Transport Infrastructure

[ruggedscot]

So it happens - someone gives a blank cheque book and tells you to go sort the traffic issues of the lower mainland. How do you go about it ?

10 lane freeways ? Bit 70's I feel but there is still room for some grade seperated freeways in the lower mainland - serve the main flows and address the need to move about this area with as little disruption as possible as cheaply as possible and with minimal costs....

Provide a transport system that equals the accessibility of a car and make it cheap you will pull people out of cars. Until they do that people will always resort to driving.

Identify the route corridors - and identify the needs - its all very well providing a fast route into the city but if you cant get parked whats the point. So look at providing park and ride to the city from easily accessed areas that can store cars without impacting the area is what you need.

Trams ? Look at Edinburgh to see the reasons why not. The skytrain excellent. expand that and use it to provide the main core transport to and from the city link it to the airport and li... sorry you have thats great shows good thinking indeed. Wish we had that in Edinburgh.

Edinburgh also had its own freeway plans from the seventies but these were never built - pity they couldnt look at that in a more subjective light. Decent connections and interface between the multiple modes of transport - use what you have.

Trains Skytrain ferrys and mate this with a decent road network. The developments on Hwy 1 show some great movement with the road network. However some of the road construction with lights and at grades ? please look at the european way of doing this. Proper freeway design.

How would I add to Vancouver ? well for a start there seems not to be any real link with east west and north south movements. The city to a first visitor appears disjointed. Hwy 1 ? approaches the city and then makes a dive for the north shore. Flanks the North shore and then ends at the ferry terminal.

I-5 turns to the 99 which just ends at the airport. And you have highway 91 that provides a bypass for the George Massey tunnel....

Simple layout would be to provide a link from the 99 round to the transcanada - proper freeway grade seperation please. A new northern link road from North Vancouver crossing Indian Arm and running north....

Provide three distinct corridors and improve these connections to enable traffic to flow easily.

Provide a tunnel to relieve Lions Gate and link along the southern shoreline of vancouver harbour....

[whatnext]

A tunnel under Burrard Inlet shouldn't relieve the Lions Gate Bridge, it should replace it. Negotiations should then be held with the Squamish to provide a connector road along the north shore of Burrard Inlet from the new tunnel to Taylor Way.

[Millennium2002]

We do have a "Transit Fantasies" forum that deals with this topic... and also a "Road Infrastructure Fantasy" page...

That being said, it might not hurt to have a page discussing an overall transportation vision.

[twoNeurons]

Originally Posted by ruggedscot

Trams ? Look at Edinburgh to see the reasons why not. The skytrain excellent. expand that and use it to provide the main core transport to and from the city link it to the airport and li... sorry you have thats great shows good thinking indeed. Wish we had that in Edinburgh.

Edinburgh also had its own freeway plans from the seventies but these were never built - pity they couldnt look at that in a more subjective light. Decent connections and interface between the multiple modes of transport - use what you have.

Skytrain would have the potential to destroy much of Edinburgh's character. That being said, I could see a melding of new and old with a monorail in certain places. However, much of the system in Edinburgh would likely be better underground and it's still a relatively small city.

Edinburgh does have a decent commuter rail system and Waverly is right downtown. Though Waverly station could be SO MUCH nicer given its prominent and highly visible location.