Showing posts sorted by date for query B.C.. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query B.C.. Sort by relevance Show all posts

Friday, March 13, 2026

The Dunsmuir Tunnel in Downtown Vancouver, SkyTrain service to be reduced on weekends until June

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/downtown-vancouver-skytrain-service-delays-weekends Had the old railway tunnel been originally designed to be double tracked, it could have been converted into a double level, 4 track LRT tunnel, instead of a 2 track LRT tunnel.

Ideally, if a subway or metro line doesn't have 4 tracks, 3 would be the next best thing. Then, 2 tracks could always remain operational while the 3rd is being repaired. For the most part, Skytrain is just a double track system. Unfortunately, the YVR-Canada Line is even single tracked at the end of the line in YVR and in downtown Richmond. 

The Canada Line should have been the 1st phase of an eventual south extension to Delta and the BC ferry terminal. Plus, a north extension from Waterfront_station_in Vancouver to Lonsdale_Quay and the ferry terminal. This would be a vital link between Canada_Line and the two regional ferry terminals. Unfortunately, Vancouver and BC are about maintaining congestion and transportation inefficiency.

Perhaps someday, if Vancouver is ever allowed to function like a proper big city, the Dunsmuir_Tunnel could be extended under Stanley Park and the 1st Narrows to Park Royal and to the ferry terminal. However, what's more likely to happen is that after the Dunsmuir_Tunnel reaches Waterfront_station, the line will continue east. 

https://evelazarus.com/the-dunsmuir-tunnel 

https://buzzer.translink.ca/2022/04/new-tunnel-technology-will-transform-your-skytrain-trip/ 

https://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/construction-progress-photo-of-cpr-dunsmuir-tunnel-10 

https://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/construction-progress-photo-of-cpr-dunsmuir-tunnel-9

Thursday, March 12, 2026

The 50 best cities in the world?

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-best-city-world-timeout 

Fortunately, Australia doesn't have half a year of cold, crappy weather. Even the North Island of NZ can avoid the crappy Canadian weather. Unfortunately, if one wants to avoid the harsh Canadian winter, the best locations are in Greater Vancouver and Greater Victoria, or SW BC in general.

Tuesday, March 10, 2026

Surrey should have more night-bus routes.

 https://www.reddit.com/r/Translink/comments/1rop925/thoughts_on_yvr_movenments_idea_of_making_surrey 

Alberta has two cities with over a million people each, those being Calgary and Edmonton. 

Vancouver has never had 1 million residents, but the Metro_Vancouver_Regional_District has well over 3 million people.

Victoria,_British_Columbia has yet to reach 100K, but the Capital_Regional_District is getting close to half a million. 

Surrey has almost 3 quarters of a million people and is expected to be the first city in BC to eventually have a million residents. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surrey,_British_Columbia#Current_transportation_network 

Surrey like Burnaby, will eventually have some of the tallest buildings in BC, that's because they aren't under the extreme height restrictions that Vancouver has.

https://www.surrey.ca/about-surrey   

https://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?cityID=2&status=15 Surrey

https://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?stateID=1&status=15 BC 

https://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?countryID=1&status=15 Canada

B.C. government agrees to close three problematic SROs on Granville Strip

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-granville-strip-sros-supportive-housing-sites-closure-bc-agreement 

This type of housing isn't good to be situated in what is suppose to be a tourism and entertainment area.

Safe, temporary housing should be immediately be provided and then determine a more appropriate long-term housing location.

Monday, March 9, 2026

The narrow Pattullo Bridge Replacement

https://www.pattullobridgereplacement.ca/construction/current-works Its a nice 4 lane bottleneck choakpoint. There should have been a provision for a lower deck for bus lanes, HOV lanes and LRT, but that would help to alleviate some transportation congestion.

It wasn't designed with that much future capacity in mind, just like the absurd Canada+Line. The SkyTrain-Canada+Line is still only running 2 car trains. The New stal̕əw̓asəm Bridge is only 2 lanes each way. This is congestive urban planning in BC at its best. Narrow bridges and short trains are some of the best ways to symbolically demonstrate a reluctance to accommodate future growth capacity. 

People aren't suppose to wonder where all the money went over the past several generations, because it seems that not enough funds have gone towards proper big city infrastructure.

 

Thursday, March 5, 2026

Why the Widest Freeway on Earth still Made Traffic Worse in Houston

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMwKgT4ZUvQ It is utterly foolish to not have enough space for a commuter train to run above, or in the middle or underneath the widest highways. 

https://kinder.rice.edu/urbanedge/houstons-15-year-growth-three-charts Simply building wide roads like in Houston, L.A. and Toronto is just as bad as having mostly narrow bridges in Greater Vancouver.  

