Tuesday, May 28, 2024

Five of Ontario's top 10 worst roads are located in the Greater Toronto Area

 https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/five-of-ontario-s-top-10-worst-roads-are-located-in-the-toronto-area-1.6903196 Of course its a good idea to make sure that the roads & streets are as smooth as possible.

The Greater_Toronto_Area is gradually becoming a vast urban region like the Chicago_metropolitan_area. So many more modes of transit must be provided for the GTA. IE, trains, HOV, bus & bike lanes. 

https://www.insauga.com/one-of-ontarios-worst-roads-is-among-the-busiest-streets-in-mississauga

Being from the BC Lower_Mainland, it's hard to believe that Canada's GTA is on its way to becoming like another Chicagoland. But then I always remember that Ontario, like Quebec & Alberta aren't under anything like the BC mentality & all of its restrictions.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/worst-roads-ontario-2024-1.7215979 

In effect, the Burlington_Bay_James_N._Allan_Skyway went from a BC like 4 lane bridge to an 8 lane Ontario crossing in the mid 1980s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burlington_Bay_James_N._Allan_Skyway#1985_twin_bridge

https://511on.ca/map/Cctv/loc06--3
https://511on.ca/map/Cctv/loc06--3 Both bridges are safer than cramming everything into one crossing structure. 

https://burlingtontraffic.ca/qew-burlington-bay-james-n-allan-skyway The 4th lane each way could eventually become a bus & HOV_lane.

The 4 lane Burlington_Canal_Lift_Bridge is more like a narrow Vancouver bridge. Just 2 lanes each way with no space for an emergency lane or bus & HOV lane. That's why the Burlington_Bay_James_N._Allan_Skyway crossing is still better than any bridge within the Vancouver city limits. The skyway crossing combined with the lift bridge, provides 12 lanes, because the emergency lanes usually aren't counted. Just imagine if all that was funneled into a 4 lane Vancouver bridge. Fortunately, the backward BC bottleneck mentality has never taken over Ontario. 

While Oak Street in Vancouver has 6 lanes, the Oak_Street_Bridge was only designed to have 4 lanes. Thus, it's a fine example of the BC mentality and the multigenerational Vancouverization agenda. Vancouverization is all about watering things down & creating bottlenecks or chokepoints.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Oak_Street_Bridge.jpg
https://wikimedia.org/Oak_Street_Bridge.jpg

The narrow 4 lane bridge should have been designed with a provision to eventually be at least 8 lanes wide. 3 lanes each way, plus a bus & HOV lane each way, but that would conflict with the narrow mindedness of Vancouver. It's sad that at least a bus & bike bridge wasn't built next to it, but that would conflict with the BC bottleneck planning approach to things.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Oak_Street_Bridge_and_Fraser_River%2C_Vancouver_-_panoramio.jpg
https://wikimedia.org/Oak_Street_Bridge_and_Fraser_River.jpg

https://images.drivebc.ca/bchighwaycam/pub/html/www/70.html A 6 lane street funneled into a 4 lane bridge. WTH?

The Oak_Street_Bridge really should have been opened as a 10 lane bridge. Yet, Oak_Street has only 6 lanes. A 10 lane OSB could have not only allowed for 3 lanes each way, but a bus & HOV_lane each way. Then the 5th lane each way could have been an emergency lane

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/transportation/driving-and-cycling/traveller-information/routes-and-driving-conditions/hov-lanes

At the very least, a HOV, bus & bike bridge should be built next to the OSB. However, the multi generational backward BC mentality just doesn't care.

The 4 lane joke that is the George_Massey_Tunnel, should have had a HOV, bus & bike bridge built next to it several decades ago. But that would have actually created better mobility & less congestion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Massey_Tunnel#Replacement Of course just like with the old tunnel, the new tunnel won't have a provision for LRT & emergency lanes. Thus, a LRT bridge would eventually have to be built next to it. Apparently, having a train from the Tsawwassen_ferry_terminal to the airport still doesn't make sense. That's just the backward BC way.

If you are from Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, the Pacific NW, Australia or just about anywhere, the watered down BC infrastructure will surprise you.


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

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=bus+and+bike+bridges

montreals-massive-contrecoeur-terminal-expansion-project

 https://canada.constructconnect.com/dcn/news/infrastructure/2024/05/a-deeper-dive-into-montreals-massive-contrecoeur-terminal-expansion-project

The North Shore-Metrotown SkyTrain Plan

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

The North+Shore has been neglected for generations.

https://www.cnv.org/Streets-Transportation/Transportation-Planning/North-Shore-Transit-Plan

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/north-shore-city-councils-rapid-transit-translink-approval-plan

The Arbutus Greenway

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/arbutus-greenway-public-street-vancouver

The streetcar line was decommissioned in the 1950s. Perhaps a modern tram-train or LRV, might be built there before the 2050s. The 2 coach Canada Line is such a sad joke. It's barely a train as some streetcar & tram trains are longer, but not faster.

https://vancouver.ca/streets-transportation/arbutus-greenway.aspx

https://www.letsgobiking.net/beginner/143-arbutus-greenway/

https://vancouver.ca/streets-transportation/explore-the-arbutus-greenway.aspx

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/canada/british-columbia/arbutus-greenway

https://www.translink.ca/plans-and-projects/projects/rapid-transit-projects/skytrain-expansion-program/skytrain-fleet-expansion All the SkyTrain stations should have been designed to eventually be able to accomodate 8-10 car trains.


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

Monday, May 27, 2024

The big TO and Canada in general

Of course big cities & nations change over the decades & sometimes people just leave. However, there are various reasons overall that might cause people to move away. A country can be progressive & advance its living standards. However, when a country no longer listens to its citizens & newcomers, that's indicative of a stubborn and restrictive agenda. An agenda that seems to be the opposite of what the people want. 

