Showing posts sorted by date for query Iron Bridge. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query Iron Bridge. Sort by relevance Show all posts

Monday, March 9, 2026

Repairs on the Ironworkers Bridge

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/ironworkers-memorial-bridge-lane-closures-vancouver 

Unfortunatly, when this bridge was designed, there was no serious consideration to have 2 wide emergency lanes and 2 wide shoulders. Then, the Iron Bridge could have gradually been adapted to accommodate 2 bus lanes and 2 HOV lanes. At the very least, a bus, HOV and commuter train bridge should have been built next to the inadequate Iron Bridge back in the 20th century.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ironworkers_Memorial_Second_Narrows_Crossing Opened August 25, 1960  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granville_Street_Bridge Opened February 4, 1954 https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0c/View_of_downtown_Vancouver_from_the_Granville_Street_Bridge.JPG/960px-View_of_downtown_Vancouver_from_the_Granville_Street_Bridge.JPG

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oak_Street_Bridge Opened June 29, 1957 https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5f/Oak_Street_Bridge.jpg/960px-Oak_Street_Bridge.jpg  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight_Street_Bridge Opened January 15, 1974 https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/Knight_Street_Bridge.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Laing_Bridge Opened 27 August 1975 

https://evelazarus.com/third-crossing-here-we-go-again Somehow, Vancouver just never got around to building a bus and train tunnel or bridge in between the Lion Bridge and the Iron Bridge. Since Skytrain doesn't run 24 hours, there needs to be 24 hour bus lanes. 

https://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/dfhd/page_nhs_eng.aspx?id=11273 Some day, the Lion Bridge could become a nice bus and bike bridge, if a highway tunnel could ever be built under the park and beside the LGB. 

Unfortunately, the Vancouver Mind Virus (VMV) keeps getting in the way of progress. Just look at how short the Canada Line trains are.

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

Tuesday, February 24, 2026

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

Wednesday, February 4, 2026

North Shore of Greater Vancouver

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Shore_(Greater_Vancouver)

Is North Vancouver the most livable city in Canada? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX89qkSRBvg 

https://www.vancouversnorthshore.com 

Unfortunatly, there still isn't a commuter train from the airport to the H Bay ferry terminal. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Shore_(Greater_Vancouver)#Access 

There isn't even a train tunnel or a bus bridge between Downtown_Vancouver and the North Shore. Inept regional planning has been very slow to build rapid rail transit, or even a proper rapid bus bridge over the Inlet. An inadequate 3 lane Lion Bridge is so narrow that some people have living rooms or swimming pools wider than it. The 6 lane Iron Bridge that's so narrow, there isn't enough room for emergency lanes and no space for HOV lanes. Any attempt of a rapid bus will still have to be funneled into the inadequate single deck crossing. 

Friday, December 26, 2025

Would people pay a bridge toll if it helps solve traffic woes on the North Shore?

 https://www.nsnews.com/opinion/letter-i-would-gladly-pay-a-bridge-toll-if-it-helps-solve-our-traffic-woes-11665442 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Shore_(Greater_Vancouver) 

As of 2026, no bus, car, truck and commuter train tunnel was ever built near the extremely inadequate 3 lane Lions+Gate+Bridge. For if there had then, the LGB could have become a nice bike and foot crossing.

Of course no bus, truck and commuter train bridge was built next to the Iron+Bridge. The inadequate Iron Bridge is so narrow that there isn't any room for emergency lanes and especially no proper express or rapid bus lanes.

By now, there should be a SeaBus crossing of at least every 5 minutes in both directions. 

Its extremely difficult to bring the Greater Vancouver Region up to a proper urban transportation standard. Partly because this is part of backwards BC and partly because there is just such a lack of a normal big city vision. 

For some reason, congestive transportation planning just isn't that popular outside of backwards Vancouver, BC.

