The Cushing Bridge in Calgary, Alberta

The Cushing+Bridge is a little like a typical narrow 4 lane bridge in backwards Vancouver. However, unlike Vancouver, Calgary built a 2 lane bus-bridge next to the 4 lane Cushing+Bridge. This is how properly dedicated bus lanes can be built next to an existing narrow BC type bridge. 

Calgary is the biggest city in Western Canada. Vancouver is a small city in area and has less than a million people. However, Greater Vancouver and the BC Lower_Mainland, almost has more people than Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg combined.

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

 http://albertaroads.homestead.com/Calgary/plans/BowTrail/BowTrailDToverview.jpg

http://albertaroads.homestead.com/Calgary/plans/BowTrail/memspur.jpg

http://albertaroads.homestead.com/Calgary/plans/index.html 

A 4 track freight train set of bridges in Calgary is no problem, but in Vancouver and the metropolitan region, most of the freight train bridges still only have a single track. By now the Greater Vancouver region should have double track freight bridges and double track commuter train bridges.

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Cushing+Bridge+in+Calgary

Cambie Street Bridge repairs choke traffic out of downtown Vancouver

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/cambie-bridge-repairs-choke-traffic-downtown

Of course Vancouver won't build anything like the Boorloo_Bridge for bikes & pedestrians. Apparently, it's much better to take a lane away from the Cambie Bridge. 

Fortunately, the backward Vancouver mentality never made it over to Perth. Otherwise, the The_Third_Causeway bridge would have had 1 or 2 lanes removed.

With 6 lanes, The_Causeway_in_Victoria_Park, Perth provides a nice 6 lane crossing. Unlike backward Vancouver the Causeway in Perth was allowed to have 3 lanes each way. The key component is that the 3rd lane each way is for busses. In contrast, absurd Vancouver won't allow for a proper bus & bike bridge network to be built, because it would rather keep its bridges as narrow & congested as possible. 

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/Causeway_-_Victoria_Park.JPG

It's very strange that Vancouver refused to have something like the 6 lane Causeway+Bridge in the 21st century. A 3rd lane each way for buses on the Causeway+Bridge makes so much sense in Perth. However, for stubborn Vancouver, such measures might help to improve mobility.

Apparently, Vancouver has no plans to build something like the Boorloo_Bridge or the Esplanade+Riel+Footbridge next to the Cambie & Burrard Bridges. Thus, the Cambie has lost a lane & the Burrard has lost 2 lanes. Had both bridges been allowed to retain 6 lanes, they both could have provided 2 bus lanes.

The Cushing+Bridge is a 4 lane bridge in Calgary. Thus, like the Oak Bridge & Knight Bridge in Vancouver, there was no room for 2 bus lanes on them. Unlike, backward Vancouver, Calgary was able to build a 2 lane bus bridge right next to its Cushing+Bridge.

Fortunately, the horrible transportation planning mentality of Vancouver was never adopted in Perth & Calgary. Either you have a wide enough bridge for busses, or you build bus & bike bridges to help the existing bridges.

The Norwood+Bridge in Winnipeg provides at least 6 lanes, so a couple of bus lanes isn't a problem.

Singapore built its Helix_Bridge instead of removing lanes from the other bridges.

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

The Milizie Bridge in Italy and the Windan Bridge in W, Australia and The Cushing Bridge in Calgary, Alberta

 https://www.lombardiabeniculturali.it/fotografie/schede/IMM-5w050-0000107/

It used to be like a narrow 4 lane Vancouver bridge.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdL1nsrfQlu2fehTGEprH7FGBsYGcr_TPyqucsA-EWRJdwwHCROFB-V_oTimMt3jA863q25r8g5pY83s0yOUppOM1EuVsBaGO4kc846blp-xCt8G3xQs7Srg2Ro9nPKPom-V5YOdCRm1bM/s1600/PontiMilizie-NotizAtmMarApr74-ridotto.jpg

https://milanoneisecoli.blogspot.com/2014/10/lo-scomparso-torrione-fascista-di.html

Eventually, the Ponte+Delle+Milizie was rebuilt to have 2 bus lanes as well as 4 general lanes.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ponte+Delle+Milizie

Something like the 6 lane Windan_Bridge and the double track Goongoongup_Bridge, just aren't allowed in Vancouver. The city should do something similar like the Cushing+Bridge+in+Calgary.

Unfortunatly, the backwards Vancouver approach is to take lanes away, while pretending to be building an efficient regional rapid bus network. 

The Arthur+Laing+Bridge, Oak+Street+Bridge and Knight+Street+Bridge only have 2 lanes each way in the middle and there was no provision to have 2 bus lanes. Thus, unless a 2 lane bus-bridge is built next to each of them, the regional express bus network will remain a sad BC joke.