Why are so many immigrants leaving Canada? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBDlcxyZ4fo CTV

WHY People are Fleeing Canada as Fast as They Can... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3B_crKgV3rs

Why are so many people LEAVING Canada lately? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pVKJt1Uh9E

Why No One Wants To Live In Canada Anymore https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDzme7W7Fy8

Is Canada Is Becoming a Dystopian Nightmare? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChKwUpWNMSQ

Why Are People Leaving Canada? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kohSD5unJ3Q

Why are many Canadians deciding to live abroad? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWkOq60kP10

Cost of living and Software Engineer Salaries in Canada https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqyRp6pAwu8

Canada sees drop in citizen applications from permanent residents | BBC News https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3SFZdZFHxs

Sunday, May 26, 2024

The Pattullo Bridge replacement now delayed by 1 year

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/pattullo-bridge-construction-opening-delay-2025

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/pattullo-bridge-delays-1.7215198

https://www.pattullobridgereplacement.ca/construction/current-works/

The new PB should open with 6 lanes with a provision to have at least 8 lanes. A 4th lane each way could be a nice bus & HOV corridor. But once again, everything will be funneled into a 4 lane BC bottleneck.

https://www.surreynowleader.com/local-news/pattullo-bridge-replacement-delayed-again-now-projected-to-open-in-2025-7364978

https://globalnews.ca/news/10523439/broadway-subway-pattullo-bridge-delay/

Since the Skytrain isn't open 24hrs, 2 bus lanes should have been part of the bridge right from the start. Its sad that the multigenerational BC mentality never allowed for a much wider SkyBridge. Fortunately, Oregon was able to build their fantastic Tilikum_Crossing, because it doesn't have anything like the BC mentality to thwart it. 

Of course the Skybridge was never designed to have bus & bike lanes, but that's something Portland would eventually do. The extremely narrow SkyBridge should have been designed to not only have 2 bike lanes, but 2 bus & 2 HOV lanes to take some of the pressure off the old PB, as well as its replacement. But that would conflict with the narrow minded, multigenerational backward BC mentality.

After all these decades, backward BC still wants to make sure that there is no provision for a streetcar or a tram-train between Surrey & NW. That's despite Surrey eventually becoming the largest city in BC. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skybridge_(TransLink) The narrow minded BC joke of a transit bridge.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilikum_Crossing Perhaps, the most amazing bridge in Oregon. https://trimet.org/tilikum


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

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

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

Broadway subway-opening-delayed- until 2027

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/broadway-subway-skytrain-opening-delayed-2027

This B$ should have been built decades ago.

https://globalnews.ca/news/10523439/broadway-subway-pattullo-bridge-delay/

Edmonton vs. Vancouver, BC

 https://versus.com/en/edmonton-vs-vancouver

In some ways you can win in Alberta & in some ways win in BC. It all depends upon what you want or what you can afford & if you like -25C for a few months of the year.

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

Calgary vs. Vancouver, BC

 https://versus.com/en/calgary-vs-vancouver


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

Saturday, May 25, 2024

The need to protect Alberta's affordability advantage

 https://edmontonsun.com/opinion/columnists/gunter-smith-needs-to-protect-albertas-affordability-advantage

Don't ever allow the BC mentality to takeover Alberta. If Alberta was under anything like the BC restrictions, Alberta would have collapsed years ago.

Being from the BC part of Canada, it's always amazing to see what Alberta & Washington_(state) are allowed to do, simply because they have no backward BC mentality to contend with.

Saskatchewan has the potential to become like a smaller Alberta, as long as it isn't taken over by anything like the BC mentality.

Seattle and Vancouver, BC

Seattle is about the size of Burnaby, NW & Vancouver, combined.

 https://www.movingwaldo.com/where-to-live/seattle-vs-vancouver-where-should-i-live/

https://versus.com/en/seattle-vs-vancouver

https://www.globe-gazers.com/vancouver-vs-seattle/


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

Friday, May 24, 2024

Portland, OR vs. Vancouver, BC

https://versus.com/en/portland-vs-vancouver



Victoria, BC

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria,_British_Columbia It's taken a long time just to reach a population of 100K.  

Greater_Victoria eventually obtained a population of 400K. 

The Capital_Regional_District has around 415K in 2021.

https://www.citypopulation.de/en/canada/britishcolumbia/admin/5917__capital 439,950 Population [2022] – Estimate


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vancouver_Island#Demographics


Of course in Australia, Victoria_(state) is a mighty place, far from the provincial backwater BC mentality.

Prince George, BC

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_George,_British_Columbia

While Edmonton has easily surpassed a million people, PG has been struggling just to have 100K people.

The BC Lower Mainland

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

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lower_Mainland#Population 3,049,496 in 2021.

The Calgary–Edmonton Corridor

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calgary-Edmonton_Corridor

Area 38,323.18 km2 (14,796.66 sq mi)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calgary-Edmonton_Corridor#Growth 3,230,150 as of 2021.

Calgary-Edmonton Commuter_Train_Corridor , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQQG2CTW_Cg RM Transit

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

More Canadians are choosing to move to Red Deer and Alberta, in general

 https://www.reddeeradvocate.com/local-news/more-canadians-are-choosing-to-move-to-red-deer-7363004

Red_Deer,_Alberta is a nice place for those who want to live in-between Calgary & Edmonton. Perhaps some day Red+Deer might become like a smaller Edmonton or Calgary. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Deer,_Alberta#Infrastructure

The Riverlands+Pedestrian+Bridge is great for those that don't want to cross the river on one of the regular road bridges.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/alberta-population-records-2023-to-2024-data-1.7157110


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

Monday, May 20, 2024

Friday, May 17, 2024

Canada is seeing one of the worst standard-of-living declines in 40 years

 https://dailyhive.com/canada/canada-worst-standard-of-living-declines-four-decades

Ontario and Quebec have been long established areas of growth and there is always room for improvement. Alberta and BC have the potential to be the western counterpart.

