https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/anita-anand-interprovincial-trade 1
https://vancouversun.com/news/bc-eyes-nova-scotia-bill-reduce-interprovincial-trade-barriers 2
https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/article/why-is-it-so-hard-to-do-business-between-provinces 4
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/interprovincial-trade-barriers-4-ways-1.7453530 5
While a Burnaby to North Vancouver express bus and rail link is a good idea, there should also be a link between Vancouver and West Vancouver. Unfortunatly, so much extra money will be going toward a shit-pipe and a shit-box, instead of a rail tunnel & a new bridge. So many people are still in denial, but urban planning & funding in BC is really the $HIT$ for Greater Vancouver.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/metro-vancouver-regional-district-governance-review-changes
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/metro-vancouver-treatment-plan-audit-1.7239051 Why have a train tunnel fromWest Vancouver to Waterfront_Station in Vancouver when instead, you can put a few extra billion dollars into a North Shore shit-pipe?
"The reasons behind the escalation are the subject of duelling lawsuits between the contractor Metro Vancouver fired and the regional district, but the now $3.9 billion is five times beyond the original $700 million budget Metro set a decade ago and more than double a revised $1 billion budget from 2021.
The issue’s complexity lies in the fact that Metro Vancouver’s sewage treatment services are broken up into four sewerage areas, unlike the drinking water system that is operated as a single entity.
The sewerage areas are: North Shore; Vancouver, which includes UBC and parts of Burnaby and Richmond; Lulu, which is most of Richmond and Fraser, which is most other Metro municipalities.
All municipalities pay for the capital costs of new facilities, but those within each district pay a bigger share for facilities in their own district." https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/metro-vancouver-will-pay-for-north-shore-sewage-plant
https://www.nsnews.com/in-the-community/north-vancouver-district-asks-province-for-public-inquiry-on-sewage-plant-debacle-9777554 So much extra money will have to be paid out for a shit-box & a shit-pipe cost overrun. A few extra billion dollars could have easily paid for an improved Canada+Line and extension from downtown Vancouver to Park+Royal and the Horseshoe+Bay ferry terminal.
https://vancouversun.com/news/new-westminster-mayor-sides-with-metro-vancouver-in-surrey-spat Surrey wants to eventually become the biggest city in BC. That means not having similar restrictions that Vancouver, NW & Victoria have. Surrey wants to have taller buildings than restrictive Vancouver. First, it will have to rival Burnaby & Bellevue, WA and ultimately, Vaughan, Ontario. Instead of having 1 big downtown area, there will be a few town centres as well.
While Surrey might want to have more autonomy, its still part of the Metro_Vancouver_Regional_District.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-aquatic-centre-pool-by-election-issue
Unlike most cities, Vancouver has had a history and mentality for refusing to think on a big scale.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-hotel-room-shortage-crisis-solutions
How can a city that wants to cultivate its tourism business not encourage more hotel development?
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/keefer-house-hotel-vancouver-chinatown
The Burlington_Canal_Lift_Bridge only has 4 lanes, but that's OK, because the 8 lanes of the Burlington+Bay+Skyway+Bridges are right beside it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burlington_Canal_Lift_Bridge
https://www.hopaports.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Burlington-Canal-Lift-Bridge.pdf
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Burlington+Canal+Lift+Bridge
The Burlington_Bay_James_N._Allan_Skyway went from being like a 4 lane BC bridge to an 8 lane Ontario crossing. That took place from the late 1950s to the mid 1980s.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burlington_Bay_James_N._Allan_Skyway#History
There is a point where it would be likely to have 2 HOV lanes or 2 bus lanes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Elizabeth_Way#St._Catharines%E2%80%93Hamilton
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Burlington+Bay+James+N.+Allan+Skyway
Given so many narrow streets & bridges in Vancouver, its difficult to have a proper bus lane network, even for the metropolitan region.
