202 replies to this topic

[Danma]

There's going to be a dedicated pedestrian and cycling tunnel - I'm actually most excited about that as it makes bike touring far easier from Swartz Bay.

 

This is genuinely interesting, as it gives me an option of cycling into town from Tsawwassen that didn't exist before.

Hopefully they'd link it up with some decent bike paths on either side...

[LJ]

But the eight lane tunnel only has three lanes each way for vehicle traffic. This is exactly the same as they have now with the counter flow lanes.

 

It's not going to improve anything.

 

The only reason this is a tunnel is because the Liberals proposed a bridge, which would be open by next year by the way, if they had continued on with it.

[Victoria Watcher]

I think traffic levels are not really increasing or won’t. the old tunnel can be refurbished to last another 40 years.

[Mike K.]

Conceivably you could counter flow lanes with the new design, too, but the highway only has three lanes. Unless they counterflow highway lanes motorists will bunch up going from four to three.

[Victoria Watcher]

is there currently congestion? all these Road and transit projects seem to be going ahead while ignoring the potential new reality of more WFH and reduced 9-5 office workers and student movement.

[Mike K.]

Yes, it’s congested. WFH won’t change the fact it’s the only crossing for many miles in a region with millions of people.

[punk cannonballer]

But the eight lane tunnel only has three lanes each way for vehicle traffic. This is exactly the same as they have now with the counter flow lanes.

 

It's not going to improve anything.

 

The only reason this is a tunnel is because the Liberals proposed a bridge, which would be open by next year by the way, if they had continued on with it.

 

Of course it will improve things. If nothing else (and there are other benefits) a dedicated BRT lane will mean much faster public transit through there.

Edited by punk cannonballer, 20 August 2021 - 07:13 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

5 things you (probably) didn't know about Massey Tunnel

 

It's a true low point in Canada

 

 

 

 

1. It's the lowest road in Canada

 

This may come as a surprise, but if you think about it, it makes sense. Most of Canada is not at sea level, so tunnels in other places may be further below the surface, but not as low down.

 

The road's lowest point isn't that time it got fired and was couch surfing for a month, but about 22 metres below the Fraser River, which empties into the ocean just to the west of the tunnel.

 

 

 

 

https://www.timescol...-tunnel-5318889

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 03 May 2022 - 04:54 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Sixty years ago, a political ­melodrama unfolded 13 kilometres east of ­Revelstoke.

 

In the summer of 1962, after 12 years of political wrangling and great feats of engineering, the final section of the Trans-Canada Highway was nearing completion.

 

That long-awaited section was the 148-kilometre stretch between Golden and Revelstoke. Crossing the ruggedly imposing Selkirk Mountains, where 15 metres of snow can accumulate in ­winter and avalanches thunder down the surrounding slopes, the Rogers Pass ­highway was one of the most ­challenging segments of the entire 7,821-kilometre Trans-­Canada project. It took five years to build and cost $40 million (about $965 million in today’s dollars).

 

https://www.timescol...ng-feat-5644076

[Victoria Watcher]

Vancouver City Council unanimously approved today the framework for the planning process for creating the Granville Entertainment District (GED) area plan for guiding revitalization and future redevelopments.

 

 

 

https://dailyhive.co...buses-relocated

[Mike K.]

I feel like we’ve been through this a few times already.

[AllseeingEye]

This issue was discussed to death when I lived in Vancouver in the 80's; again the 90's and just for fun once more in the early 00's. I did a pre Christmas stealth shopping trip to my old haunts in mid December. The Granville strip was looking just as "meh" and tired and bereft of ideas and energy as it did 20, 30 and 35 years ago. Only now with more street folks gradually bleeding over from the DTES......

 

If they think plonking down a modern tower is going to cure what ails it city father's will be sorely disappointed. Its gonna take a lot more vision than simply erecting a couple of high-rises and calling it a day.....

[Matt R.]

I couldn’t believe it when I discovered The Lennox had removed their chicken strips from the menu, and now they are just called “The Len” or “The Ox” or something. Here is some low hanging fruit the city could address in order to improve things on the strip immediately.

[Victoria Watcher]

The City of Vancouver has accused three B.C. companies involved in rehabilitation work on the Granville Street Bridge of failures that are now damaging some sections of structural steel.

 

According to a recent lawsuit filed in the Supreme Court of B.C., the city completed a rehabilitation project on the bridge from 2019 to 2021 that included replacing some expansion joints connecting parts of the bridge, installing rubber troughs underneath some of the expansion joints to protect structural steel from water run-off and re-coating the structural steel beneath the expansion joints.