Whether its 10 lanes or 20 lanes wide, there should always be 2 dedicated bus lanes and 2 HOV lanes. While the highway will get clogged up during the day, at least the buses and trains can still get through quickly. 

The Pattullo+Bridge+replacement is only 2 lanes each way with narrow shoulders. It should have opened with enough space for 2 bus lanes and 2 HOV lanes, but that would go against the congestive urban planning mentality of BC.

The Samuel-De+Champlain+Bridge in Montreal is just as good as similar wide highway and train bridges in Seattle+and+Perth. All were possible, simply because they aren't limited by anything like the Vancouver and BC Mind Virus.

The narrow-minded Vancouver and BC approach is to try to funnel everything into just 2 or 3 lanes each way. Then there just isn't enough space to have 2 bus lanes and 2 HOV lanes. Greater Vancouver has certainly gone in the extreme opposite direction of Houston, L.A. and Toronto...

A wide Greater Houston highway has lots of space, but without 2 bus lanes and 2 HOV lanes, everything gets plugged up. In contrast, Greater Vancouver has most of its bridges and highways so damn narrow, there isn't enough space to accomodate a proper express bus and HOV network. 

This deliberate backwards BC bottleneck-chokepoint planning approach is totally absurd. 

There is no commuter train tunnel near the Lions+Gate+Bridge or even for the Massey+Tunnel+replacement. Thus, they are the best examples of BC choke-point urban planning. Despite having twice the lanes as the inept 3 lane LGB, the newer Iron+Bridge never had any emergency lanes. A bus and HOV bridge was never built next to it. Plus, no commuter train bridge. It's another fine example of BC choke-point, bottleneck planning. 

A north and south Boundary+Road bridge system would provide direct access between the North+ShoreRichmond+and+Delta, but that's what a proper big city would do. Backwards BC has quite a problem with thinking and building big. The 2 car Canada+Line is another example. Don't build it to at least have a 5 car train, just design it to only have 2.5 car trains, someday.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Houston#Transportation

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_610_(Texas)#Lane_configurations There is a point when simply adding more lanes won't provide long-term improvement. However, when combined with dedicated bus and HOV lanes, other options become available. Especially, if there is rail rapid transit and commuter rail as well. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/METRORail While not as extentise as DART_rail, it still works like a tram-train. 

Of course longer streetcars or tram-trains are still slow on the actual surface street segments.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trams_in_Melbourne#System_upgrades 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto_streetcar_system

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muni_Metro SF

Last week's malfunction of the Second Narrows (rail) Bridge shows how dependent the Prairie economy is on this transportation chokepoint

 https://financialpost.com/opinion/opinion-users-need-more-say-about-vancouvers-rail-bridges 

The Greater Vancouver Region should have had all of its freight rail bridges at least double tracked by now.

https://www.cn.ca/en/stories/20250429-cn-and-port-of-vancouver-collaborating/

There is a subtle KEEP BC SMALL AND BACKWARDS mentality, but sometimes it's right in your face.

https://financialpost.com/opinion/opinion-vancouvers-port-must-up-its-grain-game 

Its as if there is a VMV and the BC Mind Virus. Although no one can actually pinpoint it, the effects of it are quite apparent. 

https://financialpost.com/opinion/nutrien-bypass-port-vancouver-underscores-need-change  

Despite the size of Canada, it has less than 1% of the world's population.

https://www.portvancouver.com/project/second-narrows-dredging-works 

Unfortunatly, by not even keeping up with moderate infrastructure growth demands, Canada keeps falling behind in a world with over 8 billion people. 

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/news/2024/10/20252027-immigration-levels-plan.html 

There should be a way to expand the economy and population, while making things more affordable.

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/mandate/corporate-initiatives/levels/supplementary-immigration-levels-2026-2028.html 

https://thoughtleadership.cibc.com/article/population-growth-projections-are-we-repeating-past-mistakes/

https://www.rbc.com/en/economics/canadian-analysis/featured-analysis/insights/canada-maintains-tight-immigration-policy-despite-permanent-resident-exemptions/ 

Vancouver keeps holding back the scale of bridges, trains and buildings. This is part of a symbolic mentality and agenda to not think like a proper big city.  

