Granville Mall Redesign | Completed - Page 4

agrant · #61 Posted: **Feb 21, 2009, 2:35 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by tintinium

Vancouver has plenty of natural shade. In the shapes of stratus, nimbus, and cumulus.

Seriously, though. This city doesn't get a whole lot of sunshine... I don't know of many who decry the lack of shade.

True, but it's easy enough to step out of the shadows. If no trees, you have no choice but to get a blast of UV. People are free to bake themselves at the beach. If they fit in with the streetscape, I don't see why anyone should have a problem with them.

hollywoodnorth · #62 Posted: **Feb 21, 2009, 2:38 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by djh

You could add to that: cleaning their awnings, cleaning their windows, painting their storefronts, even washing down their pavements. Very small things.

In my experience, a business that makes little effort with it's external appearance is either broke, or doesn't care much about it's public perception, so it often has quite poor standards. Especially true with restaurants. If it looks nasty on the outside, do you want to risk eating there?

CLEANING SNOW FROM SIDEWALKS is another major one.......

agrant · #63 Posted: **Feb 21, 2009, 2:48 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by hollywoodnorth

CLEANING SNOW FROM SIDEWALKS is another major one.......

Or washing off the green algae from their store signage...

wrenegade · #64 Posted: **Mar 16, 2009, 4:12 AM**

A couple shots from Friday afternoon. Lousy quality, all I had was my iPhone.

From Nelson/Granville, looking south

First portion of new paving. From Helmcken/Granville, looking south

Fantastic new wide sidewalk. Between Davie and Drake, on the west side of the street.

Working on the sidewalk/formwork. From Drake/Granville, looking north.

zivan56 · #65 Posted: **Mar 16, 2009, 4:29 AM**

Thanks!
Asphalt, and not concrete, for a street carrying a large number of buses??? That will look like pay dough in a couple of months...

raggedy13 · #66 Posted: **Mar 16, 2009, 5:12 AM**

Thanks for the pics, awvan! Nice to see this progressing.

jlousa · #67 Posted: **Mar 16, 2009, 5:31 AM**

They would be using a special type of asphalt and not your garden variety, there are as many types of asphalt as there are cement. It's still not as strong as concrete but it's a fraction of the price and can be cut/patched for utility work unlike concrete.

Whalleyboy · #68 Posted: **Mar 16, 2009, 6:12 AM**

where do they even use concrete in canada?

Metro-One · #69 Posted: **Mar 16, 2009, 6:12 AM**

Sfu!!

officedweller · #70 Posted: **Mar 16, 2009, 6:14 AM**

In the second pic on the left, there's an odd lamp post foundation that seems too tall.

osirisboy · #71 Posted: **Mar 16, 2009, 12:08 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Whalleyboy

where do they even use concrete in canada?

I know highways in ont and que have them for example highway 417 between ottawa and montreal is being re done recently in concrete (interesting to drive on)

also, didnt they just put down a concrete lane on cambie in front of canadian tire?

DKaz · #72 Posted: **Mar 16, 2009, 4:12 PM**

Bus stops and curb lanes, especially where buses travel down. If you see bus stops with asphalt, you can clearly see where the buses are marking its territory. Hopefully the asphalt on Granville is better able to resist the weight of buses.

I think Anthony Henday Drive in Edmonton uses something like concrete. It's got a lower thermal coefficient so it expands/contracts less which means less road repair in a city where it goes from -40 in the winter to +40 in the summer.

I think about 10 years ago, a schoolage girl in Prince George invented an asphalt compound that was better able to resist thermal expansion and reduce potholes... the city used the stuff but I haven't seen any follow up whether the stuff really worked.

EDIT: Sorry it was asphalt using recycled plastic bottles. It was by Gina Gallant and this stuff was invented in 2001. A 500m road section was paved on Cranbrook Hill Road using this stuff, and a better thermal coefficient was a side benefit. It's holding up pretty well apparently.

http://www.ibuydifferent.org/powerup...n_inventor.asp

Login650 · #73 Posted: **Mar 16, 2009, 4:41 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Whalleyboy

where do they even use concrete in canada?

Interestingly, they just redid a two blocks of Davie Street down by Denman, and did both curbside lanes as concrete (it's the end-of-route layover point for the 5 and the 6 so there are often buses parked there). It's nice, makes the street look more narrow.

johnjimbc · #74 Posted: **Mar 16, 2009, 5:24 PM**

I saw that lower part of Davie, and it appears the work may continue on up the street (I hope it does). They also redid the sidewalks and spruced up the entire street scape.

That work has been a bit overshadowed by the scale of the Granville project, but I'm quite impressed at the work on Davie.

officedweller · #75 Posted: **Mar 16, 2009, 7:03 PM**

Did the concrete Granville Mall of the 70s stretch all the way down to Davie Street?
I know that the stretch from Nelson to Smithe was widened and straightened in the 1980s or early 90s.
Is it possible that the roadway to the south was widened and straightened a while back and still has an underlying layer of concrete under there?

jlousa · #76 Posted: **Mar 17, 2009, 1:46 AM**

Good observation officedweller, I wonder if it's for the new paystations. They won't be installing parking meters and will move to paystations instead to free up more space. Looks like lots of conduit run in the base.

osirisboy · #77 Posted: **Mar 17, 2009, 2:24 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlousa

Good observation officedweller, I wonder if it's for the new paystations. They won't be installing parking meters and will move to paystations instead to free up more space. Looks like lots of conduit run in the base.

Is the city planning on replacing meters to pay stations for the rest of the city in the near future?

jlousa · #78 Posted: **Mar 17, 2009, 2:39 AM**

They will be using Granville st as a test, but if it's successful then yes, the stations offer more methods of payment, and take up less space. They probably don't save any money though. They certainly are more convenient as they take debit/credit and can be set up for smartcards.

officedweller · #79 Posted: **Mar 17, 2009, 2:48 AM**

Cool - thanks - a paystation makes sense.
BTW, checked and the Mall only went as far as Nelson in the 70s (pared back to Smithe in 1989).

zivan56 · #80 Posted: **Mar 17, 2009, 3:19 AM**

Why can't we just send our plate number via SMS and get it charged directly on our phone bill? They have this virtually everywhere in the world, and it allows easy time extensions, notifications, and digital enforcment. Plus, since they know the plate number, nobody else can use someone elses' spot once they've paid for it.
There should still be some old fashioned parking ticket dispenser every block, but there is no reason to have a parking meter in every single spot in the 21st century.