https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/national-day-truth-reconciliation.html
https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1631130192216/1631130220404
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Day_for_Truth_and_Reconciliation
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-national-truth-reconciliation-day-1.7336497
https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2024/09/28/north-vancouver-lane-realignment-iron-workers-bridge/
Unfortunatly, the Iron Bridge wasn't designed with future capacity in mind. No emergency lanes, no bus-lanes and no provision for rail rapid transit.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/north-vancouver-lane-change-1.7336664
https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=The+Ironworkers-Bridge
This lack of funding just conveniently fits in with the multigenerational mentality or agenda to perpetually implement congestive urban planning in BC.
In the 1950s & 60s, there just wasn't any concept in Greater Vancouver to have wide emergency lanes & a provision for future express bus lanes. Thus, all the bridges & the D. Island Tunnel were instant bottlenecks or chokepoints.
Then in the 1970s & 80s, instead of admitting that all of the regional crossings are inadequate for providing express bus & HOV lanes, things just kept on going the wrong way. There was no incentive to build proper bus & HOV bridges to help the congested crossings. That's because such new infrastructure would actually improve the regional transportation system.
In the 1980s, the first SkyTrain line should have been designed to eventually allow for 152.5m long stations, just like the high capacity Montreal Metro stations. Instead, the first 2 SkyTrain lines were designed to only have 80m short stations.
Then the 3rd line, the C Line or the embarrassing Canada Line, was designed to only have 50m stations. If the argument to have half size or one 3rd size trains was due to construction budget limitations, the stations could have still been designed to eventually allow for 153m long trains. However, that would go against the backward congestive BC approach to infrastructure.
Why allow for a 10 car train that could someday link YVR to both of the ferry terminals? Apparently, it was much better to just have a 2 car joke of a train between Vancouver & Richmond. Why build a bus & HOV tunnel next to the LG Bridge, when everything can just be squeezed into an inept 3 lane crossing? Why build a bus & HOV bridge next to the Oak & Knight Bridges, when they can remain as 4 lane chokepoints?
The multigenerational symbolism of congestive planning seems to be imperative for backward BC. That's the best way to continually demonstrate a reluctance to have a proper express or rapid bus network & trains that are as long as those on the Montreal Metro & the Toronto Subway. A proper HOV network would also enable more people to get around more efficiently, but that would conflict with the narrow bridges.
Things are so backwards & inept in BC, but building proper infrastructure means to properly plan for growth & future transportation demands.
Apparently, some people thought that no public oversight was a good idea.
That way, there could be tremendous cost overruns, which can cause Metro Vancouver infrastructure to continually fall further behind.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-penthouse-838-west-hastings
This building doesn't even have 40 floors, so it's not that tall by today's standards.
https://bosaproperties.com/residential-portfolio/jameson-house
For most of the history of BC, stunted or thwarted Vancouver was where the tallest buildings, widest bridges & roads would be.
Now Burnaby, NW, Coquitlam & especially Surrey will be building taller & wider than what restrictive Vancouver allows.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/opinion-bc-real-estate-association-housing
If it were possible, Vancouver would block out the sun & just have perpetual rain throughout the year.
When a building becomes uninhabitable, the residents should be helped to find adequate temporary housing. Then whenever the building problems are fixed, they should be allowed to move back in. If the building is going to be torn down for a new residential structure, they should be allowed to reside there for the same rental rate until they ever want to move out.
If the carbon tax actually went into properly building up the BC infrastructure, then it might have been worth it. However, the farce of Vancouver and BC in general, is still such a lagging mess. Greater Vancouver is facing transit cuts & most of the bridges in the region are still in need of parallel bus & bike bridges.
The first 2 SkyTrain lines only have 80m stations when the Montreal Metro has almost 153m stations. The line between Vancouver, YVR & Richmond only has a clearance for 50m stations. Longer stations like in Montreal & Toronto, can move a lot more people. Unfortunatly, BC keeps taking the congestive planning option.
Once again the issues aren't being properly addressed. The restaurants need more long-term employes.
The Alex_Fraser_Bridge was opened as a 4 lane chokepoint, right from the start. No need for any express_bus_lanes or rail rapid transit, as that would conflict with the congestion planning agenda.
