Surrey, etc.

 

I agree with most of your post, with 3 exceptions:

1. Express route paralleling Expo line - I would have this be following the SRY corridor from Langley, across a new rail bridge/tunnel and through the Grandview Cut to Pacific Central. Benefits of this are that the corridor is almost fully grade separated and the route can be shared by multiple services (to Tri-cities express, Surrey/Langley all day express, Abbotsford/Chilliwack regional).

2. The bi-directional loop around downtown serves many local places, but does so fairly circuitously. Who would the main ridership be? People in the West End to Granville Island? Waterfront to the West End (missing much of the central Georgia/Robson CBD)? Waterfront to Main St? That would be well served by the lines replacing the 3 and 8. Science World to Granville Island? Tourists? Basically, I don't see who the main user group for this line would be, because although it serves many places, it would be faster and  more direct to take other lines for the vast majority of people, leaving relatively few to use what would presumably be a very expensive line due to it's location.

3. Lastly, as I mentioned at the beginning there would be very little subway or tunneling due to the exorbitant cost associated with it and at-grade or elevated being significantly faster to construct, especially when there would be a huge constrain on time and finances.

17 hours ago, buizelbus said:

Interurban line in Surrey operated to Abby?

Using the SRY right-of-way, which is the former BCER interurban line. With a new rail bridge/tunnel and some additional tracks through the Grandview Cut, it could cross the Fraser and head to Pacific Central Station.

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The issue I have with the SRY right of way is the meandering route it takes through the valley without hitting many of the current centres.  The line was built to connect the population centres as they existed before WW2 and as many farmers as possible.  Since passenger service ended in the 50s and highways have been build, the population has grown up in places the where the former BCER isn't. Following the SRY, Chilliwack to Scott Road Station is 103km, whereas if some new interurban service were to follow Hwy 1, Chilliwack to a station in Guildford would be 70km. 

So here's my version of a new Interurban:  Waterfront station into the Grandview Cut with a platform at Commercial-BWay Stn, along the BNSF line to Braid Stn, then onto it's own RoW along Hwy 1 with stops in Guildford, 200th/Carvoth Exchange, 264th, Mt Lehman Rd, Sumas Way, and eventually back onto the CN RoW into downtown Chilliwack. 

The Guildford stop could easily have a connection to the Surrey LRT, with bus loops and Park and Ride at the other stations through the valley. 

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23 minutes ago, cprted said:

The issue I have with the SRY right of way is the meandering route it takes through the valley without hitting many of the current centres.  The line was built to connect the population centres as they existed before WW2 and as many farmers as possible.  Since passenger service ended in the 50s and highways have been build, the population has grown up in places the where the former BCER isn't. Following the SRY, Chilliwack to Scott Road Station is 103km, whereas if some new interurban service were to follow Hwy 1, Chilliwack to a station in Guildford would be 70km. 

So here's my version of a new Interurban:  Waterfront station into the Grandview Cut with a platform at Commercial-BWay Stn, along the BNSF line to Braid Stn, then onto it's own RoW along Hwy 1 with stops in Guildford, 200th/Carvoth Exchange, 264th, Mt Lehman Rd, Sumas Way, and eventually back onto the CN RoW into downtown Chilliwack. 

The Guildford stop could easily have a connection to the Surrey LRT, with bus loops and Park and Ride at the other stations through the valley. 

The existing ROW goes through multiple population centres in Surrey. 

I'd prefer something like: Underground through Downtown, into the Grandview Cut, and along BNSF to New West. All trains as a express service. Connect with the SRY, have express and standard trains through this area, with many stations. Branch off, elevate along Highway 10, and 56th St, through Langley Centre. Or as a alternative, cut and cover it. Back on the ROW along Highway 10, and turn onto a median line through Hwy 1.

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On 6/11/2018 at 4:58 PM, cprted said:

The issue I have with the SRY right of way is the meandering route it takes through the valley without hitting many of the current centres.  The line was built to connect the population centres as they existed before WW2 and as many farmers as possible.  Since passenger service ended in the 50s and highways have been build, the population has grown up in places the where the former BCER isn't. Following the SRY, Chilliwack to Scott Road Station is 103km, whereas if some new interurban service were to follow Hwy 1, Chilliwack to a station in Guildford would be 70km. 

So here's my version of a new Interurban:  Waterfront station into the Grandview Cut with a platform at Commercial-BWay Stn, along the BNSF line to Braid Stn, then onto it's own RoW along Hwy 1 with stops in Guildford, 200th/Carvoth Exchange, 264th, Mt Lehman Rd, Sumas Way, and eventually back onto the CN RoW into downtown Chilliwack. 

The Guildford stop could easily have a connection to the Surrey LRT, with bus loops and Park and Ride at the other stations through the valley. 

Kinda funny how you say the SRY misses many current centers, then propose Hwy 1, which hits significantly less centers. It would be nice if it followed the Fraser Hwy through Murrayville and Aldergrove, but there is already a very workable ROW with an existing line, which dramatically lowers costs over following the Fraser Hwy or Hwy 1. The SRY would serve multiple purposes: local service within Surrey and Langley, which turns into express service to downtown, regional to Abbotsford and Chilliwack, and possibly local Sumas/Abbotsford/Mission.

Side note: Hwy 1 actually follows the old Great Northern Rwy route between Abbotsford and Chilliwack.

 

 

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