Wednesday, November 12, 2025

Cities, the BIG and the small of it

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

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9c/CN_Tower_1976.jpg/330px-CN_Tower_1976.jpg , https://www.britannica.com/topic/CN-Tower Standing at a height of 1,815 feet (553 meters)  
1815' divided by 581' is almost 3.13 times the height of a stump in Vancouver.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harbour_Centre "Skyscraperpage lists the buildings height to the roof as being only 139.6 m (458 ft). This is stated to be the height from the Hastings Street entrance while the height from the back entrance on Cordova Street is 146 m (479 ft). It also lists the buildings pinnacle height to the tip of the antenna as being 177.1 m (581 ft)." STUMP!
This Vancouver stump is only 32% of the CN Towers height. 
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/A_look_downtown_%28759827996%29.jpg/960px-A_look_downtown_%28759827996%29.jpg The Harbour_Centre building should have been on the scale of something like the Hopewell_Centre_(Hong_Kong)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Canadian_Place The BMO. Unlike Chicago, Toronto has no 100 story office towers.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/First_Canadian_Place_August_2017_01.jpg/500px-First_Canadian_Place_August_2017_01.jpg Its a 72 story HQ tower in Toronto.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bentall_Centre_(Vancouver)#Three_Bentall_Centre A 32 story BC office stump.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/Bentall_3.jpg/330px-Bentall_3.jpg

Being from small Vancouver, its amazing that Canada even has one megacity. Toronto is certainly a big city on a lakeshore like Chicago is. Montreal isn't allowed to have buildings as tall as Melbourne, let alone NYC. Montreal has allowed only one office tower to be over 50 floors and a few residential towers in the 60s. 

Calgary has more 50+ story office towers than Denver and Perth. No 40 story office tower exists in BC. The office section of the Harbour_Centre doesn't even have a 30th floor and the revolving restaurant is closer to being like 35 floors up. However, with the overall building being 481 feet, it would be equivalent to 40 floors, if the windows went right up to the top. The flagpole has no windows, but the flag would be like the equivalent of being 48 floors up.

Not just Toronto & Montreal, but Edmonton and Seattle have longer underground train stations than backwards, congested Vancouver. 

The Iron+BridgeOak+Street+BridgeKnight+Street+Bridge & the Arthur+Laing+Bridge should all have a bus+and+bike bridge built next to them. The extremely inadequate Lion+Bridge should have already had a bus and train tunnel close to it. 

Sunday, October 26, 2025

All cables and final steel girders now installed for new Pattullo Bridge

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/pattullo-bridge-construction-milestone-cables-deck Unlike the old, inadequate bridge, which only has 4 narrow lanes and just 1 sidewalk, this will have 2 sidewalks and 2 bike lanes. Unfortunatly, there won't be any bus or HOV lanes. Thus, all the traffic will be funneled into just 2 lanes each way. Of course there won't be any emergency lanes or breakdown lanes, so this is another quintessential BC bottleneck by design. At least a provision for a lower deck would have provided some hope. While this bridge can eventually be widened to 6 lanes, there seems to be no serious consideration for there to be bus and HOV lanes. So it will end up like the overloaded 6 lane Iron Bridge.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SkyBridge_(TransLink) No bike lanes and sidewalks and it wasn't built wide enough to eventually accomodate 3-4 tracks and 2 bus lanes. There is just something about backwards BC that makes it so obtuse and inept. 

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1d/SkyBridge_from_SkyTrain_%285770458210%29.jpg/500px-SkyBridge_from_SkyTrain_%285770458210%29.jpg At the very least, this bridge should have had 3 tracks and 2 bus lanes, a bike lane and a sidewalk on a lower deck. There is only a middle service track and apparently, no provision for a bike lane and a sidewalk.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Westminster_Bridge Still, only a single track bridge for freight and passenger trains. 

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1f/New_Westminster_Swing_Bridge.jpg/960px-New_Westminster_Swing_Bridge.jpg This old single track bridge should have been double tracked on a lower deck and have at least 4 lanes on an upper deck. Then when the first 4 lane Pattullo Bridge opened, it might not have been quite as overloaded in its later decades. 

In order for this joke of a river railway crossing to be properly upgraded and efficient is for there to be at least a new double track bridge.  

NW should have really had something like its own version of the Steel_Bridge in Portland. 

