13 replies to this topic

[Coreyburger]

Canada Line is a nice disaster in pr. Not so in Portland, which is putting in a massive expansion to MAX (not streetcar) right in the downtown, replacing the bus mall with a LRT/bus one. Check out the different websites, it tells you all you need to know:

Portland Mall vs Canada Line

Oh, and Portland is paying merchants for the inconvenience. Oh need to live under a rock to not know what Cambie merchants are saying about the Canada Line bait and switch.

[Mike K.]

I'm not sure if we can directly compare a downtown expansion in Portland with a regional expansion in Vancouver as they are two very different infrastructure projects. I'm not sure why Canada Line will be a disaster. Do you mean it will be a disaster for businesses, or in terms of expenditures to operate/build the line, or the attractiveness/traffic of the line?

I like the idea of paying merchants who are adversely affected by the construction, though. But for the record Translink has introduced a campaign called Shoptheline that helps market current businesses along the line. I'm not sure how successful that marketing campaign is, however.

[LJ]

I think it would have been fair for Vancouver to reduce the Cambie merchants taxes by 30% or so, to make up for some of the loss of revenue they experienced.

I also think it would be fair for the merchants to pay a premium after the construction is over to repay these taxes out of their increased revenue that will come as it has with every other skytrain construction.

[Mike K.]

A tax break during construction is a good idea.

Perhaps the city should implement a policy like this whenever it carries out projects that adversely impact businesses (i.e. Frontrunners on Vancouver).

[gumgum]

I drove through Cambie south of False Creek a couple of months ago and that open pit must be a disaster for those businesses. Anybody thinks carnage would ensue during a brt line construction, should witness what's going on in van.

[G-Man]

The BRT line will take only a couple of weeks per block if not less to build, so it is not even close to comparable with the Canada Line.

[Coreyburger]

I'm not sure if we can directly compare a downtown expansion in Portland with a regional expansion in Vancouver as they are two very different infrastructure projects. I'm not sure why Canada Line will be a disaster. Do you mean it will be a disaster for businesses, or in terms of expenditures to operate/build the line, or the attractiveness/traffic of the line?

I was specifically referring to how Portland approached the construction vs Vancouver. Portland was very upfront, explained what was happening, created ways to help businesses. Translink lied to the public, saying it was going to be cut and cover when it wasn't.

As for the specifics of the larger project, they really don't matter for this example.

Corey

[G-Man]

^ But it was cut and cover between Broadway and Marine Drive whihc is where the merchants are complaining. While the city could have better compensated the owneres there was simply no way to make them happy with the method of construction.

[renthefinn]

Translink only said it would be tunnelled, because merchants and residents didn't want it to be elevated or at grade to save the boulevard, there was some suggestion the tunnelling would be bored, but it was not specified. They got two bids for a private partner, and chose the one closer to their projected cost, turns out a lot of the savings were made by switching to cut and cover, and by limiting platform lengths at stations.

[Coreyburger]

Even if they never said which method, the public thought it would be bored. So Translink is still at fault for not correcting public opinion.

[Nparker]

As interesting as this discussion is, if I am not mistaken this forum is called Vibrant VICTORIA, not Vibrant Vancouver or Progressive Portland. No pun intended, but this thread seems to have gotten off-track.

[Coreyburger]

How other transit systems do major construction of transit is of importance to Victorians, given we are likely to be getting a little of our own on Douglas St very soon.

[Nparker]

a VERY little one indeed... we need to hold out for LRT, and skip the bus lane thing altogether....a band-aid solution if ever there was one.

[Coreyburger]

I think holding out for LRT is politically dumb. The key bit is that we are getting the right of way for transit. We are not wasting the construction costs, as any LRT would almost certainly be groundlevel and likely be tracks in concrete to allow buses to continue. As for purchasing more buses, we are going to need those anyway. So, yes, we will spend some extra money, but it will not be as bad as Richmond. Further, the Canada Line is poorly planned and poor executed. I fear it will make the next major project a hard sell, unlike in Portland, where businesses are not being screwed and thus are more likely to support more construction.

Corey