How Bike Lanes have affected Vancouver's urban infrastructure

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvkifuIjq9I The BSB was a 6 lane crossing that even had a provision for a lower deck intended for streetcars. Eventually, 2 lanes were removed & the lower deck was never completed. However, Vancouver was unable to prevent Seattle & Portland from reviving some of their streetcar routes.

The problem isn't bike lanes, it's the lack of interest to build a proper regional network of bus & bike bridges. Thus, if a proper bike bridge was built next to the Burrard+Street+Bridge, then 2 of its 6 lanes could have been for buses or at least HOV lanes. The lower deck could have still been for streetcars or tram-trains going between Vancouver & Richmond. The irony of backwards Vancouver is that it was one of the first cities to get rid of its streetcars & will likely be one of the last to bring them back.

The Fraser River Tunnel Project https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWhHJWKa6CQ Unfortunatly, this will still be a chokepoint or congested crossing.

Of course the new Richmond-Delta+Tunnel wasn't designed to be part of a rail link between the airport and the ferry terminal. There should have been 2 HOV lanes, as well as 2 bus lanes, but that would be a big-city 10 lane crossing. Instead, just an 8 lane tunnel with no train component. Eventually, a train and HOV bridge or tunnel will have to be built next to it. 

At least the first SkyTrain line can now have 5 car trains. However, the 2 car joke of a train still exists between Vancouver & Coquitlam, as well as between Vancouver & Richmond. The Montreal Metro can have 9 car trains and BART in SF can have 10 car trains. Such things are possible because they don't have a congestive BC panning mentality.

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Bike+Lanes

The Oak Street-Granville Street Corridor

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oak_Street_(Vancouver) , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXbUb7TMj6k

The Oak+Street-Granville+Street+Corridor are both 6 lanes wide for most of their lengths. Thus, this is mostly a 12 lane street corridor and is much less disruptive than if a 10-12 lane freeway had been pushed through in the 1950s or 60s.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granville_Street , https://storeys.com/vancouver-granville-street-entertainment-district-history-renewal-planning-program

The yellow line is set for 3 lanes each way. However, if it was moved over 1 or 2 lanes, then there could be 4 or 5 main lanes one way & 1 or 2 lanes the other way. 

The Oak+Street+Bridge+and+Granville+Street+Bridge are still part of an incomplete corridor.

An improved 8 lane Granville+Street+Bridge with double-width sidewalks could have still worked, if there had also been a wide bike & foot bridge built next to it. Then, a roughly new paralel bridge next to the 4 lane Oak+Street+Bridge could have allowed for an 8 lane crossing there. Four lanes of Granville_Street southbound over the Fraser River and 4 lanes of Oak_Street northbound.

Unfortunatly 2 lanes were removed from the Burrard+Street+Bridge (BSB), 2 lanes removed from the Granville+Street+Bridge (GSB) and 1 lane from the Cambie+Street+Bridge (CSB). That didn't have to happen if a bike bridge was built next to the BSB and the GSB. While the east side of the Cambie-Street-Bridge has a nice, wide sidewalk, there wasn't enough foresight to also have a wide sidewalk on its west side. However, that narrow sidewalk could still be built out to be nice & wide so that the CSB can be restored to 6 lanes. 

When a city & metropolitan region mostly has narrow bridges, removing lanes or not having enough is utterly foolish! Case in point... https://www.pattullobridgereplacement.ca Instead of 2 bus & 2 HOV lanes, everything will be initially funneled into just 2 lanes each way. https://www.pattullobridgereplacement.ca/about/projectoverview Two nice sidewalks & 2 nice bike lanes, but no emergency lanes or bus lanes, right from the start. Its another classic BC bottleneck in the making. Since the SkyTrain doesn't run on a 24hr basis, 24hr bus lanes are essential, but that would go against the congestive planning methodology that is backwards BC.

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Oak+Street+and+Granville+Street

The narrow bridges of Vancouver, Canada

https://montecristomagazine.com/community/forgotten-bridges-vancouver

The LGB just wasn't designed with any future capacity in mind. 

