https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-international-airport-yvr-parkade-pay-parking-rates
Friday, November 8, 2024
Vancouver earthquake damage injuries deaths study
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-earthquake-damage-injuries-deaths-study
Why ‘The Big One’ could be worse than we thought https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1qr9qnWR7E
Cascadia: The Earthquake that will Destroy West Coast America? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JR-8PZ_nCvE
The Really Big One; The Feared Cascadia 9.0 Earthquake https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mt6UxFIK17w
San Andreas Fault: When the Big One Hits https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGTv4XdZhko
Great Earthquakes of the Pacific Northwest https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJ7Qc3bsxjI 2016 CWU
Marine Drive station
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_Drive_station
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_Drive_station#Services
https://www.urbanyvr.com/marine-gateway-cineplex/
https://thecanadaline.com/station-guides/marine-drive/
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/marine-gateway-2-pci-developments-8530-cambie-street-vancouver
https://cptdb.ca/wiki/index.php/TransLink_SkyTrain_Marine_Drive_Station
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_Drive_(Greater_Vancouver)#Main_section
https://vancouver.ca/streets-transportation/marine-drive-upgrades.aspx
https://www.translink.ca/schedules-and-maps/station/marine-drive/map
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-housing-unit-construction-completion-statistics
Thursday, November 7, 2024
Canada's Rail Network
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/via-rail-on-time-performance-1.7374337
https://www.viarail.ca/en/explore-our-destinations/trains
Is Canada's Getting High-Speed Rail? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pMIDqGMP0A
https://cnebusiness.geomapguide.ca/?map=TL&lang=en
Japan & Switzerland have great population density & excellent intercity train service. Just because Canada is a vast, underpopulated country, there should have been a long term, 4 track intercity linking plan. 6-8 tracks in the larger cities. Almost every major city eventually being connected with at least 1 freight track & 1 passenger track, each way. Plus, an east-west high-speed line to almost or sort-of compete with air travel.
What Canadian high speed rail could look like — if it ever happens https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXOKVIokp-Q
Even when the railroads were first built in Canada, there should have been 2 tracks on all the main lines. Thus, any bridge & tunnel should have been wide enough to immediately or gradually accomodate 2 sets of tracks.
The TCH has just been a 2 lane country road for most of its history, so far. At least its better than a waggon road. Of course in the cities, its more like a modern highway. https://tc.canada.ca/en/corporate-services/policies/trans-canada-highway-map
The inadequate Queensborough Bridge in BC
https://x.com/DriveBC/status/1523759813179494401
Just another backwards 4 lane BC bridge with narrow sidewalks & no emergency lanes. There is no traffic safety divider or barrier & of course no provision for bus & HOV lanes. Thus, its a classic bottleneck or choke point. If such an inadequate bride were in Australia or the US, it would have been duplicated or twinned by now.
Two 4 lane bridges would allow for 2 lanes each way, plus 1 bus lane & 1 HOV lane each way. A newer bridge would also have enough room for a wide bike path as well as wide sidewalks. This really should be a 10 lane crossing, bust at least 8. Only for lanes today is such a sad joke.
Fortunately, the NYC QB was built on a grand scale, right from the start.
The Queensboro_Bridge, or the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge in NYC, is a fantastic 9 lane wonder from 1909. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queensboro_Bridge#Description
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queensboro_Bridge#Levels
https://www.ascemetsection.org/committees/history-and-heritage/landmarks/queensboro-bridge
https://www.webuildvalue.com/en/infrastructure/queensboro-bridge.html
https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2023/05/23/not-again-queensboro-bridge-pedestrian-path-delayed-til-mid-2024 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0Ivfo0DCpw
If the QB only had four lanes, it would have been twinned decades ago.
