To the editor:
Re: "Subway needed along Broadway to UBC," Nov. 28
A much more efficient and rapid transit line to UBC can be built by using light rail and the current dedicated transit routes and not using Broadway.
The current congestion to UBC seems to occur at Commercial and Broadway. The current Sky-Train line from Brentwood Mall ends in the Grandview cut. The
Grandview cut continues to the train station. Two blocks further west and just south of the Science World is the beginning of the track that leads to the Arbutus Corridor, which the city has designated a "transportation corridor."
Therefore it seems more logical and affordable to build a light rail line extending from the Clark station down the Grandview cut and tunnel under Main and Quebec streets and connect with the existing train corridor to Arbutus Street following it as far south as 16th Avenue and then turning west and going directly to UBC. Most of West 16th Avenue is a boulevard so the line could go straight down it without disturbing the existing roadway or neighbourhood.
Also, the line would be able to go virtually nonstop after Dunbar, with the possible exception of a stop at the one high school a few blocks west of Dunbar.. This route would allow for rapid transit to the engineering park at 16th Avenue and Westbrook as well as the housing developments located there.
I don't know the exact cost of building such a light rail line but I wouldn't be surprised if it cost less than 10 to 15 per cent of building a $3 billion subway line along Broadway.
It's time we think about what we already have and how best to use those existing assets to solve our transit problems.
Jim Burgner, Vancouver
