http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2400/79/110/537325252/n537325252_5961362_4353134.jpg

Existing Archive Thread: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=32907544#post32907544

What is the Evergreen Line Project?
The Evergreen Line is a new rapid transit line that connects Coquitlam Town Centre to Vancouver via Port Moody and Burnaby, starting at Lougheed Town Centre Station in Burnaby and ending near Douglas College in Coquitlam.

The Evergreen Line will be a fast, frequent and convenient SkyTrain service, connecting Coquitlam Town Centre through Port Moody to Lougheed Town Centre in approximately 13 minutes. The Evergreen Line will seamlessly connect to the current SkyTrain network, including the Expo, Millennium and Canada Lines, and will integrate with regional bus and West Coast Express networks.

The Evergreen Line is an essential element of The Provincial Transit Plan and the federal Building Canada Plan.

http://evergreenline.gov.bc.ca/images/ObliqueAlignment_Feb%2019.jpg

Route Alignment
The Evergreen Line will run north from Lougheed Town Centre on an elevated track along North and Clarke Roads, before entering a tunnel in the vicinity of Como Lake Avenue and emerging near Barnet Highway north of Clarke Road in Port Moody. Through Port Moody, the route will travel at-grade on the south side of the Canadian Pacific (CP) Rail lines before transitioning to the north side near the Port Moody/Coquitlam boundary. The Evergreen Line will continue next to the CP Rail lines to the West Coast Express Station in Coquitlam and will then run on an elevated track along Pinetree Way, ending near Douglas College in Coquitlam.

http://evergreenline.gov.bc.ca/images/station_map_sm.jpg

Stations
The Evergreen Line will have six primary stations: Lougheed, Burquitlam, Port Moody/West Coast Express, Ioco, Coquitlam/West Coast Express and Coquitlam City Hall/Douglas College.

These stations will drive system ridership growth by serving major destinations, connecting existing population and employment centers, and integrating with the existing transit network.

These station locations will promote use by ensuring the line is fast, convenient and competitive with other travel choices.

Up to two additional station locations along the Evergreen Line may be considered based on their ability to shape land use, stimulate increased system ridership through transit oriented development, and be affordable.

Project Goals

Provide fast, frequent and convenient rapid transit from Coquitlam to Vancouver
via Port Moody and Burnaby

Provide rapid transit for the communities of Burnaby, Vancouver, New Westminster, Coquitlam, Port Moody, Port Coquitlam, Anmore and Belcarra


Improve the transportation network throughout Metro Vancouver

Integrate travel modes and provide connectivity to the wider transit network
Seamlessly connect with the current SkyTrain network


Increase transportation choice

Support a reduction in auto use by providing an alternative to single occupancy vehicles
Increase transit mode share
Increase transit capacity in the Northeast sector
Ensure speed and reliability of the system
Support growth management


Support municipal growth management targets established by the region’s Livable Region Strategic Plan

Contribute to community building by stimulating future concentrated and mixed-use development
Support existing development and provide support for a positive business environment


Support environmental sustainability initiatives

Support provincial environmental goals by reducing regional car trips
Meet regional and local environmental objectives to preserve green space
Encourage pedestrian traffic along corridor

Source: Evergreen Line Website, Ministry of Transportation

http://evergreenline.gov.bc.ca/images/transit_map.jpg

PROJECT OFFICE OPENING LAUNCHES EVERGREEN LINE
COQUITLAM – Construction of the Evergreen Line is taking a major step forward with the opening of the Evergreen Line Project Office, announced Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Kevin Falcon, federal Canadian Heritage and Official Languages Minister James Moore and TransLink CEO
Tom Prendergast today.

“The Evergreen Line will vastly improve transit options for people in Metro Vancouver’s northeast quadrant,” said Falcon. “It will also be a big boost to the region’s economy, providing over 8,000 direct and indirect jobs.”

“The Evergreen Sky Train extension will improve the quality of life of Tri-City residents by creating more transportation choices, cutting traffic, and by reducing pollution,” said Moore. “Our government is proud to be a partner in this project.”

Using SkyTrain technology, the 11-kilometre Evergreen Line will link neighbourhoods in Burnaby, Port Moody and Coquitlam and be fully integrated into the existing system, connecting directly onto the Millennium Line at Lougheed Station.