A Calgary to Edmonton line would make a lot of sense. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQQG2CTW_Cg

Wednesday, May 15, 2024

Golden Glades bike-pedestrian bridge

 https://www.miamitodaynews.com/2024/05/14/golden-glades-getting-17-million-bike-pedestrian-bridge

Whether its crossing over several highways lanes, or its crossing over water, a bike & footpath bridge can really improve mobility.

Tuesday, May 14, 2024

The Pattullo Bridge saga

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/pattullo-bridge-closing-two-night

The old bridge just wasn't designed for any expanded capacity. The new PB should have been designed to eventually have a 2nd deck & a provision for rapid rail transit. The new bridge should have been planned to open with a 3rd lane each way for bus & HOV. Apparently, it's better to funnel everything into 2 lanes each way. Good bike & foot paths, but no need for bus & HOV lanes at this time. WTH?


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

Kitsilano in Vancouver, BC

Neighborhoods are always changing, sometimes gradually & sometimes quickly. There are a lot of nice old houses in Kitsilano that are worth preserving. In several cases, infill developments can occur without having to teardown the older buildings.  

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-nimby-kitsilano-2560-trafalgar-street

It seems that not enough people in the neighborhood were allowed to properly voice their concerns.

https://www.shapeyourcity.ca/2560-2580-trafalgar-st-2

https://vancouver.ca/news-calendar/kitsilano.aspx

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

https://www.destinationvancouver.com/vancouver/neighbourhoods/kitsilano

The city should have been providing more incentives to retain the older houses, by allowing upgrades & or additions. Over the decades, Vancouver has lost several houses, simply because of half-assed policies.

 Of course if a new owner has paid 2.5, 5 or 10 million dollars for a property, they should be able to build what they want. However, there should have been incentives to save the older houses whenever possible. An infill development can be a guesthouse, or just a separate unit to be rented out for some extra income. 

Thursday, May 9, 2024

The first fully completed new generation SkyTrain in Metro Vancouver

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/skytrain-mark-v-new-generation-train-inside-interior-design

So the newest trains will only have 5 coaches. So many metros & subways today have 6, 8 or 10 car trains. The SkyTrain should have been designed to ultimately have 152.4 m or 500 long stations like the Montreal Metro. The joke that is the Canada Line, was only designed to ultimately have 2.5 car trains, not 5, let alone 10. Of course BC wouldn't plan for 8-10 car trains, because that would be indicative of properly preparing for growth. BC has shown a continual reluctance to build up to a proper size infrastructure. 


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

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=SkyTrain+bridges

Wednesday, May 8, 2024

Vancouver Island Rail Corridor

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-island-corridor-foundation-thomas-bevan

The Island_Rail_Corridor has so much potential, but sleepy BC or backwater BC is very slow-going, as usual. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/vancouver-island-rail-delay-2023-1.6778609

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/transportation/transportation-reports-and-reference/reports-studies/vancouver-island/island-rail

https://www.islandrail.ca/rail/rail-service-plans/

https://www.vicnews.com/news/petition-to-reinstate-rail-service-on-vancouver-island-headed-to-ottawa-7314120

https://tc.canada.ca/en/binder/47-vancouver-island-rail-corridor

https://www.transportaction.ca/regions/british-columbia/vancouver-island-railway-shame-or-opportunity/

https://www.change.org/p/restore-and-enhance-vancouver-island-s-railway-corridor-with-a-fund-up-to-1-billion

https://www.vicnews.com/news/vote-on-future-of-island-rail-corridor-prompts-first-nation-board-members-to-resign-111773

The Leaside Bridge and The Aurora Bridge

The 6 lane Leaside_Bridge opened on October 29, 1927. The bridge wouldn't have to be Vancouverized, or narrowed, if a bus & bike bridge was built next to it. Turning the Leaside_Bridge into a 5 or 4 lane crossing would be like taking the backward BC approach to things.

The 6 lane Aurora_Bridge opened on February 22, 1932. If a bus & bike bridge was built next to it, that would greatly improve the overall crossing area. However, some people would like to have the 6 lane bridge, Vancouverized. Funneling it into a 5 or 4 lane choke point is a BC type of approach that Washington State should avoid.

Tuesday, May 7, 2024

Toronto’s road construction season

 https://globalnews.ca/news/10464912/toronto-construction-season-traffic-solutions/

Driving on parts of the Gardiner that's temporarily reduced to 2 lanes each way for repairs, can give people in the GTA a sense of what it's like driving in stunted Vancouver.

https://toronto.citynews.ca/2024/03/19/gardiner-construction-phase-two-dufferin-strachan/

The mostly six lane Gardiner should have been designed to have had at least a 4th lane each way so that it could have been used as a bus & HOV lane.

https://bayview-news.com/2024/03/bayview-leaside-commuters-face-impact-of-2024-road-work.html/

Nothing like the Gardiner_Expressway or the Don_Valley_Parkway was ever allowed in Vancouver. That's because a clearing of houses would have been required. Thus, it's been tough enough just to have something like a 6 lane Lake_Shore_Boulevard (LSB) in Vancouver.

Kingsway_at_the_Vancouver-Burnaby boundary, is funneled into a 4 lane bottleneck just east of Boundary+Road

Hastings_Street_in_downtown_Vancouver is funneled into a 5 lane cokepoint & gets even narrower.