"Upon opening in 1986, only four of the six available lanes were open. Cyclists and pedestrians share two narrow sidewalks one on each side. All six lanes opened in 1987 after traffic demand justified the need." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Fraser_Bridge#Overview
Eventually, the AFB would have 7 lanes, when it should have been designed to have 8-10 lanes. A provision for a lower transit deck would have been nice, but there isn't a vision for an efficient transportation network.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Mann_Bridge#History It opened with only 4 lanes & no emergency lanes. No provision for a lower deck, but a 5th lane was eventually added. So many times, an inept 4 lane BC bridge that is supposed to be a major crossing, is subjected to the congestive planning agenda.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Mann_Bridge#Dismantling_of_original_bridge
https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/9.6516296
They marched over the Cambie_Bridge, which used to have 6 lanes. Unfortunately, the bridge wasn't designed to have wide sidewalks & bike lanes on both sides.
https://bc.ctvnews.ca/climate-protesters-to-march-through-downtown-vancouver-on-friday-1.7045835
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/climate-protest-shut-down-cambie-bridge
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/weest-vancouver-bike-lane-planters
Of course with proper planning and coordination this wouldn't be a problem.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbEjBsfhLcs
It's amazing what can be done when people from Vancouver or just about anywhere from the BC part of Canada can't stop it.
https://www.i395-miami.com/the-project/
It doesn't matter if it's the Greater Miami Area or Brisbane, Queensland, these places can think big & build big because they are so far away from the cold, rainy backwater BC mentality.
https://www.miamitodaynews.com/2024/04/02/i-395-signature-bridge-taking-shape/
https://www.miamitodaynews.com/2023/08/01/massive-signature-bridge-project-builds-to-2027-opening/
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/north-vancouver-music-festival-traffic-impacts-2024
It's so sad and pathetic how the North_Shore_(Greater_Vancouver) has become such a fine example of inept transportation planning.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Shore_(Greater_Vancouver)#Access
The extremely narrow Lions_Gate_Bridge should have had an 8 lane tunnel built near it several decades ago. Then the Lions_Gate_Bridge could have become a nice bike and foot bridge. The inept Lions-Gate-Bridge is so narrow that several houses are wider than it. Even some home garages and swimming pools are wider than it. Thus, the Lions_Gate_Bridge is one of the best examples of congestive planning in backward BC. The bridge should have been designed to eventually become a few meters wider on each side. There also should have been a provision for a lower deck which could have allowed for a rail rapid transit line and rapid bus lanes.
The Ironworkers_Memorial_Second_Narrows_Crossing should have been designed with a provision to be widened a few meters on each side. After its collapse in 1958, the bridge should have been redesigned to have a wider main deck and a lower deck for trains and busses. The top deck should have been designed to have 4 lanes each way, with 2 wide shoulders and 2 wide sidewalks. Unfortunately, despite being the main connection to the Horseshoe_Bay_ferry_terminal, the rebuilt Ironworkers_Memorial_Bridge wasn't designed to have a lower transit deck and no emergency lanes. Thus, it remains as another one of the best examples of congestive planning in Vancouver.
The Canada_Line should have been planned as a long term, high capacity route between Horseshoe_Bay,_West_Vancouver, Vancouver_International_Airport and the Tsawwassen_ferry_terminal. Again, the congestion planning mentality took priority.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GP-vyAwiXCM
Why ‘The Big One’ could be worse than we thought https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1qr9qnWR7E
Cascadia: The Earthquake that will Destroy Westcoast America https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JR-8PZ_nCvE
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/lime-e-scooter-vancouver-launch-reaction?
Each neighborhood should have been properly consulted about this.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/metro-vancouver-residents-shocked-e-scooter-rider-george-massey-tunnel Such an inept tunnel with no emergency lanes.
After decades of imposing narrow streets, roads, highways & bridges, it's still difficult for the region to have a proper express bus network. Most of the bridges in the region need to have a bus & bike bridge built right next to them.
The first 2 SkyTrain lines still only have 80m stations & the 3rd line, the C-Line, only has 50m stations. In contrast, the Montreal Metro was designed to have almost 153m long stations. Thus, a 500 foot long station can accommodate a 9 car train. Unfortunately, the first 2 SkyTrain lines can only accommodate the newer 4 car trains with a potential for a 5 car train, someday. The 3rd line or the C-Line, can only accomodate a 2 car joke of a train, but it has the potential to become a 2.5 car joke of a train.
This absurdity of congestive planning must be challenged & stopped in backward BC. Unfortunately, there are some influential people that continually like to maintain the symbolism of short trains and narrow bridges. They don't want the Greater Vancouver Region to become a proper urban area. That mentality apparently justifies the inadequate or underbuilt infrastructure in the region.