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Amtrak_talgo_train_crossing_steel_bridge.jpg/960px-Amtrak_talgo_train_crossing_steel_bridge.jpg Fortunatly, Portland didn't have a provincial backwater mentality like NW. Thus, they could build a lot more bridges. 
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/80/SteelBridgePano1.jpg/960px-SteelBridgePano1.jpg MAX light rail on the upper deck and Amtrack and freight trains on the lower deck. Fortunately, Oregon is far enough away from ever catching the BC Mind Virus. 
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e3/Aerial_view_of_Willamette_River_crossings_in_Portland%2C_February_2018.JPG So many nice bridges in Portland.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/27/Fraser_River%2C_Surrey_-_panoramio_%281%29.jpg/960px-Fraser_River%2C_Surrey_-_panoramio_%281%29.jpg 
Look at the lack of bridges between NW and Surrey.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0a/New_Westminster_Aerial_view_2015.jpg/960px-New_Westminster_Aerial_view_2015.jpg For most of the history of NW, Surrey was just some farmland south of the river with not much going on, but its many times larger than little NW. 

There just didn't seem to be that much a big city vision for little provincial backwater NW. Back in the day, NW could have acquired what would become the Tri-Cities and perhaps, even Surrey. There just wasn't any desire to have a big river city in BC on the scale of Portland,_Oregon. So while NW is stuck as a tiny city, Surrey is on its way to becoming the biggest city in BC.

Unfortunately, the Iron Bridge and Granville Bridge were never designed to have a lower deck for trains and buses either. That's just how it is in backwards BC. 

Sunday, September 14, 2025

The Boundary Road bridges (BRB)

Unfortunatly, there doesn't seem to be any BRB plan in place.

A North Boundary Road Bridge could provide an excellent BRT crossing between Burnaby and North+Vancouver. This would help to relieve pressure on the Iron Bridge.

https://movementyvr.ca/bby-heights-brt

The same with a South Boundary Roade Bridge with a BRT route between Vancouver and Richmond

Then another BRT bridge between Richmond and Delta to the ferry terminal. This could help to relieve some of the pressure on the new tunnel, because it wasn't designed to have 2 HOV lanes & no train section.

https://www.translink.ca/plans-and-projects/projects/bus-projects/rapidbus-projects 


https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Boundary+Road 

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

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Richmond+and+Delta

Tuesday, August 19, 2025

Vancouver harbour sailings

 https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/travel/vancouver-cruises-top-harbour-sailings-2025-11093357  

The SeaBus and the Aqua-Bus just aren't enough, there needs to be more capacity.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SeaBus , https://theaquabus.com/

https://www.translink.ca/schedules-and-maps/seabus 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SeaBus#Service Ideally, there should be a daytime departure every 5 minutes & 10 minutes during the evening.

https://www.translink.ca/schedules-and-maps/line/seabus/direction/0/schedule 

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

As of 2025, there still isn't a Downtown to Deep+Cove ferry and not in 2026 either. Thus, the 6 lane Iron+Bridge will still be overloaded. Had the bridge been constructed to have very wide shoulders, there could have been an efficient bus lane each way. Instead, any bus is stuck in the almost perpetual traffic jam. A Boundary+Road Bridge could make for an excellent bus and HOV lane crossing consisting of at least 4 lanes, with a provision for a middle rail section.

Of course there is no ferry from Downtown+Vancouver to the Horseshoe+Bay+ferry+terminal. Just like there is no train from Horseshoe+Bay to Deep+Cove and to the Tri-Cities

It's strange that the North-Shore didn't keep up with improving its passenger rail system.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Shore_(Greater_Vancouver) , https://monova.ca/the-story-of-streetcar-153/


https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Tri-Cities

Tuesday, August 12, 2025

The Lion Bridge and The Iron Bridge

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Lion+Bridge As of 2025, still no official plan for a train tunnel and a bus & HOV tunnel. A 3-4 track train tunnel and a 6-8 lane road tunnel would actually improve that absurd 3 lane crossing area.  

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Iron+Bridge As of 2025, still no official construction plan to add a 4 lane bus & HOV bridge, plus a 3-4 track rapid transit train bridge. 