Wednesday, March 4, 2026

Major expansion of B.C. Highway 1 in Fraser Valley to begin soon

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/bc-highway-1-fraser-valley-expansion Ideally, the section from Horseshoe Bay to Hope shouldn't be a hopeless joke. A main highway in an urban region of over 3 million people should have at least 3 general lanes each way. Plus, a rapid bus lane and a HOV lane each way, but that would be at least 5 lanes each way. 

https://transcanadahighway.com/british-columbia/bc-highway-itinerary-horseshoe-bay-to-hope When a highway is only 2-3 lanes each way, it's too damn narrow to accomodate 2 bus lanes and 2 HOV lanes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Columbia_Highway_1#Lower_Mainland_section 

BC Hwy 1 - Trans-Canada Highway, Vancouver, BC https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uf9QTmnxkqw

Wednesday, February 25, 2026

Tuesday, February 24, 2026

Delays out of North Shore continue after truck stalls for hour on Lions Gate Bridge

 https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2026/02/24/stall-on-lions-gate-bridge-causing-massive-delays-out-of-north-shore/ 

The LGB bottleneck is indicative of how some people don't want Vancouver to become a properly planned functioning big city.

https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/comments/1mehud6/theres_a_single_car_stopped_in_the_only/

Unfortunatly, Vancouver still isn't allowed to function like a real proper big city. For several decades, so many key people, especially urban planners don't want to have a wider structural crossing to at least match what Prince George and Kamloops have. Or, to match what Kelowna has and especially don't want to have what Ft. McMurray has. 

Indeed, most proper major cities by now would have had a 6-8 lane tunnel right under the park and close to the LGB. Georgia Street is already 7 lanes wide in the first few bloks closest to the park, so the potential for a 7-8 lane tunnel should be possible.

An 8 lane tunnel would be best in that the 3 & 4 lane counterflow on Georgia could easily feed into an 8 lane tunnel. Then once in the tunnel there world be 3 standard lanes each way, plus a bus lane each way. 

A commuter train tunnel or an extension of the YVR-Canada Line should also run close to where the LGB is. Unfortunatly, some key people for several decades don't seem to want or understand the benefits of having a train connecting YVR with both of the regional bc-ferries terminals. That's because it could actually help to relieve transportation congestion. https://www.bcferries.com/current-conditions/TSA-SWB

It's always amazing to see what other cities around the world can do, simply because they aren't trapped within the backwards Vancouver mindset or don't have a backwater BC mentality to thwart them. 

https://www.th.gov.bc.ca/atis/lgcws/index.html 

This has to be one of the worlds best examples of bottleneck-chokepoint planning around. 

https://www.translink.ca/schedules-and-maps/skytrain A rail rapid transit connection to both ferry terminals and YVR would be a huge improvement, but it's still not likely in the foreseeable future.

Vancouver port applies to dredge Burrard Inlet this year to fuel oil exports

 https://www.biv.com/news/transportation/vancouver-port-applies-to-dredge-burrard-inlet-this-year-to-fuel-oil-exports-11915974  

The Second Narrows Crossing Area

https://www.vmcdn.ca/f/files/glaciermedia/images/climate-enviro-solutions/oceans/proposed-burrard-inlet-dredging.jpg;w=960 A commuter rail, rapid bus and HOV bridge was never built next to the Iron Bridge, which doesn't even have any emergency lanes. The freight train bridge and tunnel east of it, wasn't designed to eventually accomodate 2 tracks. Taking a narrower bridge and tunnel approach symbolically fits right in with the narrow-minded mentality that is BC. 

https://www.bchydro.com/energy-in-bc/projects/second-narrows-crossing-project.html

Monday, February 23, 2026

Why are so many commercial truckers failing road-side safety checks in B.C.?

 https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/comments/1rcys2s/why_are_so_many_commercial_truckers_failing/ 

Its as if BC can just strive to be substandard, because it has such a provincial backwater mentality.

Seattle, WA

 https://www.reddit.com/r/CityPorn/comments/1rc5hlj/seattle Another scenic city thats allowed to have taller buildings than Vancouver, BC.

Saturday, February 21, 2026

The Pattullo Bridge Replacement

 https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2026TT0025-000178 Its only 2 lanes each way for the foreseeable future. No bus lanes and no HOV lanes, it's just another classic BC funnel for congestion.

Thursday, February 19, 2026

B.C. residential sector reeling despite strong December data

 https://www.biv.com/news/real-estate/bc-residential-sector-reeling-despite-strong-december-data-economist-11901674 

Corporate housing is alright for those who can afford it. However, unless there is more social or affordable housing, more people will be on the streets. 

