Mayor Moonbeam wants to remove the Viaducts Immediately. Where do you stand?

[badbadboy]

Not Bike Lanes this time but the immediate removal of the Georgia Street and Dunsmuir Street Viaducts to provide more housing and more inner city park space. Sure ok, but what about the people who actually have to get to work in a reasonable amount of time?

Cost is $100M dollars which is not budgeted with the City nor the Province. The Engineering Dept wants to funnel all the traffic to Pacific Avenue plus Georgia Street. Both of those arteries are already full all day long and the addition of the the traffic from the Viaducts, one can conclude their traffic pattern will be extra full all day long.

My personal version would be to substantially increase the number of viaducts to circumvent all the bottlenecks found within the City core. Have one all the way around the inner harbour from the East Side to Stanley Park, have one around Pacific Avenue above ground to circumvent the traffic pattern around GM and Rogers Arena, maintain and extend the viaducts from Georgia Street and Dunsmuir streets. Also have a rapid access routes along 1st Avenue, Clark, Knight Street, Cambie, Oak and Granville Streets. Increase all their speeds to 70 km/h.

We can not all jump on a bicycle and commute from one work place to another and our transit system is never efficient enough to get us where we have to get to in a really rapid fashion. Some of actually have to work and a leisurely ride on a bike during work hours is NOT practical.

Once again, Mayor Moonbean and Company have got it totally wrong IMO.

We are now one of the most congested cities found anywhere in the world placing second. Removing the Viaducts will surely put us in FIRST PLACE! :clap2:

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Vancouver+Canada+most+congested+city/6913975/story.html

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/study-finds-los-angeles-most-congested-city-in-north-america-2012-07-10

So where do all you commuters Downtown sit on this issue? Happy to merely go along with Mayor Moonbean once again like with the bike lanes, sit on a Skytrain, take a bus or just say you will telecommute rather than even bothering to go into Vancouver anymore?

 

[Tugela]

Whoever made that list of congested cities obviously has never been to New York.

A big reason why many cities downtown cores are not congested is because, unlike Vancouver, most people don't want to go there, and those who do live there don't generally use cars. But they sure as hell are congested elsewhere in those cities.

 

[mercyshooter]

It equates to a fuckup city. :nod:

don't do anything unless i see improvements for translink's services. and i mean lots!

 

[the old maxx50]

I find it a great city to drive around Late at night .

 

[jdebord11]

Love it! Can't wait to see the viaducts torn down.

Buy a bike, transit pass, etc and get your self together.

 

[mik]

Mayor Moonbeam wants to remove the Viaducts Immediately. Where do you stand?

I guess I had better not be standing on the viaducts!

 

[chaos88]

Mayor Moonbeam can suck it. This is not about keeping cars out so much as it's about getting developers' money for more "eco-density" whatever the hell that is. He's been pushing his agenda without much (if any) public consultation. The problem is, any mayoral candidate who ran against him was even more useless. We need the viaducts. I live downtown and use my car to conduct business. Getting rid of them might be fine as far as keeping the vehicles of non-residents out is concerned, but there's a lot of people in Yaletown, Coal Harbor, and the West End who rely on their vehicles. Delivery drivers etc. can't all of a sudden start riding bicycles. Pedal power does not drive the economy.

 

[mercyshooter]

Well, I've got two words for him..........

 

[greatshark]

is this a really big deal. The viaducts don't go to any freeway, expressway or highway. They go to a regular street. Viaducts are useless.

 

[Devils_Advocate]

is this a really big deal. The viaducts don't go to any freeway, expressway or highway. They go to a regular street. Viaducts are useless.

+ 1... They are pretty useless.

 

[Papa Chongo]

+ 1... They are pretty useless.

Agreed, but I don't work downtown, I have 3-4 Meetings downtown a week, but I am in after 9am, and out before 3pm

 

[Man Mountain]

is this a really big deal. The viaducts don't go to any freeway, expressway or highway. They go to a regular street. Viaducts are useless.

+ 1... They are pretty useless.

There was a time when I had to drive in and out of a certain downtown area a lot and I made a lot of use of those viaducts then. I still use them pretty regularly depending on where in town I'm heading. The streets they're talking about using to divert around will make for some rather round about ways of getting to and from certain areas and I imagine will end up increasing congestion on those streets, as has been mentioned. If anyone wants to start a petition against the removal of the viaducts, I will gladly add my signature to it.