“Not only is the Tri-Cities area growing, we know that it’s the destination for a third of the commuters that today drive across the Port Mann Bridge from the South of Fraser,” said Prendergast.

“The Evergreen Line, linking to a new RapidBus service from Highway 1 at the Lougheed Station, has huge potential to attract substantial numbers of people from cars to rapid transit.”

The Evergreen Line will provide fast and frequent service to downtown Vancouver – improving the transit network throughout Metro Vancouver and facilitating economic growth and regional job creation. The Project Office will advance the Evergreen Line Project through design and construction
and will provide the public with the opportunity to learn more about the project, meet with staff, and give feedback and input as design and construction proceeds. Construction of the Evergreen Line is scheduled to begin in late 2010 and be completed in late 2014.

The Evergreen Line is jointly funded by the Government of Canada (up to $416.7 million), the Government of British Columbia ($410 million) and TransLink ($400 million). Approximately $350 million of the federal contribution is from the Building Canada Fund. The $1.4-billion project is a key component of the Provincial Transit Plan.
Source: The Government of British Columbia - http://evergreenline.gov.bc.ca/documents/NewsReleases/nr_ELPO_final_Feb28_09.pdf

Video Articles
Global TV BC: http://canwest.a.mms.mavenapps.net/mms/rt/1/site/canwest-globalbc-pub01-live/current/launch.html?maven_playerId=globalbcallvideo&maven_referralPlaylistId=24845d5c80768d2d50c292ff8e60a971d5a69e38&maven_referralObject=3738868

Thanks for posting it here, desaine.

The Evergreen Line will seamlessly connect to the current SkyTrain network, including the Expo, Millennium and Canada Lines, and will integrate with regional bus and West Coast Express networks.

Not the Canada Line though. They are different systems and technically speaking, Canada Line isn't part of SkyTrain :ohno:

This will just confuse foreigners.....

A: "Glad that I arrived to Vancouver, where's the subway?"
B: "Canada Line can take you from the airport to downtown"
A: "Oh, so your subway is called Canada Line...no wonder, the gateway to Canada"
B: "No, sir, we have two systems. SkyTrain and Canada Line."
A: "Oh, I get it, Canada Line is one of the SkyTrain routes"
B: "Yes, well, no (confused) It is a different system that has different cars and operated by another company...hehe"
A: "???"

Instead of confusing the foreigners, we could just tell them to get on the train at the airport and it will take them all the way to downtown. They're not staying here for long, why waste time to explain the details.:)

^ That's ture. But we do need a proper name that we can call it.

Here's an image of the Project office
http://www.smugmug.com/photos/484085123_aNPJz-M.jpg

^ That's ture. But we do need a proper name that we can call it.

As far as the public is concerned, they'll still call it the Skytrain.

Many other metro systems around the world have multiple operators, but the entire system is still known by the same name, like the Singapore MRT, where SMRT operates 2 lines and SBS operates the third.

Too bad they already rebranded the GVRD as "Metro Vancouver", otherwise they could've just called the entire system the Vancouver Metro or some such.

^^ Yes, everybody I know call it Skytrain.

As far as the public is concerned, they'll still call it the Skytrain.

Many other metro systems around the world have multiple operators, but the entire system is still known by the same name, like the Singapore MRT, where SMRT operates 2 lines and SBS operates the third.

Too bad they already rebranded the GVRD as "Metro Vancouver", otherwise they could've just called the entire system the Vancouver Metro or some such.

I agreed that all people call it SkyTrain.

Sadly, the word "SkyTrain" isn't on the Canada Line cars :ohno:

Nice, 80% of this thread is off topic. Evergreen Line people!

Here are pics of a model of the originally proposed configuration for the PMC Line at the Model Shop website.
It shows the turnout for the tracks heading up North Road (as well as the third platform).

http://www.modelshop.bc.ca/porty2/file/4000/4021/4021-1.htm

http://www.modelshop.bc.ca/porty2/file/4000/4021/4021-1.jpg

http://www.modelshop.bc.ca/porty2/file/4000/4021/4021-4.jpghttp://www.modelshop.bc.ca/porty2/file/4000/4021/4021-5.jpg

http://www.modelshop.bc.ca/porty2/file/4000/4021/4021-3.jpg

Model from the other direction:
http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/7972/lougheedturnoutvm3.jpg (http://img141.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lougheedturnoutvm3.jpg)
http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/lougheedturnoutvm3.jpg/1/w782.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img141/lougheedturnoutvm3.jpg/1/)



ORIGINALLY POSTED BY OFFICEDWELLER AT SSP

TransLink to yank Evergreen Line funding

Last Updated: Thursday, July 16, 2009 | 9:53 AM PT
CBC News

The start of the much-delayed Evergreen rapid transit line, could be delayed once again, because TransLink says it's running out of money.