So now with looming transit cuts, the narrow roads & bridges will become even more congested.
https://www.rtands.com/tag/translink
The $2BN Megaproject Under Vancouver https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4YFFtTEUQc
What Greater Vancouver Needs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZavPFZ9H1E
Whether its a bridge or a tunnel, Perth and Seattle have excellent wide crossings which allow for rail rapid transit. Fortunately, the congestive Vancouver mentality never reached into those cities.
https://www.highway99tunnel.ca/tunnel-construction Unfortunatly, BC missed another opportunity to have rapid rail transit through the tunnel.
https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2024/09/17/highway-91-spun-out-richmond Even back in the 1980s, BC_Highway_91 should have been designed to be at least 4 lanes each way. 3 general lanes each way with the 4th as a bus & HOV lane. There also should have been 2 wide shoulders or emergency lanes. The Alex_Fraser_Bridge should have been designed to be at least 10 lanes wide. 3 general lanes each way & a bus-HOV lane & a truck lane each way. Plus, 2 emergency lanes & a provision for a lower rail transit deck. Unfortunatly, bottleneck or chokepoint planning won out. Plus, the symbolism for BC is to not properly plan for large, efficient infrastructure.
How can the Greater Vancouver Region have an efficient express bus & rapid bus network, when the highways & bridges are kept narrow? Why wasn't the SkyTrain designed to eventually have 153m or 500 foot long stations like the Montreal Metro? That would be symbolic of a proper big thinking city wanting to have high capacity transportation corridors. BC is about taking the congestive planning approach instead.
Perth+and+Seattle have been able to do so much more, because they aren't under anything like the imposed Vancouver restrictions and the overall backward BC mentality.
The Granville Bridge should have at least had a provision for a lower deck.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/granville-bridge-north-end-reopens-vancouver-connector
A lower deck would have been great for extra bus lanes and potential LRT, but this is backward BC.
https://vancouversun.com/news/traffic-alert-north-end-granville-street-bridge-reopen-monday
Since no bus & bike bridge was even built right next to it, the bridge is being scaled down to 6 lanes, from 8.
A revamped 6 lane bridge with 2 bike lanes & 2 sidewalks.
If the bridge eventually has 2 express bus lanes, there will only be 4 general traffic lanes.
https://granvilleisland.com/news/transportation-updates-on-granville-bridge-city-of-vancouver
Unfortunately, the 8 lane Granville_Street_Bridge_(1954) wasn't designed to have a lower level. That wasn't the case with the 12 lane Ship+Canal+Bridge in Seattle. The Vancouver bridge was never connected to a freeway, where as the Seattle bridge was.
This is very sad & pathetic for the largest urban part of BC. Most of the major bridges in Greater Vancouver should already have had bus & bike bridges built next to them. However, that would go against the bottleneck or chokepoint planning mentality.
The first 2 SkyTrain lines are still only running 4 car trains of the newer coaches. The 3rd line, C Line or Canada Line is still only running 2 car joke of a train. Fortunately, most real cities will at least run 6, but usually 8, 9 or 10 car trains. Again, that would go against the congestive planning approach, which BC has favoured for several generations.
So, one of the big questions is, why isn't a significant portion of climate change funds going into the BC infrastructure? Especially for longer trains and stations and express bus bridges.
Schools & hospitals for decades were designed not to easily be expanded. The multigenerational BC agenda is to hold things back for as long as possible. Long trains & wide bridges are symbolic of accommodating growth. Thus, congestive planning is symbolic of not putting enough funds into the infrastructure. Thus, another big question is, where has the money gone through the decades, because the infrastructure is always lagging?
"Duke Point is a major ferry terminal owned and operated by BC Ferries that provides ferry service across the Strait of Georgia to Tsawwassen. The ferry terminal is located at Duke Point in Nanaimo and is the only major terminal in the BC Ferries system without a public transit connection." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_Point_ferry_terminal
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/surreys-road-extension-criticized-unsafe-cyclists-advocates
There should have been wider sidewalks put in several decades ago. Narrow streets & narrow sidewalks are just part of the narrow-minded approach to planning in backwater BC. Any major road should be at least 2 or 3 lanes each way. In many cases, sidewalks can be widened to accomodate a bike path. A 2 lane country road isn't good for a city, if busses & trucks have to get through.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/metro-vancouver-residents-shocked-e-scooter-rider-george-massey-tunnel Another fine example of inept BC planning. Have a tunnel so narrow, because there aren't any wide emergency lanes. Then eventually it could have been 3 lanes each way. However, there should have been a provision to have another tunnel next to it within a few decades. Unfortunately, that never happened by the 1990s.