 

[niteowl]

If he is willing to drive the firetruck from fire hall #1 to whatever fire there is in downtown through Chinatown then yes get rid of the Viaducts. If the Moonbean and his cohorts can guarantee that there will be no 3 alarm or more in the downtown area then yes get rid of the Viaducts.

 

[greatshark]

I read in the paper today, that it is not just the mayor (moonbeam to some) but the 2 NPA also support it. So it is unanimous by all councillors.

 

[zoomer]

Mayor Moonbeam can suck it. This is not about keeping cars out so much as it's about getting developers' money for more "eco-density" whatever the hell that is. He's been pushing his agenda without much (if any) public consultation. The problem is, any mayoral candidate who ran against him was even more useless. We need the viaducts. I live downtown and use my car to conduct business. Getting rid of them might be fine as far as keeping the vehicles of non-residents out is concerned, but there's a lot of people in Yaletown, Coal Harbor, and the West End who rely on their vehicles. Delivery drivers etc. can't all of a sudden start riding bicycles. Pedal power does not drive the economy.

People in the West end,Yaletown and Coal Harbour depend on their cars? I live in Yaletown and the only people driving are the bridge and tunnel crowd. Good luck finding reasonably priced parking ! Way faster and easier to walk in this city. The parkade in my building is 80% full during weekdays as the other residents have also taken up similiar behaviour. We are completely dependant on our cars for reasons other than transportation and while it might work in other places in the world, we are basically a penisula surrounded on three sides by water. Looking forward in reading your comments when you begin paying $10 / hr to leave your car somewhere.Viaducts? Glad to see them go . They are basically a highway that comes from nowhere and goes nowhere . Build it up 40 storeys make it attractive with parks, rec facilities, walkways etc and implement some real solutions to the housing costs by bringing in more supply. No one is asking delivery drivers to ride bikes nor is anyone asking you to ride one. I understand that people really DO need their cars for work but a vast majority do not and those are the ones who would be dissuaded in driving

 

[mercyshooter]

The ironic part is that most of the voters say yes to all the "budget planning" questions. This means that the government can do whatever they like without public inquiry as long as it is related to development. Imagine how fuck up it is for the city. This is why we need a metropolitan government instead of municipal government. :doh:

 

[chaos88]

People in the West end,Yaletown and Coal Harbour depend on their cars? I live in Yaletown and the only people driving are the bridge and tunnel crowd. Good luck finding reasonably priced parking ! Way faster and easier to walk in this city. The parkade in my building is 80% full during weekdays as the other residents have also taken up similiar behaviour. We are completely dependant on our cars for reasons other than transportation and while it might work in other places in the world, we are basically a penisula surrounded on three sides by water. Looking forward in reading your comments when you begin paying $10 / hr to leave your car somewhere.Viaducts? Glad to see them go . They are basically a highway that comes from nowhere and goes nowhere . Build it up 40 storeys make it attractive with parks, rec facilities, walkways etc and implement some real solutions to the housing costs by bringing in more supply. No one is asking delivery drivers to ride bikes nor is anyone asking you to ride one. I understand that people really DO need their cars for work but a vast majority do not and those are the ones who would be dissuaded in driving

Yes, people in the downtown core rely on their cars. I know for fact that I'm not the only one. Perhaps you don't, and that's good for you and that's why a lot of people choose to live downtown. Granted, if I was working downtown I would not be dependent on it but I would still think that this is a bad idea. This will lead to even more congestion and vehicles idling. This is a cash-grab, pure and simple. Gregor wants his "eco-density", "superstreets", or whatever new moronic buzzword he throws at the public. Really, it's getting money out of developers. Sure, he thinks this is a good idea. I do not. He also thought that packing 150,000 into a 3-block area to watch a hockey game was a good idea. I don't believe that I'm the only one who can see through his crap. I have worked very closely with municipal politics in the past, so I am well aware of the corruption and lying that goes on at the municipal level. Trust me, the general public is very blind to all of this. I have not seen all the proposed designs for the removal, so maybe I'm missing something but cutting off a major traffic artery is never a good idea.

I pay to park in my neighborhood by permit (I am in the West End), so paying $10/hr does not apply to me. When I lived elsewhere and came downtown for social occasions, etc. I used transit, but that's because parking was a lot even then, as was the hassle of finding a spot, and everything else so not particularly concerned. Furthermore, I don't believe that being able to live downtown is my entitlement and when it gets to be too much, I will move. Affordable housing will not exist in the downtown core. It's been that way for years now.