The Vancouverized Burrard Bridge
https://viewpointvancouver.ca/2017/10/02/burrard-bridge-1934when-motordom-reigned-supreme/
The original configuration of the BB had a 6 lane upper deck and a provision for 2 streetcar or tram-train tracks.
https://viewpointvancouver.ca/2017/10/04/burrard-bridge-always-controversial/
Given the backward Vancouver planning mentality, a 2 level bridge was like something out of a Sci-Fi movie. Thus, a lower level
The inadequate Lions Gate Bridge
https://viewpointvancouver.ca/2017/09/28/twinning-the-lions-gate-bridge/
No twinning the LGB ever happened, but what about a tunnel with dedicated bus lanes?
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/north-shore-rapid-transit-study-skytrain
A 6 lane highway, plus 2 bus lanes and a 3 track train tunnel+deep+under+Stanley+Park is possible, but still unlikely for the foreseeable future. It's ridiculous that there is no official plan to connect the 2 BC Lower Mainland ferry terminals with the Canada (embarrassment) Line. Unfortunatly, the congestive planning approach keeps winning out in backwards BC.
Wednesday, November 6, 2024
The Sydney Metro Train
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Metro , https://www.sydneymetro.info/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InYZw4mIWGA
https://www.sydneymetro.info/citysouthwest/project-overview
| Train length |
|
|---|---|
| Headway | 4 minutes (peak) 5-7 minutes (intra-peak) 10 minutes (off-peak) |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Metro#Operations
"The Metro North West Line currently operates with 6-car trains running on 4-minute headways. After the addition of the Stage 2 extension to Bankstown, the stations’ platforms will be configured to allow for future use of 8-car trains and the signalling system designed to allow for 2-minute headways, both of which are planned to be introduced once increased patronage demands it. Eight-car trains have a design capacity of 1,539 customers and increasing the running frequency to ultimately 30 trains per hour (2-minute headway) would provide a maximum capacity of 46,170 passengers per hour per direction." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Metro#Capacity
Unlike backward Greater Vancouver, Sydney makes it easier to have longer trains to better handle future capacity.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Metro_Metropolis_Stock
Fortunately, Sydney builds to NSW standards, not the backwater standards of backwards BC.
Tuesday, November 5, 2024
Vancouver prepares to dig a tunnel deep under Stanley Park
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/stanley-park-water-supply-tunnel-vancouver-construction
https://globalnews.ca/news/10853316/stanley-park-water-tunnel-timeline/
https://brander.ca/watertunnel/
https://www.mottmac.com/en-us/projects/stanley-park-water-supply-tunnel
https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=a+new+water+tunnel+deep+under+Stanley+Park
Monday, November 4, 2024
The Seattle Streetcar
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_Streetcar
https://www.seattle.gov/transportation/getting-around/transit/streetcar
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_Streetcar#Future_expansion
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streetcars_in_North_America#Second-generation_streetcar_systems
https://www.theurbanist.org/2024/02/02/it-could-be-the-end-of-line-for-the-seattle-streetcar Hopefully, thais can be resolved. Otherwise, Seattle might start to emulate some of the backwards planning that is in Vancouver, BC.
https://www.ggnltd.com/seattle-streetcar-city-center-connector
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Lake_Union_Streetcar
https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=streetcars+and+trams
The Portland Streetcar
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland_Streetcar
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland_Streetcar#Proposed_expansions
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland_Streetcar#Comparison_with_light_rail
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streetcars_in_North_America#Second-generation_streetcar_systems
https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=streetcars+and+trams
The Dallas Streetcar
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas_Streetcar
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas_Streetcar#Future_expansion_plans
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-Line_Trolley#Future
https://www.dart.org/guide/transit-and-use/dallas-streetcar
https://www.mata.org/about/learn/
https://www.dmagazine.com/frontburner/2023/10/dallas-wakes-up-to-a-hazy-dream-of-a-streetcar-system
https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=streetcars+and+trams
Vancouver's former Olympic Line streetcar
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-olympic-line-streetcar-future
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vancouver_Downtown_Historic_Railway#Olympic_Line
Fortunately, the Vancouver mentality of anti-streetcars and trams was never adopted in Seattle, Portland, Boston, Philadelphia, Toronto, Melbourne, SF & N.O...