There should also be a 6 lane Boundary+Road+Bridge crossing Burrard_Inlet and another one crossing the Fraser_River. 

Bus Rapid Transit, Cushing Bridge, Calgary

Vancouver needs bus-bridges as much as Calgary, but of course Vancouver is slow to the party, once again. The 4 lane bottleneck, AKA the Cushing+Bridge in Calgary could have gotten the Vancouver Chokepoint Award. There aren't any HOV lanes or even emergency lanes, just 2 lanes each way. However, what transformed this BC type bottleneck in Calgary into a semi-decent crossing, was the simple addition of a bus & bike bridge. The Greater Vancouver Area should have had bus & bike bridges built next to all of the regional crossings decades ago. However, that would go against the congestive planning approach, which is so intertwined within backwards BC, but not in Alberta & Washington State.

https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/city-says-theyll-try-to-minimize-deerfoot-disruption-during-brt-bridge-work

The new Pattullo+Bridge shouldn't require a bus & bike bridge to be built next to it, but it might eventually. If only it could have been properly designed in the first place to not just have 2 lanes each way, but a bus & HOV lane each way as well. Plus, built high & strong enough with a provision to allow LRT on a lower deck. 

Unfortunately, no one seriously planned to have an LRT line between NW & Surrey, because the Skytrain isn't a 24hr system. Overnight buses can't go on the Skybridge, because no one allowed for a provision to have a couple of bus lanes on it. Thus, the old & the new Pattullo Bridge will have no bus or emergency lanes. Even if someday the new Pattullo+Bridge is widened from 4 to 6 lanes, there still won't be any emergency lanes.

Light_rail_in_Sydney, NSW. Once again, BC falls so far behind. BC was so quick to get rid of its streetcars before the 1960s. Where as NSW has been gradually reinstating a modern version of their old tram lines.

New Tramways_in_Paris have been gradually added, but not in backwater BC. 

Unlike NW & Surrey, Portland_has_Streetcars & the MAX train which cross the river. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JvGTx4ufFo

https://www.travelportland.com/plan/portland-streetcar

MAX https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpfRKqy96_E

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

Bridges over the Bow River in Calgary

https://everydaytourist.ca/calgary-visitor-information/2015/3/2/bridges-over-the-bow

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bridges_in_Calgary#Crossings

The 4 lane Louise_Bridge has a 2 track counterpart. 

https://calgary.skyrisecities.com/news/2017/04/two-louise-bridges.26322

The Louise+Bridge & its LRT bridge is a good example of how a road & passenger rail corridor can work well.

The 4 lane Cushing+Bridge wasn't widened for buses, so the next best thing was done. A 2 lane bus bridge was built next to the Cushing+Bridge. What is easy & straightforward for Calgary to do seems to be very difficult for Vancouver & BC to achieve. Several bridges in Greater Vancouver should have bus & bike bridges built next to them.

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

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

Much more home construction and infrastructure in Metro Vancouver is urgently needed

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/metro-vancouver-housing-starts-construction-statistics-2023

After Vancouver & the metropolitan region kept imposing so many restrictions for decades, BC is compelled to upgrade & build more infrastructure. 

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/metro-vancouver-pre-sales-april-2024

The KEEP THEM OUT symbolism has been perpetuated for well over a lifetime. Especially with short trains & narrow bridges & only a half-assed bus lane network. The Cushing+Bridge in Calgary is a fine example of a new bus-bridge next to a narrow Vancouver type of bridge. The+Tilikum+Crossing+in+Portland is also a great example of the type of transit bridge that should be built next to almost all  of the narrow bridges in Metro Vancouver. Fortunately, the backward BC type of planning mentality never caught on in Calgary, Edmonton, Portland, Seattle & Montreal.

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-development-permits-changes-2024 Speeding up the permits & rate of construction is a good slap in the face towards the KEEP THEM OUT agenda. It was hoped so many decades ago, that by gradually imposing so much municipal red tape & BC B$, that would help to stunt BC growth. It also helped the old colonial mentality to see less non-white people moving into BC. 

It's not that BC isn't multicultural, it's just that by slowing down the growth of the 10 largest BC municipalities, that becomes a perpetual excuse to not keep up with building more infrastructure.

The area of Switzerland or the Netherlands could fit into BC 23 times. Yet, BC doesn't even have half the population of the Netherlands. Indeed, BC doesn't even have the population of one Switzerland. 

If Metro Vancouver, Victoria, Kelowna & BC in general, would ever allow a proper scale of infrastructure, things would gradually improve. 

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

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

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.