The Knight_Street-Clark Drive corridor isn't always 6 lanes wide. There are a few 4 lane chokepoints. An urban 6 lane corridor is essential, because a 3rd lane each way can become a bus & HOV lane. However, the congestive Vancouver approach is to funnel everything into a 4 lane bottleneck. Fortunately, most cities have allowed enough extra space for bus & HOV lanes on a roadbed that's more than 2 lanes each way.


Is Toronto construction just as safe & easy as last year?

https://www.toronto.ca/news/city-of-toronto-kicks-off-busy-billion-dollar-construction-season/

Of course all the various construction projects can't be done in one year, as it can take several years or even decades.

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/toronto-get-ready-for-more-traffic-delays-as-the-city-kicks-off-its-billion-dollar/article_e5069002-9b38-52d0-aba3-c09b03e720b7.html

Whenever possible express bus & HOV lanes can enable more people to move around. However, if the highway is only a 2-4 lane waggon road, its almost impossible to have proper express bus & HOV lanes on those sections. 


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

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

Stanley Park Causeway and Lions Gate Bridge reopen after a fallen tree incident

 https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2024/05/07/stanley-park-causeway-closed-for-fallen-tree/

Perhaps the best example of Vancouverization is the 3 lane chokepoint that is the Lions-Gate-Bridge-and-roadway-through-Stanley-Park. No parallel bus-tunnel or bus-bridge, because that would actually help to efficiently move more people around.

https://globalnews.ca/news/10480945/lions-gate-bridge-closed-tree-down Especially, don't have a high capacity rapid transit rail tunnel though there, because that would go against the constrictive planning agenda of Vancouver & BC.

https://bc.ctvnews.ca/lions-gate-bridge-reopens-after-downed-tree-forces-closure-1.6877368

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/fallen-tree-closes-stanley-park-causeway Bottelneck or chokpoint planning has been a crucial part of the Vancouverization agenda for generations.

https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/traffic-alert-lions-gate-bridge-closed-downed-tree

Vancouver, BC is such a backward city. Fortunately, the Vancouverization mentality hasn't been adopted by most cities. 


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

TTC subway slow-speed zones is really affecting trains

 https://toronto.citynews.ca/2024/05/07/ttc-subway-trains-slow-speed-zones/

Of course Boston has had its slow train problems as well.

https://mass.streetsblog.org/2024/02/13/the-t-fixed-dozens-of-green-line-slow-zones-so-why-is-it-still-so-slow

https://www.wbur.org/radioboston/2023/09/12/mbta-red-line-slow-zones-shutdowns

https://www.vice.com/en/article/wxjekx/bostons-subway-was-running-at-half-speed-because-it-lost-paperwork

Sunday, May 5, 2024

Some of the Best Aquariums in the World

https://www.headout.com/blog/best-aquariums-in-the-world/

https://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/the-worlds-most-beautiful-aquariums

https://www.thetravel.com/bucket-list-aquariums-in-the-world/

https://worldcitiesranking.com/best-aquariums-top10/

https://aquadecorbackgrounds.com/blog/10-largest-aquariums-in-the-world/

https://tourscanner.com/blog/best-aquariums-in-the-world/

https://www.celebritycruises.com/blog/best-aquariums-in-the-world

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

 https://www.vanaqua.org/explore/special-events/monsters-of-the-abyss

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/jessica-biel-meets-jessica-seal-vancouver-aquarium

https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/animal-stories/watch-jessica-biel-meets-namesake-rescue-jessica-seal-in-vancouver-8692882


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

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_aquarium#Public_aquariums_today

Traffic impacts in downtown Vancouver due to marathons and other events

 https://globalnews.ca/news/10475853/traffic-impacted-in-downtown-vancouver-due-to-bmo-marathons/

While such events are for a good cause, the traffic gets even more congested.

https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2024/05/04/vancouver-marathon-road-closures/

https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/local-news/road-closures-weekend-bmo-vancouver-marathon-may-2024-8678328

https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2024/05/04/vancouver-marathon-road-closures/

Unfortunately, Vancouver city planning never allowed for any bus tunnels or bridges, especially under/over Burrard Inlet, False Creek & the Fraser River. All the underground train stations weren't built to easily become as long as the Montreal Metro stations, which are 152.45 m or 500 feet.  

Vancouver & the Metropolitan Region have done so many things wrong. The train stations are too short & most of the bridges are so narrow, there is no room for bus & HOV lanes. By now, there should have been a regional network of rapid bus & HOV bridges, because most of the existing bridges have just 2 lanes each way. 


How To Build A City | SEATTLE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MN6AXC4Z7k

Seattle, Perth, Calgary & Edmonton have been able to do so much more, because they don't have to contend with anything like the backwards mentality of Vancouver & BC.

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

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

Friday, May 3, 2024

The Rebuilt Museum of Anthropology, but no train to UBC yet

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/museum-of-anthropology-ubc-moa-reopening-june-2024-date

https://visit.ubc.ca/see-and-do/museums-and-art-galleries/museum-of-anthropology/

https://www.vancouverattractions.com/museum-of-anthropology-at-ubc

https://planning.ubc.ca/museum-anthropology-great-hall-renewal

https://www.cntraveler.com/activities/vancouver/vancouver/museum-of-anthropology-at-ubc


The UBC Subway Saga.