https://montecristomagazine.com/community/vancouvers-forgotten-streetcars
https://kumtuks.ca/streetcars-and-metro-vancouver/
https://vancouversun.com/news/this-week-in-history-1890-vancouver-gets-cutting-edge-with-an-electric-streetcar-and-light-system Unfortunatly, over the course of several generations, Vancouver keeps doing the wrong thing, especially with urban transportation planning.
https://open.library.ubc.ca/viewer/bcbooks/1.0376526#p6z-8r0f: Greater Victoria could have been a prper big citties like Seattle or Sydney Australia. Greater Vancouver could have been on the scale of a Montreal by now.
https://monova.ca/the-story-of-streetcar-153
https://westendvancouver.wordpress.com/historical-background/streetcars/
https://spacing.ca/vancouver/2013/06/18/vancouver-transit-the-era-of-street-cars1/
https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=streetcars+and+trams
Thousands without power, trees down in B.C. as storm sweeps through on Monday
https://globalnews.ca/news/10850151/bc-storm-monday-power-outages-pooling-water/
https://vancouversun.com/news/vancouver-wind-rain-storm-live-updates-thousands-lose-power
https://bc.ctvnews.ca/overnight-power-outages-expected-after-destructive-b-c-storm-1.7097643
https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2024/11/04/metro-vancouver-delta-capilano-wind-warning-trees-fall/
NYC "A" train subway service to be suspended for 5 months
https://pix11.com/news/transit/a-train-subway-service-to-be-suspended-for-5-months-what-to-know
https://new.mta.info/maps/subway-line-maps/a-line
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B_Division_(New_York_City_Subway)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Division_(New_York_City_Subway)
Edmonton's historic Mill Creek Trestle Bridge is being replaced
https://dailyhive.com/edmonton/mill-creek-trestle-bridge-replaced-edmonton
https://www.edmonton.ca/projects_plans/roads/mill-creek-ravine-trestle-bridge-replacement
https://hermis.alberta.ca/ARHP/Details.aspx?DeptID=1&ObjectID=4664-0060
https://www.edmonton.ca/projects_plans/roads/mill-creek-pedestrian-bridges
https://islengineering.com/project/mill-creek-pedestrian-bridges/
https://www.edmonton.ca/city_government/edmonton_archives/edmonton-bridges
https://www.arcgis.com/apps/mapviewer/index.html?webmap=6f9421d312f5455c85ccbbe29727bd24
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Bridges_in_Alberta
TransLink seeking creative ‘retirement plans’ for old SkyTrain cars
At least a couple of them should be in a special exhibit to show more evidence of backwater BC planning that was supported by inept Vancouver planning.
Why have trains as long as those in Montreal (152.5m), when Greater Vancouver is all about excelling in congestive planning?
Sunday, November 3, 2024
Saturday, November 2, 2024
The North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant saga
https://thebreaker.news/news/nswwtp-progress-reports-foi
Why have proper train, HOV and bus lanes going to and from the North+Shore when the wasted funding can go down the toilet instead?
https://metrovancouver.org/services/liquid-waste/north-shore-wastewater-treatment-plant-project
This $HIT-BOX planning mentality is totally inept!
The City of Paris, Île-de-France region
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%8Ele-de-France
Exploring Paris Metro Line 10 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxRFFPAfTqc
The Paris Métro station where the trains DON'T stop https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERX68Ye0btg
Evolution of the Paris Metro & RER 1900-2035 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZZo33zrOEc
The old SkyTrain cars are finally entering their retirement phase
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/skytrain-mark-i-cars-ideas-reuse-proposal
Such ridiculously small, plastic railcars. They were designed to be even smaller that the steel ones in Chicago, which can have longer trains than backward Vancouver.
