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Old Posted Oct 18, 2009, 5:12 AM
BCPhil BCPhil is offline
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Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Surrey
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Quote:
Originally Posted by paradigm4 View Post
1. Where is all this traffic everyone speaks of? Every time I travel east to Hwy 1, there's nary a car around. The whole Stadium station area is usually pretty dead.
I think this situation is good. No? It just seems like there aren't cars because they actually move in that part of town. Its actually really busy, it just actually flows. The traffic isn't that bad because we have several ways out of downtown. Traffic is never bad on the Granville bridge, only on Seymour, and the bridge sees more cars than the road that has the traffic jams. If we funnel traffic onto one road, with one way out, with more traffic lights, we'll get more traffic. The Viaducts do their job. They keep traffic flowing with speed on the viaduct and under. Why mess with that?

The argument: "we have no traffic so lets remove some roads to make traffic", doesn't seem logical.

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2. It may only be my perception, but don't the viaducts simply duplicate the street network that is provided at-grade by Expo and Pacific Boulevards?
Sort of, but not really. The viaducts allow travel from the two main downtown core roads, Georgia and Dunsmuir, without passing at ground level. Expo/Pacific connect Yaletown to Chinatown or Quebec street. The Viaducts separate the traffic going to 2 different places, using a rather small footprint. It is like 4 major one way roads in the space of 2. The viaducts wouldn't be necessary if false creek wasn't there and Terminal could continue and intersect at Nelson.

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3. Why would we have a section of an elevated expressway cutting through the eastside of the downtown when there's nothing to exactly be zooming past? The whole area is an industrial wasteland! It's an old remnant of the 70's freeway proposals and does not fit in with the urban fabric of the city.
The viaducts were born out of necesity. They used to fly over a polluted wasteland of industrial land and rail yards. If we actually built more buildings around them, especially on the waterfront and the empty parking lots, then the roads would be flying past development. Right now they allow the free flow of traffic out of downtown during a Canucks game or other event. Without the viaducts, Georgia street would be 100% closed after a game.

And it's not the viaducts fault there hasn't been more development there. It just takes time, priorities were elsewhere. There are 2 brand new buildings on Abbott st at Expo. The Viaduct wasn't holding back their development. It just takes time. When Concord Pacific goes up, the Viaducts will be a blessing for commuters and people living in the neighborhood, as they won't have to compete with each other for roadspace.

There could actually be a vibrant street scape under the viaducts if we tried.

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4. Where did this whole, we can't build a sloping road, come from? The escarpment isn't exactly steep and it wouldn't be difficult to continue Dunsmuir to connect with Expo Bl.
There are things on either side of Dunsmuir there. One one side is the Skytrain station, on the other are townhouses that use the street at frontage. Same on Georgia. GM Place is also connected with major entrances on the Viaduct.

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5. If the question came down to keeping and maintaining the viaducts, or demolishing them and developing the land, thus creating enough profit to build the Downtown Streetcar (not to mention destroying the physical and psychological barriers between NEFC and the DTES), I for one would choose the latter.
That is a hard call. But why can't ANY land sale be used to fund the street car? Why not the sale of the sites to the west of the Olympic Village? It's just using the promise of a reward to justify doing something harmful.

Also, without the viaducts, the streetcars would be crossing what would be the busiest road in Vancouver instead of going under a fairly busy road. The crossing would slow down the speed advantage the street car could currently offer. As well, if the streetcar is sent down Expo/Pacific to Yaletown, it would have to cross even more intersections that will be as busy as Georgia/Howe/Dunsmuir/Burrard where there are currently no intersections (again impacting its speed).
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