Spokesman Ken Hardie said TransLink is now facing a $450 million annual deficit with no solution in sight, and it won't have the money to build the 11-kilometre rapid transit line linking Lougheed Town Centre in Burnaby to the Coquitlam Town Centre.

"We do not have the money to build the Evergreen Line," said Hardie on Wednesday. "And in fact, unless we find new revenue, starting probably in 2010, 2011, we are going to have to start cutting transit service."

The regional transit authority had committed to pay $400 million of the line's $1.4 billion estimated price tag, with the federal and provincial government also chipping in to cover the cost.

TransLink is expected to make a final decision on the fate of the line by October, but Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart says the line must go ahead.

"Well, we can't hope to keep transit going unless we continue to expand the rapid transit, the rail transit portion of it, and this is the only place that's next," he said.

New taxes needed: mayor

The mayor would like the provincial government, which controls TransLink, to give the transit authority more options for generating revenue.

"Perhaps a fuel tax, perhaps there's a carbon tax, perhaps there is some way to work this out to allow us the tools or find the existing tools and give us the cash," said Stewart.

Previously, TransLink has considered several new taxes on Metro Vancouver residents to raise revenue, including parking taxes and vehicle levies, but all have met a great deal of public resistance.

Plans for the Evergreen Line have been awaiting funding since it was first announced about 20 years ago. Construction was finally expected to start in 2010 after the federal government committed $350 million to the project in February.

The province had also committed $400 million, but even with TransLink's previous $400 million commitment, the project was still almost $173 million short of its expected cost of $1.4 billion.

That gap that was supposed to be made up by project partners, including a possible public-private partnership and transit-oriented land development.

Too bad Victoria doesn't really step up to plate like Queen's Park did for the GTA and completely cover the cost of the city's one-third cost.

Too bad Victoria doesn't really step up to plate like Queen's Park did for the GTA and completely cover the cost of the city's one-third cost.

They still can. Never hurts to ask. premier@gov.bc.ca

Mayors vote to hike gas tax to fund Evergreen Line


By Kelly Sinoski, Vancouver Sun July 7, 2011 5:37 AM

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/1333002.bin?size=620x400

Metro Vancouver motorists will face higher gas prices next spring if the region’s mayors secure a two-cents-a-litre hike in the gas tax to build the $1.4-billion Evergreen Line.

West Vancouver Mayor Pamela Goldsmith-Jones, vice-chairwoman of the mayors’ council on transportation, said mayors on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly in support of hiking the regional gas tax to help fund TransLink’s $400-million contribution to the rapid transit line.

The province also supports the move, she said, noting B.C. Transportation Minister Blair Lekstrom has promised to introduce legislation this fall.

“We think there’s a real spirit to work together,” Goldsmith-Jones said. “Our expectation is the two-cents-a-litre gas tax will be able to fund [the Evergreen Line].”

The move, which would boost TransLink’s share of the gas tax from 15 cents to 17 cents next spring, would generate $40 million in revenue and help cover the borrowing costs of TransLink’s capital contribution for the Evergreen Line, linking Burnaby, Port Moody and Coquitlam.

The mayors are also considering a vehicle levy or possibly a small increase in property taxes in 2013 to boost annual revenues to $70 million.

A vehicle tax was introduced in the late 1990s to help to finance TransLink when the agency was created by the provincial government. But after a huge public outcry against the $75-a-year levy on automobiles, then-NDP premier Ujjal Dosanjh backed away from it without providing other revenue sources, setting the scene for a decade of chronic financial shortfalls for TransLink.