https://vancouversun.com/opinion/op-ed/opinion-bus-lanes-urgent-vancouver
https://vancouver.ca/streets-transportation/bus-network-improvements.aspx
https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2024/11/18/burnaby-hastings-street-bus-lane-city-council/
https://visionzerovancouver.ca/2024/07/10/take-action-add-bus-lanes-to-translinks-priority-routes/
With so many narrow streets & bridges in Vancouver, its difficult to have a proper HOV lane network, especially for the metropolitan region.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-occupancy_vehicle_lane
https://www.drivesmartbc.ca/lanes/using-hov-lanes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-occupancy_vehicle_lane#Canada
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-occupancy_vehicle_lane#New_Zealand_and_Australia
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/hollywood-theatre-kitsilano-vancouver-new-ownership
https://henriquezpartners.com/projects/york-theatre/
https://heritagevancouver.org/top10-watch-list/2008/6-york-alcazar-theatre-1913-saved/
https://vancouversun.com/entertainment/new-new-york-theatre-a-celebration-of-cultural-heritage
Amended motion came after dozens of people spoke out against a redesign plan that would cut the pool in half https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/aquatic-centre-50-metre-pool-1.7468681
This horrible multigenerational half-size Vancouver and BC mentality is so firmly entrenched. At least if a half-size Vancouver Aquatic Centre, like the half-size Canada+Line, was designed to eventually become a proper big city facility, that's one thing. However, certain people just wanted to have a half-size Vancouver Aquatic Centre, just like a half-size Canada Line. Indeed, the objective was to have infrastructure deliberately designed to just be another Half-A$$ED small-scale backwater BC joke.
Let it fall-apart like the crappy & inadequate Pattullo+Bridge, then just build a half-size joke. It's all part of the mentality to not want more people living in BC, which is almost 2 dozen times larger than Switzerland.
Fortunately, enough people believe in a growing Vancouver & BC, so the new Vancouver+Aquatic+Centre will be a proper big city infrastructure redevelopment. While the argument to just build a half-size facility to save money might make sense to some people, unless it was designed to eventually be brought up to a full-size standard, it's a sad joke.
The Burrard+Street+Bridge (BSB) was originally planned to have a permanent 6 lane upper deck & 2 streetcar tracks on a lower deck. Unfortunatly, the BSB was Vancouverized to become scaled back & remain incomplete. Had there been a nice & wide bike-bridge built next to it, then the BSB could have still had a 6 lane deck. Then there could have been either 2 bus lanes or 2 HOV lanes. Unfortunatly, everything is funneled into just another 4 lane BC bridge.
Since backwards Vancouver wants to be one of the last major cities to bring back streetcars & tram-trains, there has been a mutigenerational lack of interest in completing the lower streetcar deck.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-aquatic-centre-new-50-metre-pool-feasibility-decision
Vancouver needs to build things that aren't just impressive by Prince George, Kamloops and Kelowna standards.
Nevermind Seattle, strict Vancouver, BC will have less tall buildings than Bellevue.
As of 2025, Vancouver, BC only has 2 buildings taller than what's in Bellevue,_Washington. Eventually, Bellevue will have at least 5 building that are at 600 feet, while Vancouver will only still have two buildings over 600 feet.
Nevermind Toronto, Vancouver must have no building that would rival the tallest in Mississauga and Vaughan.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_Canada#Under_construction
Since BC was never able to build a wall or create a forcefield around it, the next best thing was to continually water everything down as much as possible. Thus, the symbolism to have short trains, mostly narrow bridges & short buildings, is all part of not properly planning for growth.
Singapore and Sydney don't have this problem, as they don't have to contend with anything like Vancouver's type of restrictions.
Toronto is a big city like Chicago. Montreal has restrictions, but not as extreme as Vancouver. Unfortunatly, Montreal has yet to become a big city on the scale of Melbourne, let alone Paris or NYC.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/richmond-hospital-new-redevelopment-acute-care-tower-contractor
Having a big hospital in Richmond is important, not only because YVR is part of Richmond, but there are a lot of people travelling between Delta, Richmond & Vancouver.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/surrey-withdraw-metro-vancouver-regional-growth-strategy
Surrey is destined to become the largest city in BC, but in order to achieve that, it has to be freed from the backwater BC mentality. Surrey needs to think and build like a proper big city.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/delta-hospital-emergency-room-closed-staffing-challenges
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/delta-hospital-er-closure-1.7466840
https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2025/02/23/delta-emergency-room-closed-second-night/
Every city or major municipality should have a big hospital and other appropriate infrastructure. Of course there should be a good working arrangement for all hospital staff.
Unfortunatly, Delta seems to have been treated with a backwater mindset for generations. The East side of Delta is like an urban extension of Surrey. The West side of Delta has a major seaport and a ferry terminal & a big shopping mall. Unfortunatly, it seems in accordance with the backwater planning mentality, that there is no train linking the ferry terminal and the shopping mall to Richmond & YVR, on the horizon.
