https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o81t9wpYkl0
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_Bridge Only 3 lanes each way.
https://www.oregon.gov/odot/projects/pages/project-details.aspx?project=21570
https://www.opb.org/article/2025/09/22/interstate-five-i-5-bridge-replacement-costs-rise/
https://www.opb.org/article/2026/01/16/i-5-interstate-bridge-washington-oregon/
https://bikeportland.org/2025/10/30/no-vote-an-ominous-first-for-interstate-bridge-project-397823
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAgLCwox_jg
Phoenix might eventually get to have a building that's similar in height to the tallest in Portland, OR.
(service disruption ends after 14 hours) https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/skytrain-canada-line-service-disruptions-january-14-2026
For a rapid transit line that opened in 2009, on the surface, it sure wasn't designed to be an efficient high capacity line for the future. It's still just a 2 car joke of a train. Fortunately, most real cities around the world planned for not only 6 car trains, but even 8-10 car trains.
Unfortunatly, Vancouver has been hit very hard with a multigenerational agenda of continually imposed small scale infrastructure. Vancouver has water on 3 sides, as its on a peninsula. Since the powers that be couldn't build a Boundary+Road moat or trench, the next best thing was to symbolically show the reluctance to build proper big city size infrastructure. This stunted approach to things is about symbolically holding the scale of the city back for as long as possible.
Despite backwards Vancouver not being able to apply a castle-moat-and-drawbridge control system, the next best thing was to symbolically keep things smaller than what normal or proper big cities allow.
Here are some of the best examples of holding the size of things back. The 3 lane joke that is the Lions+Gate+Bridge has never had a rapid transit rail tunnel and no express bus tunnel next to it. Especially, no 6 lane highway tunnel. It's a classic BC bottleneck-chokepoint, by design.
From a 3 lane joke of a bridge to a two car Canada+Line joke of a train. It met the symbolic requirement to be shorter than the LRT in Edmonton, the C Train in Calgary and the trains in Seattle and Portland.
The+Post+building+complex could have been Vancouver's first 50 story office tower, it's not even 25 floors. It would be impressive if it were in Victoria, Kelowna, Kamloops or Prince George. That's the unfortunate thing about Vancouver, so much is done to only be impressive to small cities or towns.
https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=The+small+Westin+Bayshore+Hotel+in+Vancouver
Things have been kept so small in Vancouver throughout its history, that any big city stuff might seem overwhelming. There has been an unofficial KEEP THEM OUT mentality, but since the city cant have checkpoints, building things small symbolically demonstrates the perpetual reluctance to not allow a big city in backwater BC.
Since Vancouver can't control Burnaby and can't stop Surrey from eventually becoming the biggest city in BC, they are able to build things on a larger scale than Vancouver.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4zn4qpo-Ww
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritz-Carlton,_Portland
https://oregonbusiness.com/ritz-on-the-fritz-downtown-high-rise-appears-headed-for-sale/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Block_216 , https://www.block216.com/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Portland/comments/1m7gtqc/portlands_newest_skyscraper_home_to_ritzcarlton/
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10163196613962377&set=a.10152101514842377
Several cities are able to build bike and foot bridges in their downtowns. Unfortunately, backwards Vancouver has taken a congestion approach to transportation planning for several decades. The Burrard-Bridge could have remained 6 lanes wide if a proper bike+bridge had been built next to it.
https://www.cyclingthread.com/bicycle-bridges-18-stunning-routes-18-unique-crossings-2025
https://momentummag.com/here-are-10-incredible-bicycle-bridges-around-the-world/
https://www.arch2o.com/10-amazing-bridges-passageways-bikes
https://medium.com/@raydelahanty/what-is-north-americas-busiest-bike-bridge-3ac84cf8b8c3
https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Burrard+Street+Bridge
https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Tilikum+Crossing+in+Portland Unfortunately, it looks like the biggest city in BC won't be getting anything like the Tilikum Bridge in the foreseeable future.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-olympic-line-streetcar-demonstration-revival-proposal
The city and greater urban region should have never gotten rid of the streetcars and interurban tram-trains. Now, its extremely difficult to bring them back. Fortunately, backwards Vancouver was unable to get Toronto, Melbourne and SF to get rid of their street railways. Those cities and many others just never had anything like a Vancouver Mind Virus or BCMV to thwart them.
