Taking a second look at a third crossing for the North Shore

 https://www.nsnews.com/opinion/eve-lazarus-taking-a-second-look-at-third-crossings-for-the-north-shore-11084045

You couldn't have a worse congestion scenario there. 

https://www.westernstandard.news/topic/lions-gate-bridge An enduring 3 lane pathetic joke of a bridge! No bus & HOV tunnel & especially no train tunnel around there.

https://www.westernstandard.news/topic/ironworkers-memorial-bridge A 6 lane crossing that should have had at least 2 emegency lanes & 2 wide shoulders for future dmand. No bus & HOV bridge & especially no train bridge around there.

No one ever stopped the Horseshoe+Bay+ferry+terminal from being built. However, its like various people have done their damndest to make sure that no express bus lanes & no HOV lanes cross the inlet, & especially no rail rapid transit. It's so sad that the congestive planning folks keep rising to the top of the B$.

https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/this-week-in-history-1967-wacky-bennett-and-tom-terrific-team-up-to-push-for-a-third-crossing

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

A Chateau-style home in West Vancouver, but...

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/west-vancouver-home-sale-2188-westhill-wynd

A person can pay out all that money, but you don't get a French standard of transportation options, or even a Québec-Montreal quality of transportation. You are just stuck with a ridiculous 3 lane LGB  and there are no plans to have any bus & train tunnels under that horrible chokepoint.

Any replacement for the Ironworkers+Memorial+Bridge should be at least as wide as the Samuel-De_Champlain_Bridge in Montreal. It's very difficult in BC to have crossings that have at least 4 lanes each way.

Far away from backwards Vancouver & backwater BC, the Narrows_Bridge_in_Perth-WA was part of a multi-section Bridge plan. 5 lanes each way, plus a Railway_bridge section, which has much longer trains than backwards Vancouver.

The Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge in Seattle

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.

https://www.nsnews.com/local-news/study-reveals-potential-replacement-options-for-ironworkers-bridge-8926848

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 big & build BIG in Vancouver & BC, in general.

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

Of course Seattle & Montreal would have an 8 lane crossing with 2 train tracks long before slow Vancouver would consider an upgrade to the inadequate Ironworkers+Memorial+Bridge.

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

The Ironworkers Memorial Bridge will experience lane closures over the following week

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

Even from a late 1950s backwards BC perspective, there should have been at least 2 wide emergency lanes. 4 emergency lanes would have been even better, because in addition to 3 general lanes each way, a provision for 2 bus & HOV lanes would have been great. There also should have been a provision for a lower truck & train deck. 

Of course any replacement bridge should not only provide 3 general lanes each way, but also 1 truck & 1 HOV lane each way. Then another section or level for at least 2 train tracks & 2 express bus lanes. Since BC doesn't like to provide 24hr train service, there must be 2 bus lanes always open, especially whenever the rail component is closed for maintenance or some emergency.

Unfortunatly, BC Bottleneck planning waters things down. Vancouver, Victoria & Kelowna like to excel in such congestive planning.

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=The+Ironworkers-Bridge

North Shore-Metrotown SkyTrain would see 120,000 riders daily

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

Since the planned North_Shore train won't be running 24 hours a day, there should be at least 1 bus & 1 HOV lane for each direction. There should also be 2 truck lanes & at least 2 wide emergency lanes. Unfortunately, the Ironworkers-Memorial-Bridge-replacement-concept only depicts 3 general lanes each way, plus only 2 extra lanes that could become a bus & HOV lane. The shoulders don't look like they will be as wide as a regular lane, but still might barely function as an emergency lane for fire-trucks, etc. There also doesn't look like any provision for a bike & foot path for both sides of the bridge. 

Thus, once again, it's a narrow-minded Vancouver & especially a backward BC bridge, being designed to be narrower than what it should be.

https://canada.constructconnect.com/joc/news/infrastructure/2023/07/province-planning-study-on-future-of-ironworkers-bridge

https://vancouvertraces.weebly.com/the-first-and-second-narrows-crossings.html

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

A North Shore Skytrain on a new Ironworkers Memorial Bridge?

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/bc-united-north-shore-skytrain-ironworkers-memorial-bridge

Either a rapid-bus crossing first, or a train crossing with 2 buss lanes for whenever the train is shut down. The NW Skybridge wasn't designed to have 2 bus & 2 bike lanes & 2 footpaths. Thus, the SkyBridge to Surrey remains as a fine inept example of backward BC planning. 