At least there should have been a bus, train & bike bridge built next to it decades ago, but that would go against the BC bottleneck mentality.
https://www.highway99tunnel.ca The 8 lane Tunnel_Replacement Project is supposed to be open by 2030. That's only 60-70 years late. Unfortunatly, another parallel tunnel or bridge will eventually have to be built, because there is still a need to eventually have the Tsawwassen_ferry_terminal become connected to the Vancouver_International_Airport, Waterfront_station and the Horseshoe_Bay_ferry_terminal with rapid rail transit.
The stations still could have started out as a 2-3 car train joke, apparently for cost cutting measures. However, the stations should have been constructed in such a way that they could eventually accomodate 8-10 car trains. Sadly once again, the joke is on short sighted Vancouver for promoting inept transportation planning. Even with budget cuts, at least 3 levels of government should have been able to realize that someday, this line could become a high capacity connector between the Horseshoe_Bay_ferry_terminal, the airport & the Tsawwassen_ferry_terminal.
Unfortunately, that damn symbolism got in the way again. A short & inept train is better for congested Vancouver than an 8-10 car train. This is the result of the multigenerational congestive planning agenda. Building big is symbolic of planning for proper growth, but some backwater mindset folks don't want anything symbolic of a real metropolis in backward BC.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-climate-protest-march-traffic-impacts
Cambie_Street and the Cambie_Bridge have become a fine example of Vancouverizing a major transportation corridor. That is to scale it back so as to create a bottleneck. Perhaps more-so than any major city, Vancouver and the metropolitan region continually strives to have congestive planning.
Unfortunately, the Canada_Line stations were only designed to accommodate 2-2.5 car trains, when it should have been 8-10 car trains. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_Line#Stations
Cambie_Street and the bridge should have remained continually at 6 main lanes. That would have made it easier to have a 3rd lane each way as an express bus lane. Especially, since the C-Line was so underbuilt.
Unfortunately, the Pattullo_Bridge of 1937 was built without any wide shoulders, or any shoulders at all. There was only one narrow sidewalk & no provision for trams or streetcars. It was all fitting for NW, a provincial backwater since its start.
In contrast, the 1932 Sydney_Harbour_Bridge opened with 6 lanes and 4 sets of train tracks & 2 sidewalks. Very fitting for the state capital of NSW.
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-34593-7_49
https://www.targetproducts.com/pattullo_bridge_2024/
In the 1930s, it was still amazing to have plumbing & especially electricity in Surrey.
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/surrey
https://www.cloverdalereporter.com/entertainment/surrey-now-and-then-2367955
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/weather-shift-vancouver-fall
From a cold winter and crappy spring to a half-assed summer, fall is quickly returning.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/east-village-westbank-bc-housing-vancouver-hastings-street-towers
Even if some truly affordable housing could be built, there would still be people against the taller high density towers.
The Wells_Fargo_Center should have been the first 50-55 story building in Portland.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wells_Fargo_Center_(Portland,_Oregon)#Details
https://marketplace.vts.com/building/wells-fargo-center---portland-portland-or
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_Portland,_Oregon
https://www.kpic.com/news/local/us-bank-is-leaving-the-us-bancorp-tower-in-downtown-portland
https://www.koin.com/news/portland/u-s-bank-leaving-big-pink-tower-in-downtown-portland/
The U.S._Bancorp_Tower could have been the first 50-55 story building in Oregon, but it wasn't permitted to have more than 42 floors. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Bancorp_Tower#Design
https://unicoprop.com/properties/us-bancorp-tower , https://usbancorptower.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_Portland,_Oregon
https://modtraveler.net/city/vancouver_694/listing/columbia-centre Not even 30 floors in Vancouver, but its impressive when compared to what's Victoria, Prince George & Kamloops.
However, the Columbia_Center in Seattle almost has 80 floors.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_Center#Design It would still be an impressive building in NYC, Chicago, Houston, LA & SF. Its still the tallest tower in Seattle.
Its not just that Vancouver gets more rain than Seattle & especially Calgary, but that almost everything has to be watered down in Vancouver, when compared to those cities.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-concert-hall-theatre-society-study
It's so difficult to build in Vancouver, due to all the red tape and other B$ constraints.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-art-gallery-construction-cost-increase-redesign