Why a 3-4 track train tunnel or bridge? Someday, enough sensible people might realize the benefit and importance of having a train linking the Horseshoe+Bay+ferry+terminal to YVR and to the Tsawwassen+ferry+terminal

Unfortunatly, when so much money was wasted on a $HIT-PIPE and a $HIT-BOX, more money was lost that could have gone towards improving transit to & from the North Shore.


https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=The+Lion+Bridge+and+The+Iron+Bridge 

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Lions+Gate+Bridge

Tuesday, May 20, 2025

A ‘Bus priority system’ at traffic signals reduces delays in Dubai, but not in Vancouver

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubai Unlike Vancouver, when there are extra lanes, it's so much easier to have proper bus lanes & even HOV lanes. It's just a matter of efficiently using that wider road-space. The backwards Vancouver & backwater BC approach is to try to funnel everything into 2 lanes each way whenever possible. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emirate_of_Dubai Whether its a hot climate or a cold climate, people aren't going to be walking or biking around in 40 to 45C or in -30 to -40C weather.

 https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/transport/dubai-bus-priority-system-traffic-signals-cuts-delays?utm_medium=recommended-inarticle-dt&utm_source=art-rcmd-api

https://www.dubai.ae/web/dubai.ae/city-of-future

Unless backwards Vancouver & backwater BC build a proper system of bus & HOV bridges & have longer SkyTrain station, it all remains a sad joke. The Iron Bridge replacement, if it ever happens, must not only have 3 general lanes each way, but an extra 2 lanes each way for Rapid Bus Transit & HOV. A 10 lane bridge with a provision for a lower deck, is what a proper big city would do, but Vancouver only wants to be a toy city or a movie set full of fake props.

Tuesday, April 29, 2025

Why is Metro Vancouver Creating a New Downtown?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybMhTlj-l5s 

Unlike Seattle and Calgary, Vancouver has no office towers over 50 stories. There aren't even any 40 story office towers in BC. Vancouver is firmly against permitting any office tower from having a 40th floor. However, Vancouver cant stop Burnaby and especially Surrey from having an office tower over 40 stories. While a 50 story office tower anywhere in backwater BC still seems unlikely, Burnaby and Surrey will likely be the first 2 cities in BC to have at least a 45 story office tower. 

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/50-storey-tower-community-hub-edmonds-burnaby 

So far, stubborn and strict Vancouver has only permitted 2 buildings to be taller than the tallest in Bellevue,_Washington

Vancouver has only permitted one building to be taller than the tallest in Vaughan, Ontario.

https://www.skyscrapercenter.com/building/cg-tower/32139 

Since Burnaby and Surrey aren't under the backwards and thwarting restrictions that Vancouver has, Burnaby and eventually Surrey, will have taller buildings than stumpy Vancouver. Indeed, Burnaby already has some buildings taller than Downtown_Bellevue. Surrey will eventually have some buildings taller than the Vaughan_Metropolitan_Centre.          

Vancouver will continue to limit the height of its buildings for as long as possible. Vancouver won't allow a bus and train tunnel near the lion Bridge, let alone a 6 lane highway tunnel. Despite the Iron Bridge needing a parallel bus bridge and a Skytrain bridge, progress remains at a snail's pace. There still seems to be no interest in building a bus bridge next to the Oak and Knight Bridges. A city on the moon and Mars might happen before stubborn Vancouver ever builds a new Fraser Street bus & bike bridge. Not only should there be a Boundary Road Bridge to Richmond, but at least a Boundary bus & bike bridge to the North Vancouver.  

Its like backwards BC keeps hoping that by symbolically refusing to build up proper big city size transportation infrastructure, people will stay away. However, its only because no one has been able to effectively challenge the bottleneck-chokepoint mentality, that not much has been done.