The taxation proposals are part of TransLink’s supplemental financial plan, which includes a raft of funding options to pay for transit projects, including the 11-kilometre Evergreen Line, major improvements to SkyTrain stations at Metrotown, Main Street, Surrey Central and New Westminster and the Lonsdale SeaBus terminal; a new B-Line along King George Highway from White Rock to Guildford; more bus routes in south Surrey and Langley; Highway 1 rapid transit from Langley to Lougheed station; and, road and cycling improvements.

TransLink is expected to put forward the funding plan to the mayors’ council this fall after extensive public consultation, scheduled to start next week.

Goldsmith-Jones said she didn’t know when work would begin on the Evergreen Line, which has been stalled since mayors last year refused to raise property taxes to come up with TransLink’s share for the project.

Lekstrom said last week he expects ground could be broken this year, noting the province will issue a request for proposals from construction firms once the mayors come up with a way to pay. But he noted in a statement Wednesday that he will first wait to see what the public has to say about the proposals.

TransLink is accepting comments via its website, and will also hold a region-wide “webinar” — an Internet-based audio/video program providing full details of the plan at 7 p.m. on July 19.

Meanwhile, Goldsmith-Jones said the proposed plan has allowed the mayors to buy some time as they look for long-term funding solutions — such as road pricing and a regional carbon tax — for large projects like rapid transit lines in Surrey and the Broadway corridor to the University of B.C.

“We really feel a strong entire package has to be done ... and we don’t want that to be through property taxes,” she said.

The B.C. Chamber of Commerce supported the funding plan, saying the Evergreen Line and additional regional transportation infrastructure improvements “will be a boon for investment.”

“Given the projected growth in the region, including road pricing into a direct traffic demand management system will be crucial,” John Winter, president and CEO, said in a statement. “Road pricing allows for an element of choice for businesses and commuters which does not exist in either the gas tax or vehicle levy systems.”

However, John Cummins, leader of the new BC Conservatives, argued the Liberal government was treating commuters like cash cows, noting raising the gas tax will make driving more expensive and penalize the hundreds of thousands of people have to drive every day to get to work, take their children to school and make a living.

“This new gas tax is yet another burden on drivers in the Lower Mainland who already pay the highest gas taxes in Canada,” he said in a statement. “I believe the Evergreen Line is a good project, but I do not support how the Liberals are paying for it.”

The Evergreen Line, which has been in the works since 1989, was supposed to be operational by 2014. The provincial and federal governments have committed $410 million and $417 million respectively. The remaining costs are to be covered by a private partner.



Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Mayors+vote+hike+fund+Evergreen+Line/5059933/story.html#ixzz1RQo6w3k7

Evergreen Line construction to begin next summer: transportation minister


More transit funding issues still to be worked out



By Kelly Sinoski, Vancouver Sun October 27, 2011


METRO VANCOUVER -- Construction on the long-awaited $1.2 billion Evergreen Line is expected to start at the end of next summer, Transportation Minister Blair Lekstrom announced today.

But the minister, who met with Metro Vancouver mayors at TransLink this morning, said there has been no decision yet on how mayors will raise additional funds for transit without raising property taxes.

He expects a decision on alternative funding sources will be made within the year.

The meeting comes just a few weeks after the mayors' council on regional transportation approved a TransLink plan to raise $70 million annually for transit through a boost in the gas tax and potential property tax increase.

The province has already legislated the two cents a litre increase in the gas tax, which will bring in $40 million a year. It is in addition to the 15 cents per litre that TransLink already collects.

The plan also calls for a temporary property tax in 2013, which would bring in $30 million annually, or another long-term revenue source, such as a regional carbon tax, graduated vehicle levy, a road pricing transportation improvement fee, and road levies for future projects.

The money would be used for building the long-awaited Evergreen Line, as well as major improvements to SkyTrain stations at Metrotown, Main Street, Surrey Central and New Westminster and the Lonsdale SeaBus terminal; a new B-Line bus along King George Highway from White Rock to Guildford; more bus routes in south Surrey and Langley; Highway 1 rapid transit from Langley to Lougheed station; and road and cycling improvements.


Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Evergreen+Line+construction+begin+next+summer+transportation+minister/5617218/story.html#ixzz1c3YbmkQU

pre-construction is now underway and we should see full on construction in a couple months... line opens summer of 2016

PvWkbiHSpfU

Thanks for the update, spongeg! :) It looks good in the video.

the stations look a lot like the richmond canada line stations