Service interrupted on Metro's green line, REM back to normal
Unlike BC, at least Montreal has a good level of infrastructure, when its working.
https://montreal.citynews.ca/2024/11/01/service-green-line-montreal-metro/
Friday, November 1, 2024
Vancouver's narrow bridges over the Fraser River
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-knight-street-video-concern
The Knight_Street_Bridge (KSB) was deliberately designed to not have a couple of emergency lanes. No truck lanes and especially no bus and HOV lanes. No proper bike lanes, just 2 narrow sidewalks.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight_Street_Bridge#Infrastructure
Thus, the Knight_Street_Bridge is one of the best examples of BC bottleneck planning.
https://images.drivebc.ca/bchighwaycam/pub/html/www/695.html
The Knight_Street_Bridge is so narrow and inept, that a new HOV, bus and bike bridge should be built right next to it. The Knight+Street+Bridge is only 4 lanes wide in the middle, so a parallel 4 lane bridge would greatly improve things. One lane on and one lane off between the twin bridge crossing and Marine-Drive. Then the main 3 lanes each way onto the 6 lanes of Knight+Street up to Kingsway.
The incredibly narrow Fraser_Street_Bridge (FSB) was torn down and should have been rebuilt or replaced by the 1970s, especially by the 1990s. The city and the Provincial_government didn't seem to understand that a new bridge there would be great as a HOV, bus and bike bridge. A couple of wide emergency lanes would have made it a lot easier for emergency vehicles to go between Vancouver & Richmond.
Despite Oak Street being 6 lanes wide, the BC bottleneck mentality wanted to force everything into a 4 lane Oak_Street_Bridge (OSB). Even if there was no concept to have bus lanes in the late 1950s, the OSB should have had 6 lanes, plus 2 wide emergency lanes and 2 wide sidewalks.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oak_Street_Bridge#Infrastructure
By now, there should have been a HOV, bus & bike bridge built next to the narrow & inept Oak_Street_Bridge.
The Arthur-Laing-Bridge (ALB) is only 2 lanes each way. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Laing_Bridge
The multigenerational inept Vancouver & BC planning agenda is all about creating more congestion.
Fortunately, the 8 lane Champlain+Bridge also has 2 passenger train tracks. This was possible, because Montreal and Quebec don't have anything like the Vancouver & BC mentality to hinder them.
Why have a provision for 10 car SkyTrains, when a 2-4 car joke of a train can enable more congestion? That's the backward BC way.
It's amazing that the Montreal+Metro was designed to have 9 car trains, even back in the 1960s. Montreal and Quebec in general, just don't have anything like a backwater BC mentally to contend with. Quebec isn't just able to do more because it has more people than BC, Quebec has been able to accomplish more because it isn't BC.
https://vancouver.ca/streets-transportation/bridges-and-structures.aspx
Despite being a newer crossing, the Arthur+Laing+Bridge was only designed to have 4 lanes, just like the older Oak+Street+Bridge. Both bridges should have been built with very wide shoulders, so that they eventually could have provided 6 lanes. Plus, both bridges should have had very wide sidewalks. However, that goes against the chokepoint planning mentality.
Thursday, October 31, 2024
Why Canada’s making massive cuts to immigration
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqNF7hF5u3E
Is our 'addiction' to cheap foreign labour hurting young people? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zV11Z437758
Toronto and Freeway Widening: The Gift That Keeps on Giving (More Traffic)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBESmfpB3vw
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto#Transportation
The Real Reason Hwy 401 is the Busiest in North America https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFBQDIY3V74
More Lanes are (Still) a Bad Thing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHZwOAIect4
How Toronto Got Addicted to Cars https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkO-DttA9ew
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Toronto_Area#Transportation
Wednesday, October 30, 2024
Bus Lanes and Bus Rapid Transit
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bus_lane
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_transport_bus_service#Express_bus_service
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bus_rapid_transit
Unfortunately, Greater_Vancouver is one of the worst examples of Regional_Transportation_Planning. With so many narrow bridges and a refusal to build a proper network of bus-bridges, things remain chaotic on the existing inept bridges.
The SkyTrain_(Vancouver) should have been designed to be a little like a light rail version of the Chicago_L Trains. However, instead of designing the stations to eventually accomodate 8 car trains, like the Chicago_L, the Vancouver maximum was a 6 car train of the Mark_I_fleet. Shorter railcars & shorter trains, that's the name of the congestion planning game in backward BC.