Some people are just as easily opposed to something like the-bloor-danforth-subway as they are with an expressway. That's especially the case in backwards Vancouver.

https://vancouversun.com/opinion/columnists/douglas-todd-there-are-cons-not-just-pros-for-a-subway-to-ubc

Fortunately, many other cities have been able to get a train to their main university campus much faster than slow-moving Vancouver is attempting.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_2_Bloor-Danforth#Frequency The TTC Subway should have been able to run 10 car trains by now. Even an 8 car train would be a little better than a 6 car train. However, a 6 car train is only 138m or 450 feet long. A 9 car Montreal Metro train is about 152.5m or 500 feet long. 

Of course the first 2 Skytrain lines only have 80m stations & the Canada embarrassment Line only has a level clearance for 50m stations. There should have been a proper oversight committee to make sure that the trains could ultimately be 10 cars long. At least have stations that could accommodate a 5 car train, not a 2.5 car joke of a train.

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

https://spacing.ca/toronto/2015/10/06/interchange-not-interchange-spadina-vs-st-george

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._George_station

https://transportation.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/Subway-Map.pdf


A tour of Berri-UQAM metro station in Montreal, Canada https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Suxkz8oc8vs

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McGill_station , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peel_station_(Montreal_Metro)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_station_(Calgary) 1987

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_station_(Edmonton) 1992

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Washington_station 2016


https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=UBC-Broadway+Corridor

Canada's High Food Prices

https://www.dal.ca/sites/agri-food/research/canada-s-food-price-report-2024.html

This is quite a problem.

https://cdn.dal.ca/content/dam/dalhousie/pdf/sites/agri-food/EN_CANADA'S%20FOOD%20PRICE%20REPORT%202024.pdf

Most people can't cut their food intake in half, just to save on food costs.

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/costco-food-prices-canada-mexico?

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/groceries-local-market-compared-loblaws

https://www.forbes.com/advisor/ca/investing/why-are-prices-so-high/

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/loblaw-ceo-addresses-boycott-message-employees

https://www.forbes.com/advisor/ca/personal-finance/food-inflation/

https://www.retailcouncil.org/truth-of-canadian-grocery-price-inflation/

https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/food-inflation-how-canada-s-grocery-prices-compares-to-other-nations-1.6425009

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/food-costs-world-canada-1.3474241

Tuesday, April 30, 2024

Evergreen Point Floating Bridge in Seattle vs. W.R. Bennett Bridge in Kelowna

The Evergreen_Point_Floating_Bridge in Seattle has 6 lanes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evergreen_Point_Floating_Bridge#Public_transportation

https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/last-chance-be-heard-potential-toll-increase-state-route-520-bridge/W3TQUWC6DJD7XAKEXLYGRAF5C4


The William_R._Bennett_Bridge in Kelowna should have been designed to eventually have 6 lanes, plus 2 bus lanes, with a long-term provision for 2 Tram-Train or LRT tracks.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/2010-08_Bennett_Bridge_Looking_East.jpg

The sidewalk could be reconfigured into a 6th lane, but only if a bus, bike & train bridge was built next to it. Thus, this remains as another incomplete BC transportation crossing. A parallel bus & bike bridge would also have 2 footpaths & even 2 HOV lanes. Eventually, there should be something like a CTrain or G:link connecting Vernon, KELOWNA and Penticton. Unfortunatly, BC seems to want to excel in congestion planning. 

https://www.drivebc.ca/mobile/pub/webcams/id/149.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_R._Bennett_Bridge#Construction_budget

https://www.google.com/maps/place/William+R.+Bennett+Brg

Somehow Australia is able to put more funding into building better infrastructure. 


https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Evergreen+Point+Floating+Bridge

Friday, April 26, 2024

A little house in Toronto

 https://www.blogto.com/real-estate-toronto/2024/04/little-house-toronto

It's quite rare to find something that is smaller in Toronto than in Vancouver.

A partial subway closure on TTC Line 2 could last 'a few days' after a fire

 https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/partial-subway-closure-on-line-2-could-last-a-few-days-after-fire-ttc-says-1.6862790

There can always be better redundancy by having enough parallel bus routes.

https://www.cp24.com/news/partial-subway-closure-on-line-2-could-last-a-few-days-after-fire-ttc-says-1.6862785

So whenever a train line is out of service, the number of buses can be quickly increased.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ttc-subway-kipling-jane-closure-1.7185757

https://www.ttc.ca/service-advisories/subway-service#e=0

Is Greater Vancouver too noisy?

https://spacing.ca/vancouver/2024/04/15/noise-the-invisible-pollutant/

Cities are meant to be big & bustling places. Most of BC is a wilderness that is ever unlikely to be inhabited, just like Canada overal.

Vancouver-Surrey is the only region in BC with over 2 million people.
Victoria-Nanaimo is the only part of Vancouver Island with a potential of surpassing half a million people.
The Greater Kelowna area is the only inland part of BC with a potential to surpass a quarter of a million people.

Switzerland can fit into BC 23 times, yet BC doesn't even have the population of one CH.


Toronto's Eglinton-crosstown-west-extension-breakthrough

 https://www.blogto.com/city/2024/04/eglinton-crosstown-west-extension-breakthrough-completion/

Some things might take a while in Toronto to get done, but in Vancouver you might have to wait until you have grey hair.

https://www.metrolinx.com/en/projects-and-programs/eglinton-crosstown-west-extension

https://www.infrastructureontario.ca/en/what-we-do/projectssearch/eglinton-crosstown-west-extension/

SkyTrain Expo Line changes kick in this weekend in Surrey

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/skytrain-expo-line-surrey-station-closure

No 10 car trains, not even 9 like what the Montreal Metro has. It's been tough enough just to get the first 2 Skytrain lines to handle 5 car trains. The Canada Line, a pathetic 3rd line can ultimately only handle 2.5 car trains.

Short trains & narrow bridges are always great examples of congestive planning in Greater Vancouver.