Auckland & Seattle and especially Sydney and SF are very scenic cities. Yet, none of them has taken a watered-down approach to the extent that Vancouver has. Indeed, a mandate to thwart, restrict & limit things, has been part of the water-down Vancouver agenda for generations. This watered-down approach or agenda, has become a clever way to hold back all kinds of infrastructure in the Metro_Vancouver_Regional_District. The mentality to keep things small & backwards is all part of the horrible symbolic desire to not build for a big future.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro_Vancouver_Regional_District#Geography
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro_Vancouver_Regional_District#Regional_planning Not planning to have trains as long as the Montreal Metro or the Toronto Subway, was an utterly foolish and inept decision. However, it makes sense from a congestive planning perspective.
In the meantime, a short train system can still work efficiently. Thus, there is no good reason as to why the SkyTrain can't be upgrades to the same level as the 24hr Copenhagen_Metro. However, BC is so stubborn & isolated with its approach to things, it would be quite a challenge to get to the standard of the Copenhagen_Metro, but it should be possible. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copenhagen_Metro#Route Eventually, backwards Vancouver will require proper long trains like on the Stockholm_Metro and the Montreal_Metro.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_Metro#Rolling_stock
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal_Metro#Models
Not planning & building a regional network of express bus and HOV bridges, was also foolish and inept decision. However, that also makes sense from a congestive planning perspective. Indeed, bottleneck or chokepoint planning is something that commuters don't like, but BC urban planners seem to perpetuate it every year. Of course the lack of infrastructure funding is also a big problem.
Unfortunatly, with Greater Vancouver having such an anti-bridge mentality, it makes it difficult to have a proper regional Bus_Rapid_Transit network. Yet officially, the region isn't against having a proper BRT network. Funneling busses onto the same narrow bridges with cars & trucks is idiotic.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_transport#Environmental_impact
https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/hustle-chicago-former-john-hancock-center-2025/
https://www.beck-technology.com/blog/how-did-they-build-that-john-hancock-center-chicago
https://www.architecture.org/online-resources/buildings-of-chicago/875-n-michigan-ave
https://875northmichiganavenue.com Formerly the John_Hancock_Center.
https://www.beck-technology.com/blog/how-did-they-build-that-john-hancock-center-chicago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hancock_Center#History
https://360chicago.com https://360chicago.com/cloudbar
https://360chicago.com/experience
https://www.chicago-voyage.com/en/hancock-observatory-chicago.html
https://www.architecture.org/online-resources/buildings-of-chicago/875-n-michigan-ave
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manulife_Centre , https://manulifecentre.com
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Manulife+Centre
https://www.skyscrapercenter.com/toronto/44-charles-street-west/2979 166 m / 545 ft
Fortunately, 44 Charles wasn't just 44 stories. Indeed, it was the first 51 story mixed-use residential & office complex in Canada, but it should have been taller. Chicago has had the 100 story John Hancock Center since 1969. If Toronto couldn't have its own 100 story building in the mid 1970s, similar in scale to the John_Hancock_Center, there should have been two buildings with more than 50 floos.
https://www.cushmanwakefield.com/en/canada/properties/for-lease/office/on/toronto/55-bloor-street-west/s119707755-l This should have been the first 55 story office tower outside of downtown Toronto.
https://www.loopnet.ca/Listing/55-Bloor-St-W-Toronto-ON/17793768
https://urbantoronto.ca/database/projects/manulife-centre-podium-and-streetscape-renewal.19539
This is a nice, wide Toronto building, but it got Vancouverized or miniaturized, right from the start.
https://www.cbre.ca/properties/retail/details/CA-Plus-268572/manulife-centre-55-bloor-street-w-toronto-ontario-m4w-1a5 It would have been quite impressive if it opened as a 55 story tower.
https://sgconstructors.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/55-Bloor-Manulife-Redevelopment-Profile.pdf
https://urbantoronto.ca/news/2018/09/glazing-enclosing-manulife-centre-addition-bay-and-bloor.33926
Australia was able to go above 99 floors before Canada.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_108 Actually has 100 floors.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STH_BNK_by_Beulah 102 floors.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_Canada#Under_construction
https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2025/02/21/metro-vancouver-regional-district-22m-budget-cuts/
https://globalnews.ca/news/11016648/vancouver-mayor-ken-sim-board-metro-vancouver-waste-of-time/
Not enough money for an express bus and train tunnel between downtown & the North Shore.