As of late 2024, the first 2 SkyTrain lines are still only running 4 & 2 car trains, not counting the original smaller coaches. The 3rd line or Canada_Line, is only running 2 car trains. All 3 lines should have been designed to eventually have 8-10 car trains, but that would be properly planning for future capacity on a multi-billion dollar system.
Tuesday, October 29, 2024
Vancouver House Condominiums and Apartments
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-apartment-1480-howe-st
https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/condo-vs-apartment-whats-the-difference
https://www.bankrate.com/real-estate/condo-vs-apartment/
https://www.forbes.com/advisor/ca/mortgages/difference-between-condo-and-apartment/
Monday, October 28, 2024
Why "Nobody" Lives In Upstate New York
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLs4hLIuHVY
The New York Nobody Knows About https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5rnrX5ZFYo
BC and Canada
The BC part of Canada has been engrossed by a backwater and backward mentality since its inception.
Victoria,_British_Columbia is still a sleepy backwater, while Melbourne is a mighty city in Victoria_(state), Australia. Sidney,_British_Columbia is another classic BC backwater, while Sydney is the mighty capital of NSW. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_central_business_district
Due to an extremely slow growth mandate & agenda, Greater_Victoria is a far cry from reaching the scale of Sydney and Montreal.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downtown_Montreal
Victoria and SW BC are the mildest parts of Canada during the horrible winter. It just so happens that a series of various overlapping restrictions were imposed so as to hold back the scale & progress of backwater BC. Most of BC remains as a wilderness, but it's been very difficult to establish a half-dozen major cities in BC.
While Montreal is big by thwarted Vancouver's standards, Montreal is small when compared to the scale of Melbourne. Despite bing in Canada, Toronto was gradually allowed to become a proper big city. Toronto has some taller buildings than Sydney, NSW, but no 100 story towers like Melbourn & Chicago have. Toronto was eventually able to become
Why "Nobody" Lives In The VAST MAJORITY Of British Columbia https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdeZV_caT78
Sunday, October 27, 2024
Saudi Arabia’s Neom megaproject
https://www.the-sun.com/news/12762755/saudi-arabia-neom-workers-dying-slaves/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neom#Controversies
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neom#Abusive_work_culture
Neom is a huge project with big problems.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neom , https://www.neom.com/en-us
Damp, grey week ahead for Greater Vancouver
There are always several people who look forward to the cold & crappy fall & winter Canadian weather.
Of course, BC gets its share of cold & crappy fall & winter weather.
Australian Migration Program planning levels
https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/what-we-do/migration-program-planning-levels
In several ways Australia will always win out over Canada, simply because Australia doesn't have to endure the carappy, cold Canadian winters.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/mar/21/migration-numbers-australia-2023-rise
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_to_Australia#Current_immigration_programs
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-67609963
Food of the GNAW
The_Food_of_the_Gods_(1976) is a standard GIANT mutant animals on a rampage movie.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Food_of_the_Gods_(film)#Plot
GNAW: Food_of_the_Gods_II (1989) has even larger enraged animals running rampant.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_of_the_Gods_II#Plot
R42 (New York City Subway car)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R42_(New_York_City_Subway_car)
| Train length | 2 car train: 120.4 feet (36.7 m) 4 car train: 240.8 feet (73.4 m) 6 car train: 361.2 feet (110.1 m) 8 car train: 481.6 feet (146.8 m) 10 car train: 602 feet (183 m) |
|---|---|
| Car length | 60 ft (18.29 m) |
| Width | 10 ft (3,048 mm) |
| Height | 12.08 ft (3,682 mm) |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R42_(New_York_City_Subway_car)#History
Friday, October 25, 2024
320 Granville Street, Vancouver
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/320-granville-bosa-faria-flooding-dispute
It's a nice looking building, but once again, it's only a half-size figurine, or a stump.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/bosa-waterfront-centre-320-granville-street-vancouver-office-tower
Unlike scenic Auckland, NZ & especially Sydney, Australia or SF, California, Vancouver continues to cut off the top 15-30 floors of any office tower development.