SUPERMAN and LOIS Wrap Party in Vancouver

https://hollywoodnorthbuzz.com/2024/04/superman-lois-wrap-party-in-vancouver-up-up-away.html

https://hollywoodnorthbuzz.com/2024/04/superman-lois-says-goodbye-to-its-smallville-set-in-cloverdale.html


As one production wraps up, another is underway.

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/cambie-bridge-closure-april-26

Thursday, April 25, 2024

Pacific Gate, San Diego

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

https://www.re-thinkingthefuture.com/skyscraper/kpf-adds-pacific-gate-residential-skyscraper-to-san-diego-skyline/

https://www.skyscrapercenter.com/building/pacific-gate-by-bosa/18267

https://www.dezeen.com/2018/06/28/kpf-pacific-gate-by-bosa-residential-skyscraper-san-diego/

https://www.agentsofarch.com/home/modern-residences-at-pacific-gate-by-kohn-pedersen-fox-columbia-district-downtown-san-diego

https://www.kpf.com/project/pacific-gate

UNStudio's enormous Raffles City Hangzhou complex

 https://www.re-thinkingthefuture.com/skyscraper/unstudio-completes-enormous-raffles-city-hangzhou-complex-featuring-twisted-glass-towers/

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

https://www.archdaily.com/879869/raffles-city-hangzhou-unstudio

https://www.skyscrapercenter.com/complex/296

https://www.unstudio.com/en/page/9051/raffles-city-hangzhou-knowledge-based-design-engineering-applications

Sunshine 60: Tokyo's haunted skyscraper

https://www.japan-talk.com/jt/new/sunshine-60-tokyo-skyscraper

 The Sunshine 60 Tower has an interesting history.

https://medium.com/@movingjapan5/haunted-places-you-definitely-shouldnt-visit-in-tokyo-d7c01e7eb1bd

https://www.travelchannel.com/interests/haunted/articles/top-10-most-haunted-places

https://www.travelandleisure.com/holiday-travel/most-haunted-places-in-the-world

https://www.cntraveler.com/gallery/most-haunted-places-in-the-world

https://www.celebritycruises.com/blog/haunted-places-to-visit


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

VIA West57 in NYC

 https://www.re-thinkingthefuture.com/skyscraper/via-west57-bjarke-ingels-group-big

At only 450 feet, it's just another stump of a building in NYC, but it's a very nice looking building. Of course for most of Vancouver's history & BC in general, no building was allowed to be built taller than it, until recent years. 

Even the Harbour_Centre wasn't allowed to be that much taller than the 481 foot Pyramid in Cairo. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/pyramid/geometry/height.html

"It originally stood about 482 feet (147 meters) tall, but erosion and the removal of most of the polished limestone casing stones—which made the structure smooth and caused it to gleam in the sunlight—have lowered the pyramid’s height to 449 feet (137 meters)." https://www.britannica.com/place/Great-Pyramid-of-Giza

"Initially standing at 146.6 metres (481 feet), the Great Pyramid was the world's tallest human-made structure for more than 3,800 years. Over time, most of the smooth white limestone casing was removed, which lowered the pyramid's height to the current 138.5 metres (454.4 ft)..." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pyramid_of_Giza

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Vancouver_Lookout%2C_Harbour_Centre.jpg

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

Vancouver Centre 2 office tower, or is it just another stump?

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-centre-ii-office-tower-tenants

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotia_Tower Of course it had to be shorter than the 2 tallest pyramids in Egypt. They used to be even taller when originally built.

The Scotia_Plaza in Toronto is double the height & twice the width than the stump in Vancouver.

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/pyramid/geometry/height.html VC Towers 1 & 2 weren't allowed to be taller than the original height of the Great_Pyramid_of_Giza in Cairo, Egypt either.

Vancouver Centre Tower 2 is definitely shorter than the Pyramid_of_Khafre.

A lot of cities have tall office towers, but Vancouver won't permit any to have 40 floors, nevermind 50, 60 or 70. Today, office towers might have to be designed to potentially be repurposed, as the need for office space declines.

In many cases, a 60 story residential tower might be the height equivalent of a 45-50 story office tower. That's because office floors are usually higher than residential floors.

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

It's interesting that Vancouver & BC chose to use some Egyptian pyramid symbolism. 

https://globalnews.ca/news/4627676/bc-liberals-new-brand

https://wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/96/Pyramids_of_the_Giza_Necropolis.jpg. 
https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images , https://twitter.com/i/flow/login?redirect_after_login=bcliberaIs

https://bc.ctvnews.ca/here-s-what-the-bc-liberal-party-may-change-its-name-to-1.6086133

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/bc-election-2017-bc-liberals-different-federal-liberals

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vancouver_Park_Board 3 mountains that look a lot like pyramids.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/60/Vancouver_Park_Board_logo.png 
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Giza-pyramids-uwm.png 
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/Giza-pyramids.JPG


https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Conservative_Party_of_BC_Logo.png In this case, it's just a big and a small one.

Egypt eventually had to allow structures to be taller than their classic pyramids. However, it wasn't until the 1970s when the BC part of Canada would ever so slightly, allow some buildings to be taller than the great pyramid. Fortunately, most real major cities around the world don't have to adhere to anything like the strict Vancouver type height restrictions & other limitations. Even the mountains just north of Vancouver are shorter than the mountains that are north of LA.