 

The city states that Associated Engineering was responsible for design and inspection of the work, Graham Infrastructure was the general contractor and Ross Rex Industrial Painters was the subcontractor for the painting work.

 

The city alleges there are several defects and/or deficiencies in the completed work, including not applying caulking, not applying penetrating sealer correctly and installing faulty rubber troughs that allow salty water to spill onto structural steel below.

 

 

https://www.timescol...on-work-8326117

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 20 February 2024 - 04:18 AM.

[max.bravo]

Someone’s gonna lose their expensive rubber stamp over this one.

[Victoria Watcher]

Once again, SkyTrain appears to be the preferred technology for a future rapid transit project in Metro Vancouver, specifically the proposed North Shore rapid transit line linking Park Royal in West Vancouver with Brentwood Town Centre and Metrotown in Burnaby.

 

 

https://dailyhive.co...google_vignette

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 31 May 2024 - 08:46 PM.

[Mike K.]

I didn’t realize there is a $1.377B Pattulo Bridge replacement going on right now.

So coming back into southwest BC yesterday evening, one crash closed the Coquihalla northbound and a chopper had to be brought in. Drivers heading southbound in the heavy rain were like bats out of hell, and I thought plenty of times these fools would shut down the highway. It turned out the other side would.

Then on the 1 same thing, people driving way too fast for conditions and one guy hauling a small trailer with ATVs creamed a vehicle in front of him, forcing the highway to come to a halt. When I finally got to the scene of the crash, there were a few somber faces standing around at the scene. Traffic was down to skirting between the two vehicles, so it backed up hugely.

Vancouver motorists are sick in the head, I think. Just no sense of consequences.

There’s a slow but steady four-landing of Highway 1 between Kamloops and the Alberta border. Some sections of that highway are third world quality, with massive, repeated potholes and large sections of highway are missing road markings.

The 5 is in decent shape between Kamloops and Valemont, and I guess not busy enough for four lanes. The 3 between Hope and Rock Creek is nice.

Lots of burned forestland along the highways. Highway 33 has lots of signs of past fires, and driving through Salmon Arm I saw at least one property still with burned out vehicles, etc.

[AllseeingEye]

I didn’t realize there is a $1.377B Pattulo Bridge replacement going on right now.

So coming back into southwest BC yesterday evening, one crash closed the Coquihalla northbound and a chopper had to be brought in. Drivers heading southbound in the heavy rain were like bats out of hell, and I thought plenty of times these fools would shut down the highway. It turned out the other side would.

Then on the 1 same thing, people driving way too fast for conditions and one guy hauling a small trailer with ATVs creamed a vehicle in front of him, forcing the highway to come to a halt. When I finally got to the scene of the crash, there were a few somber faces standing around at the scene. Traffic was down to skirting between the two vehicles, so it backed up hugely.

Vancouver motorists are sick in the head, I think. Just no sense of consequences.

There’s a slow but steady four-landing of Highway 1 between Kamloops and the Alberta border. Some sections of that highway are third world quality, with massive, repeated potholes and large sections of highway are missing road markings.

The 5 is in decent shape between Kamloops and Valemont, and I guess not busy enough for four lanes. The 3 between Hope and Rock Creek is nice.

Lots of burned forestland along the highways. Highway 33 has lots of signs of past fires, and driving through Salmon Arm I saw at least one property still with burned out vehicles, etc.

 

It has ever been thus, nothing new here unfortunately. The one aspect above all I never missed about living on the mainland.

 

Even worse than the No 1 or the approaches to the city from the Fraser Valley by a very long shot is the Sea to Sky Hwy. Regardless of road conditions you literally take your life in your hand any time you drive the route since the little boys driving their souped up foo-foo glitter toys on wheels have made it their personal speedway for years now.

 

Victorians are generally poor drivers IMO but one thing you don't generally see here are the grossly excessive speed idiots you encounter on the eastern approaches to Vancouver and especially on the Upper Levels Hwy all the way through to Whistler.

[lanforod]

^ you need to drive the Malahat more. Plenty of speed demon idiots on there.

[AllseeingEye]

^ you need to drive the Malahat more. Plenty of speed demon idiots on there.

 

I drive it frequently - its nothing compared to the Upper Levels, which on any given weekend especially is full of so-called 'exotic' European sports cars owned largely by spoiled foreign kids parachuted into Vancouver by their uber-rich parents, and which can far exceed anything a poor old Camaro or Mustang can muster up performance-wise. Same thing on the 99 south which has seen many horrific crashes over the years by reckless drivers not capable or experienced or mature enough to handle the power of those vehicles.