Thursday, April 3, 2025

From the old and inadequate Fraser Street Bridge to the inadequate KSB

Somewhere in between 1950 & 1960, the old Fraser_Street_Bridge (FSB) should have been replaced with a new 4 lane bridge, with 2 very wide sidewalks for bikes & a future provision for 2 bus lanes. Vancouver needs a street and transit connection with No. 5 Rd. in Richmond. Unfortunatly, backwards Vancouver has always been a city without a proper big city transportation vision.

https://evelazarus.com/the-fraser-street-swing-span-bridge

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraser_Street_Bridge_(1894)#Provincial_government_headache

https://www.richmond-news.com/local-news/photos-and-video-was-this-the-unluckiest-bridge-between-richmond-and-vancouver-4475444

https://search.nbca.unbc.ca/index.php/fraser-st-road-bridge-in-vancouver-bc-1 In the late 1800s, just being able to have a bridge roadway width of 2 wagon-roads in backwater BC was amazing. Then, decades & even several generations later, any BC bridge that could provide 2 wagon-roads each way was even more amazing. 

https://structurae.net/en/structures/fraser-avenue-street-bridge

As usual, Vancouver & BC lost & messed up an opportunity to have 2 great new bridges.

https://structurae.net/en/structures/knight-street-bridge (KSB)

https://evelazarus.com/the-knight-street-bridge-part-2

Once again, the lack of a proper big city vision resulted in the inadequate design for the 4 lane Knight+Street+Bridge (KSB). However, it makes sense from a bottleneck congestive planing mentality. Despite Vancouver being part of what is suppose to be a major port region and in need of proper transportation corridors, the Knight_Street_Bridge is a classic chokepoint.

https://www.richmond-news.com/local-news/work-on-knight-street-bridge-in-richmond-below-deck-as-well-7319230

Just because the Knight_Street_Bridge started out as a 4 lane joke, there immediately should have been 2 wide shoulders, which could have eventually become 2 extra bus lanes. Plus, there should have been a future provision to add 2 HOV lanes. Two wide sidewalks & 2 wide bike lanes. However, that would go against the congestive planning mentality of Vancouver & BC.

Indeed, by deliberately planning the KSB to be a 4 lane chokepoint and not building a new Fraser+Street+Bridge, there clearly was no interest to have proper dedicated bus lanes in that part of the Greater Vancouver Region. With so many inadequate, narrow bridges, there should be bus & HOV lane bridges to help improve regional transportation.

A regional express bus system or a rapid bus network requires dedicated lanes. The LGB should have 2 bus lanes & 2 HOV lanes in a tunnel near it. The Iron Bridge, OSB & KSB, all should have a 4 lane bus & HOV bridge next to them. That would allow for a rapid bus lane each way & a HOV lane each way.


https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=old+and+new+narrow+bridges

Wednesday, December 18, 2024

Hobart, Tasmania

The University+of+Tasmania seems to have been Vancoverized, in terms of its 1 lane each way streets. 

Hobart is much smaller than Vancouver, BC. Yet, it has more lanes on a total of 3 crossing over the River_Derwent_(Tasmania). Burrard Inlet in Greater Vancouver only has 2 bridges.

Fortunately, Hobart has the 5 lane Tasman+Bridge, the 4 lane Bowen+Bridge and the 2 lane Midland+Hwy+Bridge. That's a total of 11 lanes.

In contrast, Burrard_Inlet-Port_of_Vancouver only has the 6 lane Iron+Workers+Memorial+Bridge and the inadequate 3 lane Lions+Gate+Bridge. Only 9 lanes for the old port area of the region. While a multigenerational moratorium on any new harbor bridges made sense from an anti-freeway perspective, something essential was neglected. As of the end of 2024, no bus-bridge or bus-tunnel was ever built across the harbor. There is only a single freight train track, so of course there was never a truck-bridge or a truck-tunnel built. Even at the dawn of 2025, a SkyTrain or LRT crossing still only seems like a pipedream. 

Greater Hobart isn't just the state capital, its the main city on the island of Tasmania, which has less than 65% of a million people. Greater_Vancouver is getting close to 3 million people, yet the infrastructure is so inadequate.

Anyone visiting Vancouver from the big 4 cities of Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane & Perth might be surprised to see shorter trains & smaller buildings & narrower bridges & highways. Those 4 cities, just like Toronto, Montreal, Calgary & Edmonton, are allowed to exist on a larger scale than extremely restrictive Vancouver. Indeed, its as if rainy Vancouver must continually water things down.

