No. H187/05
For release September 26, 2005
VANCOUVER - Main Street, one of Vancouver's oldest and busiest transit
corridors, is set for a $7.7 million makeover in the next 12 months as part of
the Urban Transportation Showcase Program. Representatives from Transport
Canada, the City of Vancouver and TransLink, which are co-funding the project,
gathered for an official launch today at 21st and Main.
The Urban Transportation Showcase Program is a five-year federal program
created to demonstrate, evaluate and promote effective strategies to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions from urban transportation. More than $1.3 million
from the program will go to the Main Street project.
"The Government of Canada is committed to working in partnership with its
provincial and municipal counterparts to demonstrate and evaluate a range of
sustainable urban transportation strategies," said Transport Minister
Jean-C. Lapierre. "It's innovative projects such as this that provide
Canadians with sustainable transportation options."
By the time the Main Street project is completed in late 2006, residents,
shoppers and transit customers will enjoy a significant improvement to
transit services, wider sidewalks, better street furniture, more trees and
new street art. A key design feature of the new streetscape will be bulges -
curb extensions at street corners creating wider sidewalk areas where many
of the new trees and pieces of street art will be located. These wider
street corners will also become bus stops, allowing trolleys to load and
unload passengers without leaving the traffic lane. Not only does this
improve transit travel times and reliability, it also opens up more
storefront parking and makes intersection crossings shorter and safer for
pedestrians.
Deputy Vancouver Mayor and TransLink Director David Cadman said the Main
Street Showcase project fits hand in glove with TransLink's new,
$270-million trolley bus fleet. "Main Street debuted Vancouver's first
electric streetcar service 115 years ago and we've maintained that tradition
with our commitment to electric trolleys for well over 50 years."
"This corridor will take transit to levels undreamed of in 1880. Our new
trolleys will feature Automatic Vehicle Location technology that will
prevent the bunching of buses we often see today and provide real-time
information for bus arrivals at new, state-of-the-art transit shelters,
which will also have bike racks, better seating and better lighting.
Trolleys will be able to send a signal to hold green lights at intersections
and we will have queue-jumper lanes so buses can bypass traffic congestion
north and southbound at Terminal Avenue," Mr. Cadman added. "The result will
be a street that works for traffic, transit, visitors and residents alike."
In total, the Urban Transportation Showcase Program is providing more
than $8 million in federal funding for Main Street and five other
initiatives in the Greater Vancouver Region. Total funding from the federal
government, TransLink, municipalities and other non-government partners is
$35 million.
The five other projects include the test of hybrid diesel/electric buses
as part of TransLink's bus demonstration project, new transit villages to
improve streetscapes around major SkyTrain stations, the 24.5 kilometre
Central Valley Greenway for cyclists, the Travel Smart program promoting
travel options through individual trip planning, and a major study of goods
movement in the region.
Construction along Main Street will begin this fall and conclude in the
fall of 2006. Work will include street or sidewalk construction and the
relocation of bus shelters.
The street will remain open to traffic during construction, with most
activity confined to curb parking lanes to minimize disruption. Construction
updates will be available from the road ahead section of the City of
Vancouver website at www.vancouver.ca.
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Contacts:
Ken Hardie
Director of Communications
TransLink Communication, Vancouver
(604) 453-4606
Irène Marcheterre
Director of Communications
Office of the Minister, Ottawa
(613) 991-0700
Chris Krepski
Communications
Transport Canada, Ottawa
(613) 993-0055
Transport Canada is online at www.tc.gc.ca.
Subscribe to news releases and speeches at apps.tc.gc.ca/listserv/ and keep up-to-date
on the latest from Transport Canada.
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