SkyTrain Station Renovations

[DKaz]

No, waiting at the Skytrain station elevators is much worse. They're slow and you can wait several trips before getting on one. I never thought anything of the elevators until I had two children. What an eye opener.

[sweetnhappy]

Originally Posted by Sheba

They need to put up escalators in all the stations first - there are at least a few missing them (Royal Oak and one platform at Columbia).

22nd Street (eastbound) as well.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by sweetnhappy

22nd Street (eastbound) as well.

Technically Edmonds doesn't have any, although there aren't many stairs either. Patterson also only has an escalator at the main entrance and not at the park entrance. So... that covers Burnaby and New West.

King George Station is also missing an escalator to one of the platforms - I think the Surrey stations have them otherwise.

Are any of the Vancouver stations missing up escalators?

[Kisai]

The point of the escalators is to move people faster (than stairs), not to reduce exercise.
The point of an elevator is to move people with luggage, mobility aids, and wheel chairs. Many buildings prior to 1973 don't even have them. That's also why many old buildings don't have more than 2 stories.

3.8.2.16. Passenger Terminals

1) In passenger terminals, access shall be provided to all areas to which the public is admitted.

So the reason the Skytrain is completely accessible has a lot to do with the building code in 1979 requiring access.

[Sheba]

Hopefully the new Evergreen Line stations will have both up and down escalators. I know I mentioned it in a survey way back when, with an aging population / mobility issues being the reason.

That said I really doubt all of the existing stations will have down escalators added to them as they weren't built to accommodate them. I've been pointing out quite a few Expo Line stations are missing up escalators and that should really be addressed before adding down escalators. East of Commercial-Broadway there are very few down escalators (Scott Road is the only one I can think of). I don't know the Millennium or Canada lines well enough to talk about those escalators (or lack thereof).

[urbancanadian]

Part of the overall capacity upgrades on the Expo Line include adding up-escalators in the locations where they are missing/aren't enough (stadium, 29th, royal oak, 22nd), as well as station overhauls at Edmonds and Columbia, which would see up- and down-escalators.

This is all in addition to the current Expo Line upgrades. Basically a later phase.

*And yes, the Evergreen Line stations all have up- and down-escalators.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by urbancanadian

Part of the overall capacity upgrades on the Expo Line include adding up-escalators in the locations where they are missing/aren't enough (stadium, 29th, royal oak, 22nd), as well as station overhauls at Edmonds and Columbia, which would see up- and down-escalators.

This is all in addition to the current Expo Line upgrades. Basically a later phase.

I'll believe it when I see it. It's been over 10 years since I heard of a future ramp and entrance to be added to the south side of Edmonds station. The towers and low rises on that side mean a lot of people would use that entrance. Try getting TransLink to talk about it though...

When I went to the New West Station open house I asked why they only do 'big' (and expensive) single station upgrades instead of doing smaller upgrades to the majority of the Expo Line. It seems that never occurred to the Skytrain person (planner?) I was talking to. I don't mean that the big upgrades don't need to be done, just that they're not the only work that needs to be done on the line.

[casper]

Originally Posted by urbancanadian

Part of the overall capacity upgrades on the Expo Line include adding up-escalators in the locations where they are missing/aren't enough (stadium, 29th, royal oak, 22nd), as well as station overhauls at Edmonds and Columbia, which would see up- and down-escalators.

This is all in addition to the current Expo Line upgrades. Basically a later phase.

*And yes, the Evergreen Line stations all have up- and down-escalators.

29th ave has no escalators of any type, just stairs. I don't think adding escalators provides any value to low volume stations such as 29th. The station does have an elevator.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by casper

29th ave has no escalators of any type, just stairs. I don't think adding escalators provides any value to low volume stations such as 29th. The station does have an elevator.

It would make a difference for people with mobility problems when the elevator isn't working...

Still between Burnaby, New West and Surrey there are six stations missing escalators, most of them more vital than adding one to 29th Ave. BC Transit and then TransLink haven't been in any hurry to add them in.

[urbancanadian]

Originally Posted by Sheba

I'll believe it when I see it. It's been over 10 years since I heard of a future ramp and entrance to be added to the south side of Edmonds station. The towers and low rises on that side mean a lot of people would use that entrance. Try getting TransLink to talk about it though...

When I went to the New West Station open house I asked why they only do 'big' (and expensive) single station upgrades instead of doing smaller upgrades to the majority of the Expo Line. It seems that never occurred to the Skytrain person (planner?) I was talking to. I don't mean that the big upgrades don't need to be done, just that they're not the only work that needs to be done on the line.