Friday, December 13, 2024

City of North Vancouver Top’s List of Canada’s Liveable Cities in 2024

 https://www.cnv.org/City-Hall/News-Room/News-Releases/2024/12/12/City-of-North-Vancouver-Top%E2%80%99s-List-of-Canada%E2%80%99s-Liveable-Cities-in-2024

There is North_Vancouver_(city) and then there is North_Vancouver_(district_municipality).

https://dailyhive.com/canada/canada-most-liveable-cities-ranking-2024

As long as you have everything you need on the North Shore, you are fine. Otherwise, you will be punished for using the inadequate The+Lion+Bridge+and+The+Iron+Bridge.

https://www.upperlonsdale.ca/blog/87130/north-vancouver-ranked-1-in-canada

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/article-canada-most-livable-city-north-vancouver/

Unfortunatly, transportation planners haven't seen a need to link Horseshoe Bay and Park Royal with downtown Vancouver. Indeed, a direct LRT connection from the North_Shore_of Greater_Vancouver to YVR might as well be part of a Sci-Fi story. However, multigenerational congestive planning in Vancouver is a harsh reality.

A 3 lane Lion Bridge never had any bus tunnels & especially an LRT line built far under it. The bridge is too narrow to accommodate one, let alone 2 proper bus lanes. This is the finest in BC bottleneck stagnation planning. 

The Iron_Bridge was built too narrow for an urban TCH crossing. Unfortunatly, no one planned or designed it to eventually have a lower deck for buses, trains & trucks.

https://www.cnv.org/streets-transportation/travel-options/transit A bus and truck bridge should have been built next to the Iron Bridge, decades ago. Why do that, when you can cram everything into just 3 lanes each way? 

https://www.nsnews.com/local-news/north-shore-bus-rapid-transit-at-the-front-of-the-line-translink-says-7843788

https://www.translink.ca/plans-and-projects/projects/rapid-transit-projects/bus-rapid-transit

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/north-shore-skytrain-burrard-inlet-rapid-transit-brt-lrt-study

https://www.burnabynow.com/local-news/opinion-lrt-remains-the-best-option-for-north-shore-rapid-transit-9643033 Of course a train would be able to move many more people efficiently. 


https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Horseshoe+Bay  

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=North+Shore

Wednesday, October 16, 2024

Highway 1 Keith Road and Mt Seymour Parkway

 https://www.mcelhanney.com/project/highway-1-keith-road-mt-seymour-parkway/

The North_Shore_(Greater_Vancouver) is designed to be heavily congested.

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/ironworkers-on-ramp-traffic-north-shore 

The North+Shore should have at least 2 rapid transit train crossings.

https://theprovince.com/opinion/linda-buchanan-bridging-communities-across-highway-1-would-revitalize-north-vancouver 

There should have been a train, bus & HOV tunnel by the First Narrows generations ago.

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/integrated-north-shore-transportation-planning-project-lonsdale-vancouver-rapid-transit

There should have been a train, bus & HOV bridge beside the Iron Bridge decades ago.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/provincial-federal-municipal-governments-launch-north-bowinn-ma

https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=214205&page=13



https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=North+Shore+of+Greater+Vancouver

LRT remains the best option for North Shore rapid transit

 https://www.nsnews.com/opinion-lrt-remains-the-best-option-for-north-shore-rapid-transit-9643033

Ambleside,_West_Vancouver should certainly be a SkyTrain stop along the way. N. Vancouver has always had very limited transportation options. Several decades ago when the decision was made to put a BC ferry terminal in W. Vancouver, there didn't seem to be a proper long-term bus & truck bridge or tunnel & even a rail rapid transit crossing. The 3 lane Lion Bridge is too narrow for any express bus lanes & the region foolishly refused to build a bus & truck tunnel for what is supposed to be a major port city. The Iron Bridge should have been designed to be wide enough to accomodate 2 bus-lanes & 2 truck lanes. Instead, everything is funneled into 3 lanes each way with no emergency lanes. Thus, if there is a stall or a crash, the busses & trucks get jammed up with all the other traffic. 

Living on the North_Shore_of_Greater_Vancouver can be nice, but you are punished when you go into the City of Vancouver or visa-versa. A train crossing would certainly improve things. 