Of course Seattle & Portland would bring back some of their streetcar lines long before slow-moving Vancouver can.
https://www.tbtechno.com/en/portfolios/pergola-viaduct-of1-4b-bus-hov-lanes/
https://stvinc.com/project/verrazzano-narrows-bridge-bushov-lane-implementation-design/
https://seattletransitblog.com/2025/01/29/wsdot-hov-overview/
https://bikeportland.org/2017/05/11/is-it-time-for-more-bus-only-lanes-in-portland-228020
https://vancouver.ca/streets-transportation/bus-network-improvements.aspx
https://ipvdelft.com/bicycle-bridges/
https://www.arch2o.com/10-amazing-bridges-passageways-bikes/
https://hansonthebike.com/2017/07/11/dutch-bike-bridges/
https://www.curbed.com/2021/04/brooklyn-bridge-bike-lane-narrow.html
https://www.benesch.com/project/43rd-street-pedestrian-bridge/
https://surfarchitecture.com/a-new-suspended-pedestrian-bridge-over-the-water-in-toronto
https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/581364-longest-enclosed-pedestrian-bridge
https://www.conteches.com/bridges-structures/truss-and-girders/continental-pedestrian-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.
.jpg/500px-SkyBridge_from_SkyTrain_(5770458210).jpg)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Westminster_Bridge Still, only a single track bridge for freight and passenger trains.
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.
.jpg/960px-Fraser_River%2C_Surrey_-_panoramio_(1).jpg)
https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/tron-ares-review-9.6933888
Unfortunatly, using special effects is the only way to make Vancouver, BC look like its a proper big city.
No bridge within the small city limits of Vancouver has been allowed to be as big or wide as the biggest in Perth, Seattle, Portland, Edmonton & Glasgow...
The Skytrain stations are shorter than train stations in Perth, Seattle, Calgary and Edmonton...
No office tower in Vancouver has been permitted to have a 40th floor. Of course, Perth, Seattle, Portland and Calgary have office towers over 40 stories.
https://hollywoodnorthbuzz.com/2025/10/tron-ares-vancouver-as-real-life-grid.html
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-landmarks-tron-ares-trailer
https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/events-and-entertainment/new-tron-ares-movie-trailer-features-vancouver-sci-fi-setting-10488343 Vancouver is so smallscale, but awesome? Perhaps when compared to Victoria, Kelowna, Prince George, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, it is.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multnomah_County,_Oregon While Portland is so tiny when compared to NYC, it still has the potential to become a big city like Seattle, someday.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clark_County,_Washington Vancouver, WA is basically a suburb of Portland. However, V-WA could eventually become like a smaller version of Jersey_City,_New_Jersey.
Its a case of a smaller river city next to a larger river city, that is part of a metropolitan area.
The New_York_metropolitan_area is the most densely populated and the biggest in the US.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_metropolitan_area#Geography
The Portland_metropolitan_area could potentially become as big as the Seattle_metropolitan_area, some day. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland_metropolitan_area#Metropolitan_statistical_area
Seattle is already a larger city than Boston. However, the Seattle_metropolitan_area still isn't quite as big as the Greater_Boston Area.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_metropolitan_area#Geography
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Boston#Metropolitan_Area
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_England Boston
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Northwest Seattle
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Northwest#Population
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_City-Windsor_Corridor Montreal and Toronto
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calgary-Edmonton_Corridor No hindrence from backwards BC.
Then there is backwards Vancouver and the Lower_Mainland part of BC. Short trains and mostly narrow bridges are hindering the region, by design. The regional passenger rail and the freight rail lines all need to be properly upgraded.
Don't forget the provincial backwater that is Victoria,_British_Columbia. At least Greater_Victoria has the potential to become a major island metropolitan area, someday. There should be a 4 track passenger and freight line between Victoria and Nanaimo and even up to Comox.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vancouver,_Washington "Founded in 1825 and incorporated in 1857, the city was originally established around Fort Vancouver, a fur trading outpost, and is situated directly north of Portland, Oregon..." It is part of the Portland_metropolitan_area.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vancouver, BC
| Gastown | (1867–1886) |
| Granville | (1870–1886) |
| City of Vancouver | (1886–present) |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Vancouver
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro_Vancouver_Regional_District
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C40_Cities_Climate_Leadership_Group
https://www.c40reinventingcities.org/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C40_Cities_Climate_Leadership_Group#History
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C40_Cities_Climate_Leadership_Group#Membership
https://www.c40knowledgehub.org/s/topic/0TO1Q0000001ldhWAA/mass-public-transit?language=en_US
https://www.c40.org/cities/vancouver/
It took a very long time for Vancouver to have its first building permitted to rise over 500 feet in height.
