It should be enough that you can slide an entire viaduct under and still have clearance space for a truck both under and over that viaduct. That’s what Japan does. Since a truck is 4.15 meters tall, you need at least 4.5 meters of clearance. That’s 9 meters, plus the bridge which is easily another 4, so it would have needed to be somewhere around 14 meters tall at a bare minimum.
To be had, its not a complete loss. If we do eventually get to a point where we really need to increase the height, we should be able to do a jacking operation. Its been done on a number of bridges. It would be a massive operation, but since each segment is independent, it should be doable. The only segments that are solidly attached are the stations. Theses really can’t be moved and would have to be torn down and rebuilt.
Beaucoup de gens empruntent ces tunnels tres pratique qui passe sous la 20 . Entre attendre apres un autobus et se taper un detour le choix est facile a faire.
Sauf que ces passages sont pas très agréables et des femmes seules oseront pas les prendre la nuit. De plus il y’a pas beaucoup de densité dans la zone proche du côte nord pour l’instant, c’est en majorité des strip mall avec des énormes stationnements. Donc je demeure convaincu que les autobus vont demeurer la façon la plus efficace pour desservir la station. Pour la partie sud une conversion vers du résidentielle et bureaux avec plus de densités serait bienvenue.
[/quote]
Hymus is one of the first TSP corridors implemented by the STM outside the City of Montreal. Don’t remember if it goes all the way to Des Sources but I’m sure it does.
From the Technoparc interchange to Delmar Avenue there is no sidewalk on the north side, and it is intermittent on the south side. It’s a very hostile environment for pedestrians, cyclists and bus riders.
What I’m saying is that Hymus has two lanes in each direction from just east of St-Jean all the way to Henri-Bourassa, and there’s a light at Delmar, Sources, and at the H-B (Technoparc) interchange; there’s a weekday bus that turns east from Sources onto Hymus (225), but no through service at Sources, and there is no TSP at Sources on Hymus. If the STM has put resources into TSP on this segment, it serves no purpose and is evidence of yet more wastefulness.
Indeed, i bet 90% of the inbound ridership will be coming from the area south of Hymus, mostly west of Sources, and north of the 20. I really hope that the new bus network would capitalise on smaller vehicules but more frequent shuttle service from residential areas to REM stations on the west island.
Having to wait 30 min for a bus really defeats the purpose of a frequent service like the REM.
Otherwise, this station will clearly also serve workers coming from the east who don’t have vehicules and currently use the bus from Cote Vertu.
In fact, the “reverse peak” ridership of the WI branch is probably underestimated. There is a strong commuting corridor from areas like Montreal Nord, along HB, all the way to the WI industrial area.
I really do hope that you are right about reverse commuting as it would make a great case for better serving other areas of the island which are underserved.
Buying smaller buses is really not a good move for the STM. It force them to have X number of buses for low ridership area (they can’t shuffle them around)
Also most of the cost of operating a bus is the same regarding of the size the driver being the most costly thing over time. Making them smaller is also not like cutting cost in half or anything.
So that won’t happen
And as long as the gouvernement priority will be cars there won’t be any huge upgrade to frequency as they’re limited by the number of bus driver they can afford.
Tho with the REM opening they will revamp the West Island buses to make the network hopefully better and more integrated with the new transportation method.
Sure, the driver cost will be the same, although fuel and maintenance will be a bit lower on a smaller vehicule (think minibus).
However, there is a significant difference in terms of upfront capital cost. The STM’s last order for these Nova LFSe+ was 583 million for 339 bus, which comes to 1.7 million a pup wheras standard minibus (even electric) can be obtained for a couple of hundred thousand each.
Even with the revamp, I highly doubt the STM will have the budget to absorb the massive farebox deficit that would come from running new bus lines covering residential areas in the WI with attractive frequencies. Relying solely on a bus that comes only every 30 mins will be a solid barrier for pepole who have the choice to drive to transition to the REM instead.
In this sense, on top of whatever bus service will be available, we will still need top tier parking in order to attract any potential rider we can. In the end of the day, it is still better to have someone drive 3-4 km to the REM than 25 km to downtown, contributing to the gridlock on the 40, decarie, etc.
Parking garages would be the best compromise as they still have a smaller footprint than surface parking.
Redevelopement of station surroundings won’t happen overnight, these structures can be integrated and shared with the future developments.
Individual station potential in that sense varies quite a bit:
Fairview: This is the one where a massive park & ride makes the less sense as the surroundings are meant to be the first one to be redeveloped with CF’s plans and will becore the “downtown” core of the WI. It is probably the one with the best commercial and residential potential of all, with the mall which still gets a lot of trafic.
Kirkland: The surroundings (except for the Rio Can) are quite residential, these is some residential/commercial potential on the Rio Can site. For parking, it is not the best as access from the 40 is odd, yet it can be a good example of facility sharing wheras REM riders would mostly use the parkade during office hours, and shoppers during the weekend.
Sources: This will clearly be the last station to see mass redevelopment around it as it is in the heart of an industrial wasteland and right off the 40. It will be hard to sell condos there before Fairview and Kirkland redevelopment is completed. The location is ideal for a massive park and ride of let’s say 4 000 spots. It is also right where the eastbound trafic tends to slow down in the morning rush hour.
Anse: This is a “greenbelt” area, yet the terminal, mostly for off-island riders. It would be logical to have a good amount of parking there as well. There was initial concerns about trafic and impacts on the “natural” surroundings, yet if we look at what has already been done, stacking more parking over what is now a surface lot and using all the space where the forest has been cleared to widen Ste Marie until the 40 access ramps won’t change anything.
I agree although we have to remember that most people will probably take the REM at rush hour where even currently buses are very frequent. The big problem is the off peak buses. And if they make some bus lines a bit less local they could get a bit better service. And buying new buses doesn’t mean adding more, but replacing the ones already present.
Also you forgot two stations in the West Island. Sunnybrooke and Roxboro two stations already very well established and well served by buses. Sunnybrooke will have 500 parking spaces and Roxboro 860 places.
Also reading about it apparently the REM won’t have parking space at Fairview and Kirkland, maybe the mall will offer something but not the REM. And they have 200 spots at Anse-à-l’orme.
And finally in term of development I would personally say the Roxboro station/DesSources-Gouin as also a lot of potential being already built around the ex train station and having residential and commercial near it.
The parking and dynamics of the West Island stations are so interesting. I have to assume that mall parking will be used for the Fairview station, because the increase pedestrian traffic to the mall would likely be worth the spots.
This station seems like it’s coming along decently, are there any that are lagging behind noticeably?
Fairview is going to have to put a fare gate if they seriously want to prevent peoples from using their parking. There is really no other way around it. If I was them, I would just build on the land nearest to the REM station and put an underground parking on the other side of the property, as far away from the station as possible to discourage its use.