Cost of Living in Vancouver (UPDATED) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWRTM1TY58A


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

Tuesday, October 1, 2024

A Bus Rapid Transit route between Park Royal and Metrotown

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/bc-ndp-bus-rapit-transit-route-west-vancouver

Either a new bus, HOV & train bridge has to be built, or a new much wider Iron Bridge is essential. 

However, there should also be a train between Horseshoe+Bay and the Park_Royal_Shopping_Centre with a link to downtown Vancouver.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel-De_Champlain_Bridge A nice 8 lane bridge with 2 train tracks was possible in Montreal, because its far away from the stunted infrastructure agenda of Vancouver & the backwater BC mentality. Any new Iron Bridge should be at least as wide as the New_Champlain_Bridge_in_Montreal

Of course people from Vancouver are allowed to visit Montreal, but the backward BC mentality just isn't allowed to take over Quebec, Ontario or Alberta. 


https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Park+Royal

Monday, August 12, 2024

Several Vancouver narrow bridge issues

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/metro-vancouver-bridge-cyclist-wire-allegations

Someone might have been very angry with bike people and not with car, bus & truck people. The real problem is that so much of the older BC infrastructure just wasn't designed to be more of a multi-modal crossing. The+Lion+Bridge+and+The+Iron+Bridge have no rail rapid transit crossings to help them.

The Ironworkers-Bridge is so narrow for a highway bridge in that location & wasn't designed for substantial future capacity. When it was initially designed in the 1950s, there was no concept to have 2 bus lanes, 2 HOV lanes, 2 truck lanes & 2 emergency lanes for a port city. Plus, at least 2 general traffic lanes each way & a provision for 2 train tracks. Thus, the 6 lane bridge is so overwhelmed, because it just can't do the job of an 8-10 lane wide bridge. While the Iron Bridge has 2 improved bike+lanes, they are part of the sidewalks.  

The former 8 lane Granville+Street will have 6 lanes, while the  & Oak+Street only has 4 lanes. The inadequate Oak+Street+Bridge (OSB) should have opened with at least 8 lanes, instead of only 4. Plus, 2 wide emergency lanes & 2 wide sidewalks. There still should be a new southbound OS Bridge, but the city would be against it. A narrow 4 lane bridge just doesn't have the space & capacity for 2 express bus lanes, 2 HOV & 2 truck lanes. Apparently, it's better to just funnel everything into only 2 lanes each way.  

The OSB should be twinned or replace with something like the Samuel-De_Champlain_Bridge in Montreal. The largest city in Quebec is allowed to have a nice wide bridge & long metro trains, because Quebec isn't bound by anything like the backwards BC mentality. 

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-montreals-new-44-billion-champlain-bridge-opens-to-traffic-for Fortunatly, the Vancouver mentality wasn't able to ever reach back to Montreal & prevent such a nice modern bridge from being built there. https://www.flatironcorp.com/project/champlain-bridge If you are from Montreal & have visited Vancouver, you will be surprise to see how much shorter an underground Vancouver train station is than what is allowed underground in Montreal, Toronto, Edmonton, Seattle, SF & LA...

https://vancouver.ca/streets-transportation/granville-bridge-connector.aspx A bike & foot bridge should have been built next to it decades ago. Then the Granville Bridge could have 3 general lanes each way, plus a bus & HOV lane each way. Instead, if 2 bus & HOV lanes are designated, there will only be 2 general lanes each way in the downtown core.

The Burrard Bridge should have had a bike & foot bride next to it. Instead, it was reduced from a 6 lane crossing to a 4 lane bridge.

The very narrow Oak+Street+Bridge & the Knight Street Bridge, should have had bus+and+bike+bridges built next to them decades ago. 

Most bridges in Vancouver & the metropolitan region just weren't designed with that much future capacity in mind, especially for buses & HOV lanes. Thus, it's a travesty that by now, almost every crossing should have had bus & bike bridges built next to them. 

https://vancouver.ca/streets-transportation/walk-bike-and-transit.aspx Unfortunatly, provisions for bus & bike lanes just weren't the thing to do several decades ago in BC.  

A truck lane is just as important as a bus & HOV lane. That's because freight should be efficiently & easily be transported in any major urban region.

https://vancouver.ca/streets-transportation/trucks-commercial-and-oversize-vehicles.aspx

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

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

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