Quote:
Originally Posted by bloomtronzero
I don't know how to ever expand or even maintain direct a north shore->downtown crossing, when I think about it. Can't expand the Lions'. Can't replace it either, since it's a protected landmark. The Inlet is too deep to tunnel. Twinning it would be messy, too. And Downtown couldn't really handle much more car traffic even if we did sort this crossing out for vehicles.
I think, ultimately, one day in the distant distant future, we will come to a point where we repurpose the Lions' like we're dreaming of, if only because there's nothing else we can do at the First Narrows for vehicle traffic.
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Hard disagree there. The First Narrows is actually quite shallow at approximately 50 feet at the deepest point. For reference, the Fraser at the Massey Tunnel is about 40 feet deep with the road surface at 72 feet deep.
My road/transit fantasy has always been similar to yours. The Parks Board has always been antagonistic towards the Stanley Park Causeway so why not tunnel it beneath both Stanley Park and the First Narrows? Not only that, start the tunnel at Lost Lagoon, and continue it all the way to Highway 1 in West Vancouver on the east side of the Capilano. If we do that we can hopefully demote Taylor Way from being part of highway 99 and get people wanting to go between downtown and the Upper Levels off the local roads. Build a 4 way interchange at Marine Drive in the existing space used for the 3 way interchange, and build a 3 way interchange in the unused space above Highway 1 east of the Capilano. Simply keep the existing lanes of W Georgia for the tunnel, 4 general traffic lanes with 2 bus lanes.
Then, the RoW for the causeway can be repurposed into a Skytrain RoW that will use the Lionsgate for the crossing. Keep it elevated and pedestrians/cyclists will be able to cross beneath the guideway without restriction. The grade might be a little aggressive on the southbound approach though.
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