https://bosadevelopment.com/project/320-granville , https://320granville.com/
https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/320-Granville-St-Vancouver-BC/27653032/
https://storeys.com/vancouver-bosa-waterfront-office-complete/
Even no residential tower within little Vancouver has been allowed to be as high as the tallest condo tower in Seattle, Calgary, Edmonton & Toronto. Especially, Melbourne, Sydney & Brisbane.
https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Brisbane-Sydney-Melbourne-Toronto-SF
Thursday, October 24, 2024
17-Building Development Proposed In Vaughan, Ontario
https://storeys.com/behemoth-17-building-development-vaughan/
No building within the city limits of Vancouver has been allowed to rival what Vaughan & Mississauga are permitting.
Van https://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?buildingID=9790 , https://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?cityID=1&status=15
Vau https://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?cityID=2797&status=15
Mis https://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?cityID=306&status=15
New pro soccer team Vancouver Rise pitch Burnaby on stadium partnership
The new women’s professional soccer team wants Swangard Stadium as its home venue, but the facility would need improvements to meet league standards. https://www.burnabynow.com/local-news/new-pro-soccer-team-vancouver-rise-pitch-burnaby-on-stadium-partnership-9699516
It's always been difficult for backwater BC to get things up to a league standard, or especially international standards.
Appreciative transit culture in BC, etc.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/canadian-transit-shout-out-reaction
People are happy whenever public transit is working reasonably well and running at an appropriate level of capacity. Unfortunatly, that's not always the case and its not the fault of the transit operators and attendants. It's the inept planning that refuses to improve bottleneck water crossings and other chokepoints. Various BC governments providing limited construction budgets and or not providing structures with built-in higher capacity capabilities.
Fortunately unlike in BC, most real cities around the world have longer trains & wide enough roads & bridges to accommodate proper bus & HOV lanes.
The goal to build one of Metro Vancouver's new tallest buildings
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/citizen-tower-anthem-properties-burnaby-metrotown-ipo
Unlike Calgary and Seattle, Vancouver won't permit any residential building to be this tall within its strictly controlled city limits. Fortunately, Burnaby, Coquitlam and Surrey will allow taller buildings.
https://www.biv.com/news/real-estate/vancouver-developer-seeks-to-raise-82m-for-metrotown-project-via-ipo-9508936 This is Business Outside of Vancouver.
https://storeys.com/anthem-properties-burnaby-66-storey-citizen-metro-king-metrotown This is like an average semi-tall building in Toronto and the GTA.
https://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/real-estate/two-more-towers-up-to-80-storeys-tall-more-rental-housing-could-be-coming-to-burnabys-brentwood-8461795 There has been an unwretten ruel in Greater Vancouver for several decades. As long as something is impressive by PG, Kamloops, Kelowna & especially Victoria standards, that's good enough for backwater BC.
https://www.burnabynow.com/local-news/burnaby-councillor-opposes-plan-for-80-storey-tower-in-burnaby-5509305 No buildings taller than 40 stories & no roads wider than 4 lanes is very symbolic of the, KEEP IT SMALL mentality of BC. Even the newer SkyTran cars still only form 4 car trains. The Canada Line only has 2 car trains.
https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/showthread.php?p=9875630 When the scale of things in BC have been kept back for several decades, its difficult for some people to fathom an attempt to have a taller or larger scale of developments and infrastructure.
Even the mountains just north of LA are allowed to be taller than those of (Greater_Vancouver).