There's just not enough funding - but the plans are still in the works, however long it ends up taking. The current phase is the stations that need the improvements the most and were deemed to add the most capacity to the system with the limited budget that they have. Main, Broadway, Joyce, Metrotown, New Westminster, Scott Road, and Surrey Central. Obviously more is needed, but it won't happen until there is more money available.

As I said, the major changes still to come are at Edmonds, Columbia, phase II of Surrey Central, and potentially Burrard with another entrance from Park Place. The rest of the planned improvements are for smaller upgrades such as escalators, wherever needed.

As for the person at the open house... well in my experience they never seem to send the most knowledgeable people to work at those things. Whether it's for the city, Translink, or whoever, I've rarely been to an open house where I learned anything new. I always figured they sent an intern or something...

Originally Posted by casper

29th ave has no escalators of any type, just stairs. I don't think adding escalators provides any value to low volume stations such as 29th. The station does have an elevator.

Yeah, probably not a high priority, but I still think it would be ideal to install an up-escalator to the west entrance at 29th Avenue. But I wouldn't necessarily call it a low-volume station. It's still busier than any single Millenium Line station, save for Lougheed. It's in the same range as Yaletown and YVR stations in terms of boardings.

----- ----- ----- ----- -----

Here are the places that I think new escalators are needed:

Stadium-Chinatown
- Street -to- Platform (East Entrance)
Nanaimo
- Street -to- EB Platform
29th Avenue
- Platform -to- Street (West Entrance)
Royal Oak
- Street -to- Platform
Edmonds
- WB Platform -to- Bridge
- EB Platform -to- Bridge
22nd Street
- Street -to- EB Platform
Columbia
- Mezzanine -to- EB Platform
- Mezzanine -to- Street (Columbia Entrance)
King George
- Street -to- WB Platform
- EB Platform -to- Street (Down)
Lougheed Town Centre
- Street -to- Mezzanine (West Entrance)

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by urbancanadian

There's just not enough funding - but the plans are still in the works, however long it ends up taking. The current phase is the stations that need the improvements the most and were deemed to add the most capacity to the system with the limited budget that they have. Main, Broadway, Joyce, Metrotown, New Westminster, Scott Road, and Surrey Central. Obviously more is needed, but it won't happen until there is more money available.


As for the person at the open house... well in my experience they never seem to send the most knowledgeable people to work at those things. Whether it's for the city, Translink, or whoever, I've rarely been to an open house where I learned anything new. I always figured they sent an intern or something...

I know about budget and lack thereof - it's just that some of these smaller upgrades go back decades and there's been no movement. Part of me wonders if anything will happen during my lifetime (and I'm trying for immortality... ). So yeah I take a lot of these plans with a rather large grain of salt.

They didn't send interns to the couple of open houses I've been to. For the New West one I think it was one of the planners, just not one that was really dealing with New West Station. They've tended to like talking to me as instead of moaning or being a nimby, I've asked them for more detailed info about the project than the average person (most of whom didn't seem to know much about it from what I saw).

Stations on the Expo line that I think could do with some escalator love from TransLink (aka phase two, after the work they're doing now). I'd put the others as lower priority (and that includes my local station).

Stadium-Chinatown
Nanaimo
Royal Oak
22nd Street
Columbia
King George

[Mac Write]

Station/China town 100% needs both an up and down escalator at the east entrance. as someone who is legally blind and can't walk far, those stairs are extremely dangerous. Without building a full station house that entrance won't get an elevator for a long long time (in our lifetime?).

[mcminsen]

Originally Posted by mcminsen

May 27 '16, my pic

Not much visible progress in the past 6 weeks on this part of the Commercial/Broadway Station renovations.



July 8 '16, my pics

[mcminsen]

Some views today of Commercial/Broadway lower platform area from Commercial Drive.



July 8 '16, my pics

[mcminsen]

And some views from the bridge, concourse and stairs.



July 8 '16, my pics

[madog222]

Anyone know what is going on at 22st Station?

Some sort of large communications antenna is being installed on the top of the station.

[Mac Write]

WiFi, new radio relay?

[dpogue]

They've now got a plywood wall up at Commercial outbound underneath the pedestrian walkway. The Millennium Line is doing single-tracking nightly between Renfrew and VCC-Clark on the inbound.

[Waders]

Part of the Commercial–Broadway west bound platform wall has been covered by plywood. I wonder whether this is done to prepare for the wall tear down?

The east bound platform also has plywood wall covering the metal mesh. Is the metal mesh going to be replaced too?

[mcminsen]

A couple of pics down in the ravine at Commercial/Broadway. First one is from the platform and the second one is through the dirty glass of the stairwell.



Aug.12 '16, my pics