The North-Arm-Bridge to Richmond was also not designed to have 2 bus lanes, 2 bike lanes & 2 footpaths. Just one combined bike & footpath. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Arm_Bridge

Unfortunately, Greater Vancouver doesn't want to provide 24hr trains. Yet, there seems to be a reluctance to have a series of regional bus-bridges, because most of the existing bridges are too narrow to have 2 extra bus lanes.

https://canada.constructconnect.com/joc/news/infrastructure/2023/07/province-planning-study-on-future-of-ironworkers-bridge

https://vancouvertraces.weebly.com/the-first-and-second-narrows-crossings.html

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

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

Langley man – last surviving ironworker of Second Narrows Bridge collapse – attends 66th anniversary memorial

 https://www.langleyadvancetimes.com/community/langley-man-last-surviving-ironworker-of-second-narrows-bridge-collapse-attends-66th-anniversary-memorial-7396246

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/ironworkers-memorial-bridge-collapse-1958-1.5615447

https://www.ironworkers.ca/58-years-second-narrows-bridge-collapse-lost-lives-not-forgotten/

Collapse of the Second Narrows Bridge during its Construction in 1958

 https://ascelibrary.org/doi/10.1061/9780784481035.014

Unfortunately, when the bridge was rebuilt, there was no concept for a couple of bus lanes.

https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/engineeringinsociety/chapter/infrastructure-disaster-ironworkers-memorial-bridge-vancouver-1958

There should have been at least 2 emergency lanes, but it was decide to just jame everything into only 3 lanes each way.

https://www.nsnews.com/in-the-community/time-traveller-19-die-in-1958-second-narrows-bridge-collapse-and-ensuing-rescue-5462583

https://vancouversun.com/news/this-day-in-history-june-17-1958

https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/second-narrows-bridge-collapse

https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2018TRAN0045-001202

https://www.ironworkers.ca/58-years-second-narrows-bridge-collapse-lost-lives-not-forgotten/

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

How safe are bridges at Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach?

https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/how-safe-bridges-at-ports-of-los-angeles-and-long-beach/3373516/

Of course there are bridges in and around Greater LA Area. However, it most an urbanized land mass.

Cities like Seattle, Portland, SF, NYC, Montreal, Boston & Vancouver require an extensive bridge & or tunnel system to keep each region effectively connected.

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-lions-gate-ironworkers-bridge-ship-collision-collapse-risk

Vancouver & the metropolitan area already has a deficit of adequate bridges. There should have been about a dozen bus & bike bridges over the past few decades. Improved existing bridges to allow for HOV lanes, but Vancouver & the greater region are too afraid to go beyond the chokepoint mentality. Apparently, congestive planning is always the best way to go in BC. There isn't enough bridge redundancy, so if anything goes wrong, the region will only get more blocked up.

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/ironworkers-memorial-bridge-replacement

TransLink ridership recovery reaches 90% of pre-pandemic volumes

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/translink-ridership-recovery-vancouver-public-transit-september-2023

While the recovery is great, the Skytrain network should have been designed to have 152m stations like Montreal & Toronto, but that would mean big city thinking. So the 50m to 80m stations provide a constant reminder of the refusal to think big.

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/bc-transit-ridership-recovery-record

Just like the region should have a proper big city train, there should have also been a proper express bus & HOV system by now. However, with such a refusal to have wider bridges or parallel crossings, it's almost impossible to have a proper rapid bus network.

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/ironworkers-memorial-bridge-replacement There should be a couple of HOV lanes, as well as 2 bus lanes. Thus, any replacement for the Ironworkers+Memorial+Bridge should have 10 lanes. 

However, congestive planning always wins out & who know where all the money has gone over the past several decades?

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/skytrain-vancouver-demand-extensions

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/commercial-broadway-station-broadway-grandview-woodland-plan-skytrain Brentwood Station, no problem. However, allowing such a crossroads station at a similar scale is too upsetting for the backwater Vancouver mentality.

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/city-of-vancouver-car-vehicle-traffic-reductions-broadway Another fine example of the conjestive mentality. Since the train isn't allowed to run 24/7, it's a good idea to still have a wide street for express buses & 24hr traffic, which is common for most major cities.

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/skytrain-metro-vancouver-expansion

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/canada-public-transit-system-comparison