Targeted detours to reopen Vancouver’s Broadway corridor sooner

The province is aiming to reopen parts of Vancouver’s Broadway corridor that are closed due to the subway construction sooner.

Targeted car detours during the Broadway Subway construction are reducing the time that residents, businesses, and commuters are affected by the work.

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“We’re using what we learned at Mount Pleasant to cut down disruption times at the Broadway-City Hall Station,” said Mike Farnworth, Minister of Transportation and Transit.

“Finishing construction faster means overall disruption for the area is shortened, and Broadway fully open sooner.”

By using a one-block detour at the Mount Pleasant Station site, there was a reduction in road-restoration time by more than 50 per cent versus working without a detour.

So far, work between Main Street and Quebec Street is progressing ahead of schedule, according to the province.

Paving has begun and one lane in each direction will reopen on May 20. This is one week earlier than planned.

All four lanes of Broadway will reopen in July instead of September, shortening the time with single-lane traffic by two months.

The province has announced that the traffic deck at Broadway-City Hall Station will start this summer.

Using the same one-block detour technique, a detour between Alberta Street and Cambie Street will reduce the duration of disruption at this location by 50 per cent.

Businesses will remain fully accessible as sidewalks remain open and parking will be available nearby.

The work on the traffic deck will begin following the FIFA World Cup this summer, with two weeks notice being given to commuters before work begins.

The province states that with the detour, the work will take approximately six months. If it were to go without a detour, it would have taken closer to 14.