152.4 meters = 500 feet and 150 meters = 492.12 feet
https://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?cityID=1
https://www.straight.com/article-371138/vancouver/city-approves-new-policy-taller-buildings-downtown-vancouver While there are some taller resedential towers, Vancouver still has no office tower with at least a 40th floor. Portland,_Oregon has 2. Perth, WA has 2 office towers with at least 50 floors. The_Bow tower in Calgary has 60 floors, when you count all the levels. The Columbia_Center in Seattle has 80 floors in total.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_Vancouver#Cityscape
450 feet is equal to about 137.16 meters and that was the height restriction imposed on Vancouver for most of its restrictive, red-tape history.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_Vancouver
The powers that be tried their damndest to not allow most Vancouver buildings to be taller than the Smith_Tower, Commerce_Court_North and the Los_Angeles_City_Hall until after the year 2000. Of course in 2025 those buildings are like stumps now, but would still be tall by small Vancouver standards.
https://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?buildingID=6965 , https://www.smithtower.com/about/
https://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?cityID=27&searchname=timeline
https://beautifulwashington.com/king-county/attractions/seattle/448-sky-view-observatory.html
https://www.seattletimes.com/life/heres-a-cheap-way-to-view-seattles-skyline-coffee-at-the-starbucks-on-the-40th-floor-of-the-columbia-tower The 40th floor of an 80 story building, when you count the mechanical or plant floors as well. Perhaps some day strict Vancouver might permit an office building to have a 40th floor.
https://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?cityID=1&status=15
stumps and towers
When there is a refusal to build bigger and better bridges, there still should be a regional network of bus and train bridges. However, the gridloc planning agenda keeps winning out.
Unfortunatly, after decades of inept transportation planning and then so much money wasted down a $HIT-PIPE, the North Shore keeps getting hit hard from the $HIT-BOX planning mentality.
The Tilikum+Crossing in Portland is a fantastic example of modern infrastructure planning and development. It allows for the MAX-LRT, the streetcar, the bus, bikes and pedestrians to conveniently get across. The nice thing about the TC is that no lanes had to be removed or repurposed on the other Portland bridges. Perhaps that's why something like the TC isn't allowed in BC, because it could actually help to improve transportation efficiency.
The Washington+Avenue+Bridge is another example of what's not allowed in Greater Vancouver or anywhere else in the BC part of Canada. After all this time, Greater Vancouver is still so lacking in a regional network of transit+bridges.
Despite Surrey eventually becoming the most populated city in BC, it's still been scaled back for most of its history. It sure would have been nice if the SkyTrain between Vancouver & Surrey had 10 car trains. It's been tough enough just to finally start having some 5 car trains.
Unfortunatly, transportation connections between the Burrard_Peninsula and Surrey are too few and that's by design.
Fortunately, the BC mentality of limiting infrastructure hasn't been adopted in Portland, Seattle, Calgary, Edmonton & Winnipeg. Thus, they are all able to have a lot more bridges. One can clearly see that a lot more funding has been properly applied in several cities. However, Greater Vancouver has a lot less bridges than many other urban areas. Short trains are expected or forced to do the job of a proper big city, long train. Most of the regional bridges are so narrow, there isn't enough space for 2 bus lanes & 2 HOV lanes.
Then, there is a multi-generational refusal to build a regional network of bus & HOV bridges. Even the (2030) tunnel wasn't designed to have 2 HOV lanes & especially a double track train tunnel component. At lest the (2030) tunnel will have 2 bus lanes & 3 general lanes each way.
Of course the Surrey+Memorial+Hospital wasn't designed with a series of 5-10 story buildings with a capability to eventually add another 10-15 floors.
"Despite having a population of similar size to the City of Vancouver, Surrey has 671 hospital beds compared to Vancouver’s 2,572. Even with 168 beds slated for the new Cloverdale hospital that is under construction, Vancouver will still have triple the number of hospital beds for a population of similar size..." https://www.surrey.ca/news-events/news/surrey-mayor-proposes-health-care-administrator-address-inequity
https://globalnews.ca/news/10342083/surrey-healthcare-crisis-hospital-capacity/