Some treetop walks and viewing platforms
https://www.tremblant.ca/things-to-do/activities-products/treetop-walk
https://www.tremblantactivities.com/activities/treetop-walk/
https://www.nodestinations.com/blog/vancouver-capilano-suspension-bridge-park
https://botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/visit/greenheart-treewalk/
https://www.tourismvictoria.com/sport-tourism/sport-attraction/malahat-skywalk
https://www.attractionsvictoria.com/explore/activities/malahat-skywalk/
https://aspectengineers.com/portfolio/malahat-skywalk/
https://destinationlesstravel.com/malahat-skywalk-vancouver-island/
Queen Elizabeth Park, BC
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Elizabeth_Park,_British_Columbia
https://vancouversbestplaces.com/city-of-vancouver/queen-elizabeth-park/
Unfortunatly, Vancouver won't permit a viewing tower there.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/queen-elizabeth-park-master-plan-vancouver-park-board
Apparently, it's much better to have the view obscured by trees. Most of BC is full of trees & mountains.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Mountain_(British_Columbia)
Wednesday, October 23, 2024
Vancouver council passes motion to allow police access to traffic cameras
This is nothing new, several cities already have integrated cameras. There should be better visual data coordination between the outside & the inside of store theft & assault incidents.
Homeless campers in CRAB Park face abrupt eviction process
https://bc.ctvnews.ca/homeless-campers-in-crab-park-face-abrupt-eviction-process-1.7085156
Why wait until the spring when they can all be pushed away even before the winter?
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/vancouver-park-board-crab-park-closure-1.7361518
The timing of this seems rather odd and cruel.
https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2024/10/23/vancouvers-crab-park-encampment-to-close/
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/crab-park-homeless-encampment-vancouver-closing
Tuesday, October 22, 2024
Best mate of man killed in Harbour Bridge crash calls for safety improvements
The Sydney+Harbour+Bridge (SHB) is a nice wide structurer with high traffic volume, but there are some safety issues.
All & all, the SHB is a much larger & better structure than the very narrow, dangerous & inept Pattullo+Bridge in BC.
https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Sydney+Harbour+Bridge
Ash-scattering pier near fishing bar gets Surrey council nod
Perhaps it's only fitting that its in clear view of the dangerous, decerped & inept Pattullo_Bridge. The very narrow PB never had enough room for a steel or proper concrete central barrier, no emergency lanes & only 1 narrow sidewalk. Of course there was no provision for a lower train & truck deck, as will also be the case with the new bridge.
https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/pattullo-bridge-history
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/pattullo-bridge-5-things-you-didn-t-know-1.3564197
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/pattullo-bridge-a-loaded-gun/article700812
The old PB might not quite be the worst bridge in BC, but it sure became a fine example of inept backwater BC planning.
"Approximately 15 people have died in traffic accidents mainly due to head-on crashes on Pattullo since 1990." https://www.canadianunderwriter.ca/insurance/bc-bridge-scene-for-another-fatal-crash-1000047689/
The Pattullo_Bridge opened on November 15, 1937 and was designed without any future capacity considerations. Instead of 2 wide sidewalks, there was only 1 narrow sidepath. The bridge should have been designed to be widened in a few decades. Plus, a provision for a lower truck & LRT deck as transportation needs increased.
The incredible Sydney_Harbour_Bridge opened on 19_March_1932. Unfortunatly, the old & the new PB are classic BC bottlenecks, by design.
https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Pattullo+Bridge
https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Sydney+Harbour+Bridge
Monday, October 21, 2024
Plan for new office building in Surrey pivots into 20-storey rental housing tower
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/century-city-holland-park-surrey-office-rental-housing-tower
Some residential towers can have some office floors and some office towers might have some residential floors. It's all about trying to be prepared for local market demand. No office tower in BC has ever been permitted to have a 40th floor, especially no 50 or 60.
Sunday, October 20, 2024
Saturday, October 19, 2024
Harbor Island, Seattle
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harbor_Island,_Seattle
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/Aerial_view_of_Harbor_Island_in_Seattle.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/Aerial_view_of_Elliot_Bay%2C_Seattle.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/West_Seattle_aerial.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Port_of_Seattle_from_Columbia_Center%2C_2022.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Seattle#Containerization
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Seattle#Into_the_21st_Century
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Seattle#Alliance_with_Tacoma
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Seattle#Seattle%E2%80%93Tacoma_International_Airport
Spanish Banks and Point Grey were nearly turned into a gigantic industrial port in the 1920s
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Point_Grey
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/Lifeguard_Spanish_Banks.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Banks
https://www.airporthistory.org/blue-concourse/the-never-built-alternative-to-yvr
Friday, October 18, 2024
Canada's Highway 1 through the BC Interior is an Embarrassment
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/canada-highway-1-bc-interior-embarassment Back in the day, just to have a waggon road there was quite an achievement. Then with the dawn of the motorcar & trucks, having 1 wagon-road each way was amazing. A minimum of 2 lanes each way with 2 emergency lanes on all main highways in BC would be an improvement. Unfortunatly, the backwater BC mentality persists through the decades & generations.
