From the old and inadequate Fraser Street Bridge to the inadequate KSB

Somewhere in between 1950 & 1960, the old Fraser_Street_Bridge (FSB) should have been replaced with a new 4 lane bridge, with 2 very wide sidewalks for bikes & a future provision for 2 bus lanes. Vancouver needs a street and transit connection with No. 5 Rd. in Richmond. Unfortunatly, backwards Vancouver has always been a city without a proper big city transportation vision.

https://evelazarus.com/the-fraser-street-swing-span-bridge

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraser_Street_Bridge_(1894)#Provincial_government_headache

https://www.richmond-news.com/local-news/photos-and-video-was-this-the-unluckiest-bridge-between-richmond-and-vancouver-4475444

https://search.nbca.unbc.ca/index.php/fraser-st-road-bridge-in-vancouver-bc-1 In the late 1800s, just being able to have a bridge roadway width of 2 wagon-roads in backwater BC was amazing. Then, decades & even several generations later, any BC bridge that could provide 2 wagon-roads each way was even more amazing. 

https://structurae.net/en/structures/fraser-avenue-street-bridge

As usual, Vancouver & BC lost & messed up an opportunity to have 2 great new bridges.

https://structurae.net/en/structures/knight-street-bridge (KSB)

https://evelazarus.com/the-knight-street-bridge-part-2

Once again, the lack of a proper big city vision resulted in the inadequate design for the 4 lane Knight+Street+Bridge (KSB). However, it makes sense from a bottleneck congestive planing mentality. Despite Vancouver being part of what is suppose to be a major port region and in need of proper transportation corridors, the Knight_Street_Bridge is a classic chokepoint.

https://www.richmond-news.com/local-news/work-on-knight-street-bridge-in-richmond-below-deck-as-well-7319230

Just because the Knight_Street_Bridge started out as a 4 lane joke, there immediately should have been 2 wide shoulders, which could have eventually become 2 extra bus lanes. Plus, there should have been a future provision to add 2 HOV lanes. Two wide sidewalks & 2 wide bike lanes. However, that would go against the congestive planning mentality of Vancouver & BC.

Indeed, by deliberately planning the KSB to be a 4 lane chokepoint and not building a new Fraser+Street+Bridge, there clearly was no interest to have proper dedicated bus lanes in that part of the Greater Vancouver Region. With so many inadequate, narrow bridges, there should be bus & HOV lane bridges to help improve regional transportation.

A regional express bus system or a rapid bus network requires dedicated lanes. The LGB should have 2 bus lanes & 2 HOV lanes in a tunnel near it. The Iron Bridge, OSB & KSB, all should have a 4 lane bus & HOV bridge next to them. That would allow for a rapid bus lane each way & a HOV lane each way.

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

No inquiry into North Shore sewage plant overbudget problems

 https://www.nsnews.com/opinion/letter-its-a-disgrace-we-wont-get-inquiry-into-north-shore-sewage-plant-problems-11226585 

So much money has gone down the $HIT-PIPE! This has become a total $HIT-BOX nightmare. So much of this wasted money could have gone into a bus and train tunnel under the inlet near the LGB, as well as a bus and train bridge on an improved Iron Bridge crossing. 

 Vancouver council calls for reopening of container truck entrance to port https://www.nsnews.com/economy-law-politics/vancouver-council-calls-for-reopening-of-container-truck-entrance-to-port-clark-drive-11231559 

Despite Vancouver not allowing much of a 1950s-1970s freeway within its small city limits, a lower level of Knight_Street should have been constructed. This could have been a 4 lane, divided truck route between the inlet and the Fraser River and Richmond. Then, the general surface level of Knight_Street could remain as a 4-6 lane regional corridor, but still not as a freeway.  

One of the classic regional Vancouver bottleneck-chokepoints was to have only 2 lanes each way in the middle of the Knight_St_Bridge (KSB). There should have been 2 wide emergency lanes and 2 wide shoulders. That way, the KSB could have been designed to eventually have 4 lanes each way. 1 lane from and 1 lane onto Marine_Drive and the KSB.

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

Marine Drive from South Granville to Boundary Road and through Burnaby, should have been a constant 6 lane eastern_section. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_Drive_(Greater_Vancouver)

Westham Island Bridge, B.C....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westham_Island_Bridge So, it would take until the mid 2020s for this wagon road era bridge to be seriously considered for upgrading.

