Quote:
Originally Posted by Joborule
Are you wanting it to be underground/tunnel all the way, or just up to 24th Ave?
I'm a bit more optimistic that if the street and surrounding area can be developed right, that there will be considerable improvement to the Centre Street corridor. Optics matter, and with low-floor LRVs as well narrow streets compared to 36 Street, it won't seem as decisive as the NE does.
I do agree with you that it will function as a commuter line. But it could contribute in making Centre Street a destination like Kensington and Mission.
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Elevated. It will cross the river on it's own bridge. As it curves towards centre, you continue the upward grade until it is high enough to cross to the east side. Then you just use pillars all the way north until 20ath ave, then drop to street level. It's about 1.7km, the same length of the elevated west line. This entire line was built with stations for $1.4 billion, so the elevated portion can't be that expensive.
And before anyone worries about the buildings on the east side of centre, most are dumps anyway, or have big parking lots. You would still build the pillars on the sidewalk, so wouldn't expropriate much, if any. Other decisions can be made, such as reducing a lane. Alternatively you could build it up the centre of the road, but I think that leads to more wasted space.
As to your last paragraph, the problem with that is you direct so much traffic onto 10th that you damage that space, which is already a better shopping area. I just don't see how putting an LRT stop transforms a community, and we have a lot of evidence(LRT stations) that it does not.
The other issue with a mixed use corridor with a train running through it is people will drive all over it, and the train will be forever dealing with people shortcutting across tracks as they get frustrated with congestion, until they have to put barriers in, making snow clearing suck and the pedestrian experience worse. I beleive the other part of the plan is that buses can use the train ROW, which means slow trains. People might see this as good, but it impedes the commuter aspect of it, and then people get back in their cars.