The Cairo_Tower was the first Egyptian building allowed to exceed the height of the Great_Pyramid_of_Giza.  
Architectural187 m (613.5 ft)
Antenna spire187 m (613.5 ft)
Roof160 m (524.9 ft)
Top floor143 m (469.2 ft)
Observatory143 m (469.2 ft)

Wednesday, April 24, 2024

Sapphire by the Gardens in Melbourne

 https://www.skyscrapercenter.com/building/sapphire-by-the-gardens/27866

https://upload.wikimedia.org/Sapphire_by_the_Gardens_under_construction_in_March_2022.png
https://upload.wikimedia.org/Shangri-La_by_the_Gardens_under_construction_in_March_2022.png 

https://www.re-thinkingthefuture.com/case-studies/a10088-project-in-depthsapphire-by-the-gardens/

https://www.multiplex.global/ca/news/multiplex-tops-out-iconic-sapphire-by-the-gardens-towers-in-melbourne/


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_Melbourne#Overall

A Vintage luxury car lifted into Vancouver's Butterfly building

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vintage-luxury-car-butterfly-building


https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/true-stories/millionaire-turns-heads-hoisting-car-into-39m-melbourne-penthouse/news-story/2a70430b94355b8f263e21bb11387e1d Of course Melbourne is a real city like Toronto & San Fransisco. Those tram or streetcar cities have something very cool about them. They along with, Sydney & Brisbane or Singapore were never thwarted, stunted or especially, Vancouverized. 

https://www.motor1.com/news/667598/mclaren-senna-lifted-57-stories-39m-apartment-cant-be-driven

https://www.9news.com.au/national/crane-hoists-luxury-car-into-adrian-portellis-39-million-penthouse-in-melbourne/7614c6c7-7115-4410-b99a-cda4fedaeff6

https://www.autoevolution.com/news/this-is-how-the-mclaren-lifted-by-crane-to-a-57-floor-penthouse-looks-in-the-living-room-225085.html

https://www.forbes.com.au/life/cars/melbourne-millionaire-cranes-mclaren-into-57th-floor-penthouse/

https://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/132022164/watch-crane-lifts-priceless-mclaren-to-57th-floor-of-aussie-penthouse


https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Sapphire+by+the+Gardens+in+Melbourne

Monday, April 22, 2024

New 57th Avenue bus route and Canada Line station in Vancouver

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/mla-south-vancouver-new-57th-avenue-bus-route-canada-line-stations

The multibillion dollar Canada+Line is one of the best examples of the Greater_Vancouver areas reluctance to build propersize big city infrastructure. Perhaps starting out with a 2 or 3 car train joke could have worked for a while. However, all the stations should have been designed to eventually accomodate 8-10 car trains. 

It's so strange that the extremely underbuilt SkyTrain-Canada_Line was never envisioned to eventually reach the Tsawwassen_ferry_terminal. Just like the Canada_Line should have gradually reached to the Horseshoe_Bay_ferry_terminal. However, that would conflict with the, Keep Vancouver Small agenda, which is part of the overall Backwater BC mentality. 

Unfortunately, the Canada_Line is like the middle section of an incomplete route. Even if the lack of funding was the main excuse, there is still no excuse not to have long range plans linking it to the Horseshoe_Bay_ferry_terminal and the Tsawwassen_ferry_terminal

The Canada+Line is a fine example of the lack of vision not only for Vancouver & Richmond, but BC & Canada in general. Indeed, with all the extreme building limitations & restrictions, it's just another case of congestive planning in BC.

Public transit in Vancouver, Canada

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/free-bus-service-translink-bc-transit-earth-day

The cities refusal to build bus bridges next to all the narrow bridges just continues through the years.

The SkyTrain was deliberately designed to have much shorter stations than the Montreal Metro, apparently just to save money. Yet, Greater Vancouver would benefit strongly by having 152.5 m or 500 foot long trains. Even if the budget wasn't there to build long stations for long trains, the stations still could have been designed to be 152.5 m. 

It's like Greater Vancouver wants to perpetually be one of the worlds best examples of congestive planning or bottleneck planning. 


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

Saturday, April 20, 2024

At least 35 towers with about 7,000 rental homes now proposed in the Broadway Plan area of Vancouver

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/broadway-plan-vancouver-rental-housing-tower-proposals

Montreal & Seattle have both grown into 4 million + metropolitan regions. They have longer trains for more capacity, wider bridges & taller buildings than what is allowed in Vancouver. Over the past several decades, Vancouver kept putting in more restrictions & red tape as a sort of, HOLD BACK THE CITY agenda. Thus, keeping things as small and backward as possible in Vancouver helps to maintain the small city symbolism & mentality. This symbolism is meant to be a constant reminder of the reluctance to build up a proper level of infrastructure.

On a larger scale, Canada is still nowhere of close to containing 1% of the world's population. It's a simple formula, allow a small amount of refugees or migrants in every year, but have a main focus of bringing in a wealthier & highly skilled demographic. Most of the world's human population consists of non-white people. Thus, if ever a KEEP CANADA SMALL, IT'S GOOD FOR THE ENVIRONMENT mentality is firmly established, it's just another variation of the KEEP THEM OUT AGENDA.  

Such an agenda should be challenged. Especially, when several other countries are able to contain more people on less land area. The old colonial mentality was partially about reducing the influx of non-white people & limiting their rights. 

Luxury housing isn't the problem, it's the lack of building more affordable housing that is the problem. If developers are willing to have some mixed income housing projects on some sights, then they should be granted permission to build the more profitable taller Toronto, Melbourne, Sydney & Brisbane size towers.

However, the KEEP VANCOUVER SMALL & BACKWARDS agenda has been so firmly entrenched for several decades. It's part of the larger, KEEP THEM OUT agenda. There has been such a slow growth agenda in BC throughout its history. This BC agenda never seemed to catch on with Alberta & Washington State. 


https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Brisbane%2C+Sydney%2C+Melbourne+and+Toronto

Robson Street site acquired for redevelopment into two rental housing towers

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/1525-1555-robson-street-vancouver-rental-housing-towers-gwl-realty-advisors

There is still such a small-minded mentality to only build what's impressive to Kamloops & Prince George, not Melbourne & Toronto. The smalltown planning & zoning agenda that is Vancouver continues to perpetuate this.