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/westham-island-bridge-new-replacement-crossing-planning-transink-delta 

https://deltasheritage.com/buildings/wib.html Whenever a new bridge is built, it should have 2 wide lanes, 2 bike lanes & 2 sidewalks. 

https://lifesincrediblejourney.com/explore-historic-westham-island/

https://seabc.ca/rehabilitation-of-westham-island-bridge-and-alexandra-bridge/ 

The Marpole_Bridge_(1889) was another wagon road era crossing that took a very long time to be upgraded. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marpole_Bridge_(1889)#Congestion_and_replacement 

The 1970s Arthur_Laing_Bridge (ALB) should have had at least 6 lanes, plus 2 wide shoulders. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Laing_Bridge#Since_opening There also should have been 2 sidewalks & 2 bike lanes. By now, there should have been a bus+and+bike+bridge built next to it.

Several decades after the removal of the (wagon road) Fraser_Street_Bridge_(1894), no replacement has ever been built. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraser_Street_Bridge_(1894)#Provincial_government_headache  

At the very least, it should have been replaced with a bus+and+bike+bridge in the 1970s.

https://www.richmond-news.com/local-news/photos-and-video-was-this-the-unluckiest-bridge-between-richmond-and-vancouver-4475444 However by now, there should have been a new 4 lane bridge with 2 emergency lanes, 2 bike lanes & 2 sidewalks. 

https://evelazarus.com/the-fraser-street-swing-span-bridge

The joke that is the Knight_Street_Bridge (KSB) was deliberately designed to be another quintessential BC bottleneck-chokepoint. The bridge should have opened with 6 lanes & 2 wide shoulders or emergency lanes. Pulse, 2 wide sidewalks & 2 bike lanes. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight_Street_Bridge#Maintenance,_upgrades_and_incidents Instead, the middle of the bridge is just 2 lanes each way, with 2 narrow sidewalks & no bike separate bike lanes. The KSB should have had a parallel bus+and+bike+bridge built next to it decades ago.  

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Westham+Island

Granville Bridge death was preventable, advocates say

 https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2026/05/14/granville-bridge-death-was-preventable-say-advocates/ 

While the Granville+Bridge needs to have a higher fence like the Burrard+Bridge, there is another remaining pending danger. 

https://vancouversun.com/news/iio-investigates-womans-death-after-9-hour-incident-on-granville-street-bridge 

There is no central safety barrier to prevent head-on collisions. Whether a person becomes disoriented, or actually wants to crash into traffic from the opposite direction, there is no traffic divider.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/article/barrier-needed-on-vancouver-bridge-after-another-suicide-death-advocates-say/

The sidewalks could have been made a little wider in a way that there still could have been enough space for a traffic divider. 

https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/comments/1td85mt/iio_investigates_womans_death_after_ninehour/ 

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Granville+Bridge Was 8 lanes, now 6, but with 2 bike lanes and wider sidewalks.

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Burrard+Bridge Was 6 lanes, now 4, but with 2 bike lanes & already good sidewalks. 

Unfortunately, both bridges have no middle safety barrier to prevent head-on collisions, despite their recent modifications. 

The Pattullo+Bridge was too narrow to ever have a traffic divider. Fortunately, its 4 lane replacement does have a central divider. 

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Knight+Street+Bridge Only 4 lanes in the middle, but has a traffic safety barrier. The KSB really needs a bus and bike bridge next to it.

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Oak+Street+Bridge A traffic divider was eventually installed, but the narrow bridge was never designed to have 2 emergency lanes, or 2 wide shoulders. There especially was no consideration to have 2 bus lanes on the OSB. Since there is no 24 hour train service to the airport, there should be a parallel bus and bike bridge. 

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Arthur+Laing+Bridge While it does have a traffic divider, there are no wide emergency lanes or wide shoulders. There isn't even enough space for 2 bus lanes. Thus, a bus and bike bridge really should be built next to it.

Knight Street Bridge

Despite the Knight_Street_Bridge opening in the 1970s for a seaport city, it wasn't designed to have 2 bus lanes, 2 HOV lanes & 2 truck lanes or even 2 emergency lanes. It was hardly designed with any future corridor-capacity in mind. Such narrow sidewalks that there should have been a bus & bike bridge built next to it decades ago. 

https://trafficcams.vancouver.ca/knightMarineBridge.htm

https://images.drivebc.ca/bchighwaycam/pub/html/www/695.html

https://trafficcams.vancouver.ca/knight.htm

https://buzzer.translink.ca/2024/06/knight-street-bridge-the-first-bridge-repaved-with-innovative-material

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

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

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.