However, there are plenty of funds for an overbudjet shit-box!
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-aquatic-centre-proposal-controversy
Just because backwards Vancouver gets a lot of rain, that doesn't mean that almost everything should be symbolically watered down.
Why have a Canada+Line with 152m long stations, like on the Montreal+Metro, when a 50m joke of a station provides excellent watered down symbolism? Why have bridges wide enough for bus & HOV lanes, when everything can be funneled into just 2 lanes each way?
https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Vancouver+Aquatic+Centre
https://beatofhawaii.com/its-the-rip-off-honolulu-hotels-that-are-killing-us/
Luxurious accommodations always have their high-end market, but having enough basic and mid-quality hotels, are just as important.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/888-896-cambie-street-vancouver-marriott-yaletown-hotel-npg
This should be a mixed-use tower of at least 65 stories.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/vancouver-hotel-shortage-2026-world-cup-1.7117696
Swim B.C. president says the group is 'devastated' as the revised plan calls for a lazy river and 25-metre lap pool, rather than the 50-metre pool Vancouver voters backed in 2022
https://vancouversun.com/news/vancouver-aquatic-centre-rebuild-plan-revised
Why build big for a growing future, when you can adhere to the antigrowth mentality and symbolism?
https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2025/02/19/vancouver-aquatic-centre-proposal-sparks-petition/
Just like the short SkyTrain stations, the argument of budget limitations is used as an excuse. A train station can be designed to be gradually doubled or tripled in length. The new Aquatic Centre could be designed in which it could eventually be double or even tripled in size, as well.
This building small for the future, because its just for small Vancouver, is an absurd strategy.
The Burrard_Bridge was originally designed to have 6 lanes & 2 streetcar tracks on a lower level. Well, the tram-trains never became part of the BB. The city was too cheap to build a parallel bike bridge, so 2 lanes were removed from the roadway on the BB instead. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burrard_Bridge#History
Had the Burrard_Bridge not been Vancouverized, there could have been 2 bus & HOV lanes & a lower level for tram-trains, along with a parallel bike bridge.
The watering down of Vancouver fits right in with the backwater BC mentality.
https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Vancouver+Aquatic+Centre
https://www.hsra.gov.au/high-speed-rail
If Australia gets around to this faster than Canada does, it might be because Australia is a warmer country. Most of Canada has to contend with cold & crappy weather for almost half of the year.
https://www.wsp.com/en-au/news/2024/transformational-high-speed-rail-network
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-aquatic-centre-new-design-proposal
Nothing like going backwards, that's the nature of Vancouver and its watering down mentality. Apparently, there is no concept to build a much larger facility in 2 or 3 phases, so just scale it down and do something that is impressive by Prince Rupert, Prince George or Kamloops standards. Smalltown Vancouver thinking really gets to be so irritating.
The new Vancouver+Aquatic+Centre could easily be built 6-8 metres above sea level. There is extra space north, east & south of the old buildings footprint. Unfortunatly, Vancouver has become so entrenched with a mentality or an agenda to mostly build what would only be impressive by backwater BC standards.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/aquatic-centre-push-back-1.7462480
https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Vancouver+Aquatic+Centre
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/housing-costs-bc-government-mismanagement
If the developer was actually allowed to build what would be tall buildings by Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Toronto & SF standards, then the extra money from selling the much higher condo floors could go towards the removal of the viaducts.
Plus, larger buildings could accommodate more affordable housing as well.
https://vancouversun.com/news/vancouver-gridlock-viaduct-removal-funding-question
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/dunsmuir-georgia-viaducts-rethink-vancouver-city-council-2022
https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Brisbane-Sydney-Melbourne-Toronto-SF
https://www.alberta.ca/south-bow-river-bridge Being from backwards Vancouver, its difficult to grasp how Calgary was able to twin the South-Bow-River-Bridge. Not only are there 8 lanes, but at least 2 emergency lanes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoney_Trail#Lane_count In BC, it was tough enough just to have 2 waggon roads side by side. Then to eventually have a bridge the width of 4 waggon roads or 4 carriageways, was amazing. Fortunately, Calgary has progressed so far beyond the 1800s & the early 20th century.