There should have already been a 6 lane Hope bypass with 2 wide shoulders & a provision for 2 Bus & HOV lanes. Another classic three lane BC bottleneck. The inept 2 lane Hope-Fraser+Bridge chokepoint is one of the best examples of BC and Canada's refusal to build proper size infrastructure where its really needed. This 3 lane joke should have been part of the 6 lane Hope bypass.
Since there is a reluctance to have a proper intercity passenger rail network in BC, there should at least be a proper intercity bus network. All the main highways should have 2 dedicated bus & HOV lanes.
A 6 lane elevated section could go right there. A nice 2 lane bridge that should have been twinned or duplicated decades ago. The same for the rail line as well. A single track and a 2 lane bridge are indicative or symbolic of the antigrowth mentality or agenda.
There is nothing wrong with higher levels of immigration for such a vast country, if the infrastructure is allowed to keep up. However, decades of an antigrowth agenda is forced to collide with immigration.
This 2 lane 1963 highway tunnel should have been twinned by the early 1990s. Now the 1960s highway infrastructure is even farther away from being adequate.
Spences+Bridge is another 2 lane wonder, with no emergency lanes and no divider.
Savona+Bridge also meets the backwater BC standard by only having 2 lanes, with no wide emergency lanes and no divider.
Metro Vancouver Housing Deficit Grows To Over 45,000 Homes
https://storeys.com/metro-vancouver-housing-deficit-fall-2024/
For several decades, multi-unit 4-5 story houses just weren't permitted to be built in Vancouver. Even the shoebox like, Vancouver special should have been allowed to have at least 3-4 levels. Plus, there should have been several 6-10 story block size apartment buildings or flats like in Paris & London. There was quite an emphasis on Vancouver stumps, especially, no 65 to 85 floor buildings like in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane & Toronto.
Very narrow bridges, which make it almost impossible to have a proper & efficient express bus & HOV network for the region. Fortunately, the backward BC mentality was never able to make it over to Australia to prevent bridge expansion or duplication.
Then even by late 2024, the first 2 SkyTrain lines only have 4 car trains of the newer coaches. The joke that is the Canada Line, still only runs 2 car trains. All 3 lines should have been designed to eventually have stations that could accommodate 8-10 car trains, but that would actually enable more people to efficiently travel around the region.
Fortunately again, this inept & horrible BC planning mentality was never able to infest & stop the Toronto Subway from having 6 car trains. However, by now, the TTC should have been running 8-10 car trains. It would have been chaos if the Montreal Metro was only running 3 car trains for the past several decades. Such an absurdity would be indicative of a, WHY EVEN BOTHER TO BUILD IT, mentality? Thats been the ongoing problem in BC since plumbing & electricity was first implemented.
Just to allow backwater BC to catch up to Alberta & Washington State would be challenging enough. Then to gradually think & plan on a scale of a Quebec & even an Ontario, might as well be just another Sci-Fi pipedream.
Thursday, October 17, 2024
Cancelled 10-lane George Massey Bridge plan was designed to enable future new SkyTrain line
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/george-massey-tunnel-bridge-replacement-skytrain-option
The tunnel option should have still included an additional section for at least something like the Edmonton_LRT.
Via Rail says trips in Ontario, Quebec may take longer after CN rule change
https://globalnews.ca/news/10817048/via-rail-ontario-quebec-corridor-slowdown-cn-rule-change
It's strange that over the past few decades, a new passenger rail corridor wasn't built.
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