Friday, April 19, 2024

NYC is getting a dazzling new ‘skyline-shaping’ office tower

 https://nypost.com/2024/04/19/real-estate/nyc-is-getting-a-giant-new-skyline-shaping-office-building/

The 14 Lane Bridge

The George Washington Bridge is the world's busiest motor vehicle bridge,[5] carrying a traffic volume of over 104 million vehicles in 2019,[6] and is the world's only suspension bridge with 14 vehicular lanes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington_Bridge

The 13 Lane Bridge

The double-deck bridge carries 13 lanes of Interstate 278: seven on the upper level and six on the lower level. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verrazzano-Narrows_Bridge

The 12 Lane Bridge

The Ship_Canal_Bridge is an impressive structure. Its like the upper 8 lane deck is the Seattle part of bridge and the 4 lane lower deck is the Vancouver, BC bridge. Imagine if everything was funneled into a 4 lane Vancouver bridge there. Fortunately, its a 12 lane bridge. Perhaps some day 1 of the express lanes might accommodate a bus lane. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle#Transportation


The Van_Brienenoord_Bridge sure is nice and wide. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Brienenoord_Bridge#History Its really two 6 lane bridges.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Van+Brienenoordbrug/@51.9046314,4.5266954,4257m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x47c432f1df9975fd:0x1ad62782ed0e125a!8m2!3d51.904493!4d4.542333!16s%2Fm%2F02rn_mt!5m1!1e2?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDEwOC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

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


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Leo_Hielscher_Bridges Fantastic 6 lane duplication or twinning to become a 12 lane crossing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Leo_Hielscher_Bridges#Design 

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Gateway+Bridge/@-27.4453353,153.1008005,395m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m15!1m8!3m7!1s0x6b91579aac93d233:0x402a35af3deaf40!2sBrisbane+QLD,+Australia!3b1!8m2!3d-27.4704528!4d153.0260341!16zL20vMDFiOGpq!3m5!1s0x6b915919cd8b7213:0x5d18b4ba74a3b7c9!8m2!3d-27.445751!4d153.1015765!16s%2Fg%2F11c1xfgwy0!5m1!1e2?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDEwOC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brisbane#Infrastructure

The 6 Lane Bridge

The 6 lane Aurora_Bridge is a block east of the 4 lane Fremont_Bridge_(Seattle). The wider bridge is more for regional traffic, where as the narrower bridge is more for the general neighborhood. In contrast, the Vancouver, BC approach is to funnel everything into a single point crossing. Then refuse to build a bus & HOV lane bridge next to it. 

The 4 Lane Bridge

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_Bridge_(Seattle) WA 

https://www.seattle.gov/transportation/projects-and-programs/programs/bridges-stairs-and-other-structures/bridges/university-bridge-planning-study

https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2023/08/04/north-u-bridge-project-is-a-huge-opportunity-for-a-safer-and-better-connected-u-district-survey/

https://www.seattlepi.com/seattlenews/article/100-years-University-Bridge-UW-Seattle-ship-canal-14067372.php

https://www.historylink.org/File/20389

The 2 level, 12 lane Ship_Canal_Bridge is right next to it.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/Ship_canal_bridge_and_downtown_skyline%2C_2000.jpg




The north end of the Montlake_Bridge is close to the University_of_Washington_station. The 380-foot-long (120 m) station_layout is almost as long as any underground LRT station in Edmonton. In contrast, the first 2 lines of the Vancouver Skytrain only have only 80 m stations. The 3rd line is a joke that is the Canada Line. It was only designed to have 50 m stations. The Montreal Metro & TTC Subway were designed to have 152 m. Unlike Seattle & Edmonton & especially Montreal & Toronto, building for longer trains isn't a problem. That's because they don't have anything like a backward BC mentality or a water it down, because its Vancouver, approach to things. Being from Vancouver, it's always amazing to see what other cities are able to do, simply because they don't take a backwater BC approach to things.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fremont_Bridge_(Seattle)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballard_Bridge (Seattle)


MONTREAL

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Bizard_Bridge Even a backwater part of Montreal will get an upgrade from a 3 lane joke to a 4 lane bridge with wider sidewalks. https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/bridge-construction-causing-travel-nightmare-for-ile-bizard-residents-1.6564161

https://www.westislandtoday.com/post/the-construction-of-l-%C3%AEle-bizard-s-bridge-is-well-underway

  • Expanding to 4 traffic lanes, 1 more than the existing bridge   
  • Building a wider two-way bike path and sidewalk   
  • Complete redevelopment of the road, water and sewer mains and street lighting system   
  • Refurbishing electrical networks and wiring 

https://montreal.ca/en/articles/building-new-bridge-pont-jacques-bizard-26379 Fortunatly, no one from Metro Vancouver was able to stop this Greater Montreal improvement. The backward BC mentality is terrible. It would be devastating if Quebec had ever started to emulate the BC approach to things.

https://globalnews.ca/news/10180724/new-jacques-bizard-bridge-west-island-traffic Unfortunatly, the new bridge won't have a couple of bus-lanes. https://www.ebcinc.com/en/2022/04/05/new-jacques-bizard-bridge A 6 lane bridge would have allowed for that. Perhaps a parallel bus-bridge might eventually be built there, someday. That's what Calgary eventually did with the the+Cushing+Bridge upgrade.