https://www.alberta.ca/calgary-ring-road , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dhrataYz5E
https://majorprojects.alberta.ca/details/Stoney-Trail-SE-Bow-River-Bridge-Widening-Pedestrian-Bridge/4312 There have been a lot of complaints as to why it took so long to compleate this project. While backwater BC notoriously takes longer to get things done than Alberta usually does, there might have been an issue with the river. Still, after any environmental assessment, the construction project should have gone faster.
https://www.renewcanada.net/south-bow-river-bridge-project-receives-70-million/
https://westringroad.ca/bow-river-bridge , https://calgaryringroad.com/tag/alberta-highway-201
A fantastic foot and bike bridge is close by and unlike in Vancouver, lanes were added, not removed. Indeed, the Calgary footbridge and The+Helix+Bridge in Singapore were never used as an excuse to remove any lanes from other bridges. The same for the Jubilee+Bridge.
https://www.highway99tunnel.ca/frt-current-work The environmental assessments while necessary, have pushed this BC infrastructure project to at least 2030. https://www.highway99tunnel.ca/project-overview-frt Several decades ago, another tunnel or bus & bike bridge should have already been built. https://www.highway99tunnel.ca/transit-cycling Unfortunatly, when the first tunnel was built, there was no concept to have 2 bus & 2 bike lanes with 2 protected walkways. No need to have 2 wide emergency lanes with a future clearance to allow for 2 truck lanes, given that this is supposed to be a major seaport region. Just funnel everything into 2 lanes each way, whenever possible.
A Ring_road has some advantages, but its not a total solution.
Some examples...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sardar_Patel_Ring_Road, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A10_motorway_(Netherlands)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/Berlin_BAB_10.svg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brussels_Ring
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/Traffic_Bukarest.svg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_Road_(Cairo)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoney_Trail, Calgary. https://www.alberta.ca/calgary-ring-road This was possible, because Calgary doesn't have the same restrictions that Greater Vancouver has. Alberta is able to do more, simply because its not bound by the B$ red tape that BC is under.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Route_9_(Hong_Kong)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inner_Ring_Road,_Hyderabad , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_Ring_Road,_Hyderabad
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Autopistam40.svg, Madrid
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M80_Ring_Road, Melbourne
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow_Ring_Road , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Ring_Road_(Moscow)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/Svincoli_GRA_Roma.svg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Orbital_Network
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/Rocades_de_Paris_%282024%29.png
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_Ring_Road_System, Singapore
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_Beltway, Washington, DC.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ring_roads
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_road#Canada Of course Greater Vancouver doesn't make the list. It's always amazing to see what so many other cities are able to do, simply because they don't have the hassles & restrictions that BC has.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle_route
https://www.webuildvalue.com/en/infrastructure-news/metro-urban-mobility.html
Some examples...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Ringbahn
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_%22L%22#Circle_Line
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M3_(Copenhagen_Metro)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle_line_(London_Underground)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U3_(Hamburg_U-Bahn)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow_Central_Circle
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_Line_(Oslo)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_M%C3%A9tro_Line_15 , https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Plan_Lin%C3%A9aire_M%C3%A9tro_Paris_Ligne_15_%28final%29.svg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CTrain 1981
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CTrain#History
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westbrook_station_(Calgary) , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMV2fYNBJgk No underground or trench station in Vancouver was designed to be as long as Westbrook station.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/45_Street_station_(Calgary)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/69_Street_station_(Calgary)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CTrain#Further_underground_infrastructure
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semi-metro
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMV2fYNBJgk
https://gecarchitecture.com/projects/westbrook-lrt-station/
https://cana.ca/project-details/Westbrook-Station-Transit-Oriented-Development-Offices
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmonton_LRT#History Unlike what backwards Vancouver would end up doing, Edmonton understood the importance of having long underground stations, right from the start.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_Line#Stations If you are from Edmonton or Seattle, you will be immediately surprised as to how short & small the underground Vancouver train stations are.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Churchill_station_(Edmonton) 1978
"The underground station has a 129-metre-long (423 ft) centre loading platform that can accommodate two five-car LRT trains at the same time, with one train on each side of the platform. At just under 8 m wide (26 ft), the underground platform is narrow by current Edmonton LRT design guidelines." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Churchill_station_(Edmonton)#Station_layout
Yet, this is big by narrowminded Vancouver & BC standards. Despite Vancouver having its own version of cold & crappy weather, there just isn't the same concept or desire to have a network of elevated & especially, underground corridors like what Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal, Dallas & Houston have.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_station_(Edmonton) 1978
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay/Enterprise_Square_station 1983 Being from wattered down Vancouver, it's hard to fathom a 130m long underground station in Edmonton, but Albertal doesn't have anything like a backwards BC mentality to contend with. The first 2 SkyTrain lines were designed to only have 80m stations. The 3rd line to Richmond & YVR, was only designed to have 50m stations. While this initially might have made sense as a cost saving measure, it will cost so much more to eventually try to lengthen these short stations. Thus, all the stations should have been designed to eventually be at least 153m, or just over 500 feet.
