Quote:
Originally Posted by Fuzz
I've got no problem with a bridge across the river, the engineering challenges of a tunnel are formidable(and expensive). But the bit up 16th needs to be tunneled or elevated. I don't understand the problem with a bridge. It's fine. it's a bridge. We have some, we can have another one.
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I think the bridge over the river is a reasonable compromise, though it will undoubtedly have a negative impact on the PIP/Riverwalk area. It can be mostly mitigated through design, though I think moving 1 block east would mitigate things entirely.
At-grade on Centre St south of 16 Ave is an absolute debacle. $5B+ to make things undeniably worse for decades. If/when they manage to build out the north line, it will still be a net negative (though more offset by a functional lrt line).
McHugh Bluff to ~18 Avenue would be a 1300 meter tunnel (fairly easy to do as far as tunnels go). To pay for it, align on 1 St SW instead of 2 St SW. Sien Lok Park - perfect place for a portal to transition to a bridge, and a far better location to disrupt for several years. Everything would be slightly shorter and straighter overall.
The trade off is that 1St SW is more important for vehicle traffic [than 2 st], but it's a far less critical than Centre north of the river, and most of the disruption here would be temporary (assuming cut and cover). The functional loss would be the 1st St Sw underpass of the CP tracks (perhaps still room for 1-2 lanes in final form), but this is also where to find the significant cost savings (compared to a whole new tunnel at 2nd). I'm sure the underpass would need to be sunk a little lower, but I'd have to think that is much cheaper than a whole new tunnel (but obviously not enough savings just here to pay for a 1300 meter tunnel).
There are essentially 4 ways to cross the Bow River north of downtown (between 14 St and 5 Ave Se), totalling 8-12 lanes (depending on rush hr reversals) so cutting 2 lanes out of Centre St is hugely significant.
There are 7 ways to cross the CP tracks (counting Macleods as one, and 4/5 streets as one) over that same width, totalling 15-16 lanes. Another underpass likely coming to 6 St SE. Giving up a few of these [least important] lanes for a few blocks seems like a far more reasonable tradeoff than 2 of the busiest lanes in the city (and messing with PIP more than necessary).