Saturday, February 7, 2026

Vancouver, Burnaby and NW

Why People Hate Living in Vancouver (and want to move away) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzyITR89-3s 

Vancouver, Burnaby and NW is the city, although they are 3 separate municipalities. 

Burnaby, BC https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqB1UXuXclc&t=265s

Monday, February 2, 2026

Any Potential of Reviving the 10-lane George Massey bridge project remains inconclusive

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/george-massey-bridge-replacement-ian-black-bc-conservatives 

Even if the tunnel crossing was expanded decades ago, there would still need to be a 21st century bridge in the area. 

Saturday, January 31, 2026

Why Greater Toronto Has Several Skylines

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eI9WJa9Q8dA 

Of course many large urban areas around the world have more than 1 or 2 skylines or tower clusters. 

For the longest time, no building in Vancouver or BC, was allowed to be as tall as the 1930s CIBC tower, which is now a stump.

https://www.blogto.com/city/2017/05/toronto-lost-observation-deck-commerce-court-north/

https://www.torontojourney416.com/canadian-bank-of-commerce-building/ 

https://www.25king.ca/the-history 

It wasn't until the early 1970s when stumpy, Vancouver allowed a building to be taller than the L.A. City Hall, or the Smith Tower in Seattle. 

The 1930s CIBC tower, the L.A. City Hall and the Smith Tower, would still be prominent towers in Vancouver, but stumps in their own cities. 

Despite Vancouver being divided by an inlet and a river, the city wasn't able to build a huge wall along Boundary Road. Thus, the KEEP THEM OUT agenda was a little thwarted. The various White city councils tried to do the next best thing. That was to symbolically impose various restrictions as a reluctance to think, plan and build on a BIG city scale. The time especially from 1960 to 2000 had predominantly White City Hall and its councils continually impose several overlapping restrictions. 

Since Vancouver can't control immigration or the movements of non-white people, keeping things small and backwards, means that less people will move there than to Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Edmonton. However, with a mild winter climate, more and more people want to move to backwards BC, especially small-minded Vancouver and provincial Victoria. 

In spite of immigration and Multiculturalism, Vancouver was to perpetually promote its small scale agenda. 

While the first Skytrain line can finally run 5 car trains, the stations weren't designed to become long enough to eventually accomodate 9 car trains like the big city Montreal Metro has. 

The 2nd and 3rd Skytrain lines are still only running 2 car joke trains. Running 8-10 car trains is what a proper big city would do, but not backwards Vancouver. 

Narrow bridges provides strong symbolism of the cities narrow-mindedness. When bridges are too narrow, its difficult to have a proper express or rapid bus system. The reluctance to build parallel bus and HOV bridges helps to maintain the congestive planning approach that is vancouver and the Greater Region. 

Vancouver's refusal to build parallel bike bridges has meant that 2 lanes were removed from the Burrard Bridge, 1 lane from the Cambie Bridge and 2 lanes from the Granville Bridge. 

Keeping buildings symbolically short when compared to what scenic Sydney, Auckland, SF and Seattle allow, also helps to maintain Vancouver's reluctance to enter the big and tall urban scale. In fact, the scenic setting that Vancouver is in has been used as the main excuse to continually scale the city down. Yet, several scenic cities around the world are either able to have wider bridges, wider roads, longer trains or taller buildings. 

The world is mostly composed of non-white people. Canada has less than 1% of the world's population and stubborn Vancouver symbolically remains as a small provincial backwater on the Pacific Rim. 

https://centralparktower.com.au Unlike Perth, Vancouver forbids 50 story office towers and Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne size residential towers. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/108_St_Georges_Terrace In fact, no office building in Vancouver has been permitted to have a 40th floor. However, since Burnaby and Surrey aren't under the restrictive controls of Vancouver, they will eventually allow office towers over 40 stories. 

Despite Australia having less people than Canada, Perth is allowed to have taller buildings, wider bridges and longer trains than Vancouver. Taller buildings, wider bridges and longer trains are even less likely in Halifax than whats in Brisbane or Queensland.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q1_(building) To see buildings on a similar scale of what Brisbane allows, one has to get to Greater Toronto. Brisbane is allowed to have some buildings that would even be impressive in Melbourne and Sydney. 

While Montreal is allowed to have taller buildings than Vancouver, Montreal isn't allowed to have Sydney size towers. Especially not on the scale of what Melbourne and Toronto permit.