"The station has a 130-metre-long (430 ft) centre loading platform that can accommodate two five-car LRT trains at the same time, with one train on each side of the platform." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay/Enterprise_Square_station#Station_layout
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corona_station_(Edmonton) 1983
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_Centre_station 1989
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_station_(Edmonton) 1992 It remains to be scene if Vancouver might have a UBC station by 2032. While geology & climate can vary between cities, the laws of physics in the BC part of Canada isn't supposed to be different. Yet, it takes a long time to get things done in backwater BC.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro_Line#Stations
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_North_American_light_rail_systems
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valley_Line_(Edmonton)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valley_Line_(Edmonton)#Valley_Line_Southeast
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Churchill_station_(Edmonton) A nice, long underground train station with a surface line connecting station above it.
https://majorprojects.alberta.ca/details/Valley-Line-West-LRT/3692
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valley_Line_(Edmonton)#Valley_Line_West_(under_construction)
https://edmontonjournal.com/opinion/columnists/keith-gerein-west-edmonton-lrt-construction
https://globalnews.ca/news/11014951/valley-line-west-lrt-stony-plain-road-construction-pace/
https://www.edmonton.ca/projects_plans/transit/valley-line-west
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valley_Line_(Edmonton)#Valley_Line_West_(under_construction)
https://montreal.citynews.ca/2025/02/18/winds-to-intensify-montreal/
https://montreal.citynews.ca/2025/02/18/rem-service-disruptions-continue Montreals version of the Skytrain should have a snow-plough at both ends of each train.
https://montreal.citynews.ca/2025/02/18/exo-trains-cancelled-snow-accumulation Even for the big trains, at a certain point a snow-plough might not be able to properly clear the tracks.
https://montreal.citynews.ca/2025/02/18/montreal-snow-disabled-mobility-challenges/
https://montreal.citynews.ca/2025/02/17/snow-piling-up-montreal-clearing-loading/
https://dailyhive.com/edmonton/edmonton-weather-forecast-temperature-change-alberta
Despite the severity of such cold winters, that never seem to reach down to mild Vancouver & Victoria, Edmonton is quite a thriving northern city. The decades of being a provincial outpost with waggon roads, are long gone.
https://dailyhive.com/edmonton/edmonton-weather-forecast-temperature-change-heat
One might think that since Greater Victoria is the most mild provincial capital region in Canada, it might have at least the same population as Edmonton. It can't even match Winnipeg and Q. City, or even Halifax. Unfortunatly, almost living anywhere is expensive, but if you don't want to endure the real harsh Canadian winters, then Victoria to Nanaimo and Vancouver to Abbotsford, are the best choices.
However, BC has been reluctant to properly keep up with is infrastructure.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/overnight-closures-highway-17-pattullo-bridge-replacement-project
It's unfortunate that the Pattullo-Bridge-Replacement wasn't designed to have 2 levels. Just like the SkyBridge didn't. The new bridge won't be opening with any bus & HOV lanes. Opening a 4 lane bridge in the 2020s with the same number of lanes as the one from the 1930s is a sad joke, an insult & an indication of the reluctance to plan & build for the future.
While NW & Surrey aren't officially against bus & HOV lanes, this was another case of 2 cities & the province not properly communicating & planning to gradually build a proper regional express bus & HOV network.