History of the Lions Gate Bridge https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHqi7Kijedw 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lions_Gate_Bridge#History

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/Lions_Gate.jpg 

The inadequate 3 lane LGB is currently the most narrow road bridge in backwards & stubborn Vancouver. It's been in that category since the removal of the 2 lane Fraser Street Bridge in the 1970s. There was a refusal to twin the absurdly narrow LGB between the 1950s & 1970s. By the 1980s there should have been a subway tunnel and an 8 lane tunnel. Then two of the lanes could have been for buses. Georgia+Street is 7 lanes wide as it gets closer to Stanley Park. Thus, the main part of a tunnel through the park could have provided 3 general lanes each way & a bus lane each way. Instead, the 7 lanes of the westernmost part of Georgia Street are funneled into a 3 lane causeway & a 3 lane bridge. The LGB would be fantastic as just a bike & foot crossing, with train, bus & road tunnels well beneath & beside it.    

The Burrard_Bridge, BB or  BSB opened with 6 lanes, but now it only has 4 lanes. There are 2 bike lanes & 2 sidewalks. Had a parallel bike-bridge been built, the BB could have still had 6 lanes. While the BB has a lower level provision for streetcars or tram-trains, Vancouver did its damndest to phase out streetcars well before the 1960s. 

The Ironworkers_Memorial_Bridge has 6 lanes, but should also have had 2 wide shoulders & 2 very wide sidewalks. Unfortunatly, there was no provision for a lower deck, as is also the case with all of the other Vancouver  bridges. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ironworkers_Memorial_Second_Narrows_Crossing

Any replacement of the inadequate Ironworkers+Memorial+Bridge should be on the scale of what Perth, Seattle and Montreal have done.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granville_Street_Bridge#Third_bridge_(1954)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=vPSdF0jRTC4 The Granville-Bridge or GSB is the widest bridge in the city limits. It opened with 8 lanes, but is being transformed into a 6 lane bridge with 2 bike lanes & 2 sidewalks. Had there been a paralel bike & foot bride, the GSB could have still been 8 lanes wide. Then there could have been 2 exclusive bus lanes.

https://vancouver.ca/streets-transportation/granville-bridge-connector.aspx

The Oak Street Bridge should have been 8 lanes wide, with 2 wide sidewalks.

The Knight+Street+Bridge should have been 8 lanes with 2 wide sidewalks. Instead, its a 4 lane chokepoint.

The Arthur+Laing+Bridge should have been at least 6 lanes with 2 proper bike lanes & 2 sidewalks.

If the Cambie_Street_Bridge had 2 very wide sidewalks, then its likely that it would still have 6 lanes instead of 5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambie_Bridge#The_present_bridge

Unfortunatly, bottleneck or chokepoint planning is part of the Vancouver & BC mentality.

Of course BC & the Metro+Vancouver Region just hasn't put enough funds and effort towards proper big-city planning & infrastructure development. 

If Perth+and+Seattle had to conform to the extremely restrictive Vancouver approach to things, those cities would be in a perpetual state of chaos. Fortunately, nothing like the BC Mind Virus has ever reached WA.

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Oak+Street+and+Granville+Street

Park board votes to request 50-metre pool at Vancouver Aquatic Centre

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. 

Burrard Street Bridge (BSB)

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

It's unlikely that the BSB will ever be restored or completed, because of the backwards Vancouverization mentality. 

https://cityhallwatch.wordpress.com/2015/06/07/burrard-bridge-details-revealed-at-open-house-second-event-planned-for-june-16th

The city was too cheap to build a nice, wide bike-bridge next to the BSB.

https://voony.wordpress.com/2015/06/02/burrard-bridge-the-war-on-transit-continues

Thus, instead of removing 2 lanes, the BSB could have still had 6 lanes, which 2 lanes could have been for buses. Then a lower deck for 2 streetcar tracks.  

https://www.google.ca/search?q=Burrard+Bridge+Proposed+widening+plans&es_sm=93&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=VZiLVbSUAozzoAS9jLC4Bg&ved=0CB0QsAQ&biw=1600&bih=799

A 6 lane bridge with 2 streetcar tracks & a parallel bike-bridge, is just too advanced of a crossing for backwards vancouver.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=burrard+street+bridge&sa=X&es_sm=93&biw=1600&bih=799&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&ei=95OLVdS-KIfIogTlm5jwBg&ved=0CCwQsAQ

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Burrard+Street+Bridge

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=BSB