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May 29th, 2007, 01:12 AM
Firm with local ties chosen to design streetcar line
By Cheryl Rossi-Staff writer
The city has chosen a firm to proceed with preliminary engineering and design work on a streetcar line between Granville Island and Science World.
Hatch Mott MacDonald, or HMM, a worldwide company with a local office, was chosen over six competitors. HRD Engineering Inc., which has worked on streetcars in Portland, Seattle and Miami, was another top contender along with SNC-Lavalin Inc., which is constructing the Canada Line.
Dale Bracewell, the city's manager of Olympic transportation, said a few things set HMM apart: the project manager is based in Vancouver, it has designed streetcar systems in Europe where lines run atop planted green medians more often than they do in North America, and it offered to complete a safety audit to determine how the line could safely mesh with cars, cyclists and pedestrians.
The city approved $300,000 to hire engineers for a more detailed design of the first section of the streetcar project, between Granville Island and Science World, last October.
If the project goes ahead, the single tracks between Granville Island and Science World, where the Downtown Historic Streetcar runs on weekends during the tourist season, would be replaced with double tracks that would accommodate both the new and old streetcars.
Single cars would run down a grass median in the centre of First Avenue with a car and a bicycle lane on either side. Whether the wires that power the electric cars will span First Avenue or run off posts in the centre of the median will be examined in the report HMM will submit to the city by the end of the year.
Bracewell recently rode the streetcars in Portland, where, like in most American cities, streetcars run on hard surfaces, which are cheaper to build. But the proposed Vancouver streetcars would run atop a permeable planted surface to better manage storm water and be aesthetically pleasing.
Streetcars integrate well with greenspaces because they run quietly at ground level. They feature fewer seats than buses but with the smoother nature of the ride, most people don't mind standing, Bracewell said. One car can accommodate 150 riders, more than an articulated bus. While in Portland, Bracewell noted strollers and even bicycles inside the cars.
Constructing the streetcar line between Granville Island and Science World was estimated to cost $60 million in 2005. It's intended to attract residents of False Creek South, the future residents of Southeast False Creek and tourists.
"Streetcars are known to get choice riders, getting people who will be in their cars otherwise that don't ride buses," Bracewell said.
But there's no commitment on the part of TransLink or other potential partners to move the project ahead, and extending the Millennium Line to at least Granville Street is a higher priority for the city and TransLink. The city eventually wants the streetcar line extended to Waterfront Station for an estimated $100 million and then to Stanley Park for $200 million.
"There's still some milestones that need to be achieved, in particular funding for this to happen, but I firmly believe as a city this is where we need to go," Bracewell said.
It's too late for the city to acquire its own streetcars in time for the 2010 Olympic Games, but it doesn't take long to build the tracks. Bracewell said the city could lease a few streetcars from Seattle or Portland for a streetcar showcase.
"How great would it be, say you're in a hotel downtown, take this Canada Line, get off at the Olympic Village station and grab that showcase streetcar to Granville Island and enjoy the day and do it all under a sustainable mode-doesn't that sound good."
http://www.vancourier.com/issues07/054207/news/054207nn9.html
By Cheryl Rossi-Staff writer
The city has chosen a firm to proceed with preliminary engineering and design work on a streetcar line between Granville Island and Science World.
Hatch Mott MacDonald, or HMM, a worldwide company with a local office, was chosen over six competitors. HRD Engineering Inc., which has worked on streetcars in Portland, Seattle and Miami, was another top contender along with SNC-Lavalin Inc., which is constructing the Canada Line.
Dale Bracewell, the city's manager of Olympic transportation, said a few things set HMM apart: the project manager is based in Vancouver, it has designed streetcar systems in Europe where lines run atop planted green medians more often than they do in North America, and it offered to complete a safety audit to determine how the line could safely mesh with cars, cyclists and pedestrians.
The city approved $300,000 to hire engineers for a more detailed design of the first section of the streetcar project, between Granville Island and Science World, last October.
If the project goes ahead, the single tracks between Granville Island and Science World, where the Downtown Historic Streetcar runs on weekends during the tourist season, would be replaced with double tracks that would accommodate both the new and old streetcars.
Single cars would run down a grass median in the centre of First Avenue with a car and a bicycle lane on either side. Whether the wires that power the electric cars will span First Avenue or run off posts in the centre of the median will be examined in the report HMM will submit to the city by the end of the year.
Bracewell recently rode the streetcars in Portland, where, like in most American cities, streetcars run on hard surfaces, which are cheaper to build. But the proposed Vancouver streetcars would run atop a permeable planted surface to better manage storm water and be aesthetically pleasing.
Streetcars integrate well with greenspaces because they run quietly at ground level. They feature fewer seats than buses but with the smoother nature of the ride, most people don't mind standing, Bracewell said. One car can accommodate 150 riders, more than an articulated bus. While in Portland, Bracewell noted strollers and even bicycles inside the cars.
Constructing the streetcar line between Granville Island and Science World was estimated to cost $60 million in 2005. It's intended to attract residents of False Creek South, the future residents of Southeast False Creek and tourists.
"Streetcars are known to get choice riders, getting people who will be in their cars otherwise that don't ride buses," Bracewell said.
But there's no commitment on the part of TransLink or other potential partners to move the project ahead, and extending the Millennium Line to at least Granville Street is a higher priority for the city and TransLink. The city eventually wants the streetcar line extended to Waterfront Station for an estimated $100 million and then to Stanley Park for $200 million.
"There's still some milestones that need to be achieved, in particular funding for this to happen, but I firmly believe as a city this is where we need to go," Bracewell said.
It's too late for the city to acquire its own streetcars in time for the 2010 Olympic Games, but it doesn't take long to build the tracks. Bracewell said the city could lease a few streetcars from Seattle or Portland for a streetcar showcase.
"How great would it be, say you're in a hotel downtown, take this Canada Line, get off at the Olympic Village station and grab that showcase streetcar to Granville Island and enjoy the day and do it all under a sustainable mode-doesn't that sound good."
http://www.vancourier.com/issues07/054207/news/054207nn9.html