The Skybridge opened in 1990 without any future capacity for 2 express bus lanes & 2 HOV lanes. The inept Pattullo_Bridge just has 4 narrow lanes. Yet, somehow the SkyBridge didn't open with at least 3 tracks & 2 sidewalks & 2 bike lanes on an upper deck & 2 express bus lanes & 2 HOV lanes on a lower deck. Instead, it's just a single level bridge with only 2 SkyTrain tracks.
https://www.montrealgazette.com/news/article760907.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reseau_express_metropolitain
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alstom_Metropolis_Saint-Laurent
| Train length | 38.1 m (125 ft) per unit |
|---|---|
| Car length | 19.05 m (62 ft 6 in) over coupler faces |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alstom_Metropolis_Saint-Laurent#Design_and_construction Two 125 foot trains = 250 feet, or half the length of a 9 car Metro train.
An 8 car [19.05 m (62 ft 6 inch)] REM train version of this would be great for Vancouver, but an improved Skytrain could be just as good. Unfortunatly, BC has a tough time thinking big for the future.
https://montreal.citynews.ca/2025/02/18/rem-service-disruptions-continue/
However, any elevated line or exposed rapid transit train in Montreal, is always potentially disrupted during the winter.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-rem-out-of-service-1.7461000
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%A9seau_express_m%C3%A9tropolitain#Future_sections
The genius of the Montreal_Metro trains is that they are all underground.
https://montreal.citynews.ca/2025/02/17/stormy-weather-continues-in-montreal/
Vancouver & BC always have a difficult time in properly planning & building infrastructure for significant future capacity. Thus, just because the SkyTrain is considered to be a Light Rail Vehicle, it still should have been designed to eventually have (152.5m) long trains, like the Montreal Metro has. If you are visiting from Montreal or Toronto, you will be shocked as to how short the Vancouver SkyTrains & stations are.
It's not that BC is in some kind of a timewarp, it's just that there has been some kind of a strange multigenerational mentality or agenda. Since the BC part of Canada doesn't have the authority or the technology to generate a force_field around its perimeter, the next best thing was to have very restrictive laws. That's especially the case for Vancouver & Victoria. Plus, a general encouragement to symbolically think small & backwards.
Having short trains, narrow bridges & mostly short buildings, all fits in with the symbolism of a reluctance to accommodate significant urban growth. Canada it self is also part of this larger predicament. Despite its size, Canada is nowhere close to containing even just 1% of the worlds population. Given that most of the human population is non-white, this poses an interesting dilemma.
Of course during tougher economic times, immigration is generally frowned upon. However, even during various economic boom-times, Vancouver & Victoria continued to lag behind with the scale of its infrastructure development.
https://www.montrealgazette.com/news/article761925.html
Man dead after he is found in snow-covered car with engine running in Montreal https://globalnews.ca/news/11023614/man-dead-snow-covered-car-montreal/
Montreal snow clearing proceeding slowly after record storm https://www.montrealgazette.com/news/article761613.html
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/blizzard-school-closure-montreal-1.7460989
https://calgary.citynews.ca/2025/02/18/calgary-february-warm-up
While Calgary isn't as populated as Montreal, it has some of the tallest buildings in Canada, outside of the Greater Toronto Area.
https://calgaryherald.com/news/calgary-in-for-its-latest-upward-tempertaure-swing-this-week
https://wsdot.wa.gov/tnbhistory/tale-of-three-bridges-1940.htm
https://wsdot.wa.gov/tnbhistory/1940-bridge.htm Wow, its like the first TN Bridge was just built to a narrow & inadequate BC standard.
https://wsdot.wa.gov/tnbhistory/tale-of-three-bridges-1950.htm Of course the 4 lane replacement was built well enough that it could eventually be twinned. Backwater BC logic would be to still cram everything into just 2 lanes each way.
https://wsdot.wa.gov/tnbhistory/default.htm#3 1950 w
https://wsdot.wa.gov/tnbhistory/default.htm#4 2007 e
https://www.wsdot.wa.gov/tnbhistory
https://www.gigharbornow.org/news/community/new-tacoma-narrows-bridge-turns-15-years-old
The Lacey_V._Murrow_Memorial_Bridge opened in 1940 with 4 lanes. Once the Homer_M._Hadley_Memorial_Bridge opened in 1989, the Lacey_V._Murrow_Memorial_Bridge could be renovated. This was all part of a plan to have an 8 lane crossing with 2 train tracks.
The Samuel-De_Champlain_Bridge in Montreal opened in 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel-De_Champlain_Bridge#Specifications
Vancouver might eventually try to have its own version of train & highway bridge to the North Shore. However, what's straightforward for Seattle & Montreal is difficult to accomplish in backwards Vancouver.
However, it takes a long time to get things done in BC. At least an 8 lane crossing with 2 train tracks should have been built there decades ago, but there is such a reluctance to think & build big in Vancouver.
https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2023/05/18/ironworkers-memorial-replacement-bc-transit/
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/north-shore-skytrain-burrard-inlet-rapid-transit-brt-lrt-study
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/upper-levels-highway-north-shore-upgrades-study
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/north-shore-rapid-transit-study-skytrain
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Narrows_Rail_Bridge#Original_bridge_(1925) This is a smaller bridge than what was originally planned. Of course, that's the backwards BC way.
https://www.nsnews.com/in-the-community/time-traveller-the-first-second-narrows-bridge-1925-3118875
https://www.northshoreheritage.org/blog/2023/11/23/bridge-over-burrards-water
https://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/second-narrows-bridge-vancouver-b-c-opened-november-7th-1925-2
https://search.nbca.unbc.ca/index.php/second-narrows-bridge-in-vancouver-bc-6
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Narrows_Rail_Bridge (1969)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thornton_Tunnel#History Unfortunatly, the new tunnel & bridge weren't designed to be wide enough to eventually accommodate a parallel track. Thus, N. Vancouver & Vancouver are still in the single track crossing trap, just like NW & Surrey are.
https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Old+and+new+narrow+bridges+in+BC
The New_Westminster_Bridge opened in 1904 and in typical backwater BC style, it was too narrow to do the job, right from the start. Not only should the bridge have been double-tracked, there should have been at least a 2 lane upper deck. At least having a provision for 2 tracks and more than just a 1 lane wagon road.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Fraser_River_Bridge%2C_New_Westminster%2C_BC.jpg
http://archives.newwestcity.ca/Results.aspx Thats all you got back then, just a 1 lane wagon road.
http://archives.newwestcity.ca/Results.aspx? Despite the bridge being required to handle passenger trains as well as freight trains, everything is funneled into a single track, even well over a century later.
http://archives.newwestcity.ca/Results.aspx?AC Had there been some real forward planning, there should have been at least 4 wagon lanes on the upper deck & at leas 3 tracks on the lower deck.
Unfortunatly, NW only saw itself as a provincial capital backwater & that also became the case when the BC capital was relocated to Victoria.
http://www.trainweb.org/oldtimetrains/photos/bridges/Vancouver_area.htm
https://www.newwestrecord.ca/local-news/looking-back-and-looking-forward-pattullo-bridge-opened-85-years-ago-today-6106270 It must have been amazing to finally have a bridge with 4 wagon roads. Unfortunatly, there was no provision for a lower deck to accommodate interurban tram-trains & trucks. https://historicbridges.org/bridges/browser/?bridgebrowser=britishcolumbia/pattullo
https://www.reddit.com/r/SurreyBC/comments/yhf6wg/pattullo_bridge_in_silver_grey_1957 Had there been a provision for a lower deck, then perhaps by 1960, both decks could have provided a wider 3 lanes each way.
Unlike the SHB in NSW, the Old-Pattullo-Bridge wasn't built with the same level of quality and wasn't designed to last that long.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/pattullo-bridge-new-replacement-construction-update-2024 Of course the new bridge is a year behind schedule and once again, doesn't seem to be designed with much that much future capacity in mind.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/pattullo-bridge-new-crossing-widening-six-lanes-surrey-board-of-trade Aparently, opening the new bridge with 6 lanes & a provision for a lower deck with 2 bus & HOV lanes & 2 truck lanes is too advanced thinking for BC infrastructure development. Just like the short Skytrain stations, having double deck bridges goes against the congestive planning agenda. So, the new bridge will open with only 2 lanes each way & no emergency lanes & especially no bus-HOV lanes or truck lanes for a seaport region. Thus, everything will be crammed into a 4 lane crossing. Why would such a bridge not open with enough width for 2 bus & HOV lanes? Most people in the Greater Vancouver Region know that the Skytrain isn't open 24 hours, so a good bus & HOV bridge between NW & Surrey would make sense, but this is the BC part of Canada where a lot of things don't make sense.
https://www.pattullobridgereplacement.ca/
https://www.pattullobridgereplacement.ca/about/projectoverview/
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