#5, N6 reroutes to stay in place until fall 2010
#5, N6 reroutes to stay in place until fall 2010
Downtown Vancouver transit riders, look out: the #5 and N6 will be staying on their current Paralympic reroutes until fall 2010.
Here’s the reason: starting on May 3, 2010, the City of Vancouver will begin work on the Robson Square Mound North Plaza Remediation project. To accommodate this construction, Robson Street will be closed to all traffic in both directions between Howe Street and Hornby Street until September 2010.
So, since the #5 and N6 are already on reroute off Robson Square for the Paralympics, CMBC has decided to keep these re-routings from now until the construction is completed in fall 2010. The existing reroute already avoids Robson Square by using Thurlow/Smithe/Burrard/Pender, and keeping the reroute will help minimize customer confusion and maximize safety.
Click here to download a PDF with maps of the 5 and N6 reroutes.
Edit: I’ve re-uploaded the PDF file as the arrows were pointing the wrong way on page 1. The new file is called “r5_temproute_march2010.pdf” in case you’re wondering if you have the right one downloaded. Thanks Robert for the catch!
Also if anyone is wondering, we’re told the Remediation project is a Provincial project to rehabilitate the buildings around Robson Square, including the reconstruction of the City Street.
Will the 5/6 return to trolley operation for the duration of the reroute?
On page 1 of the PDF it looks like the arrows along Davie and Robson are opposite to the intended direction.
Notwithstanding the above, looks like the routes permit trolley operation. I don’t envy the left turn from W/B Pender to S/B Burrard; the buses have to take it very slowly to avoid dewirement.
What about the westbound stop at Robson and Granville, does that mean I still have to walk all the way to E Pender to catch the #5?
Ooops!! never mind, I forgot to check the PDF file and I got my answer over there. :)
Alex: The 5/6 will return to trolley after the Paralympics and for the duration of this reroute.
Robert: thanks for the catch! I have uploaded a revised PDF file.
How big a deal would it be to add trolley wires for a left turn from Robson to Burrard? Not worth it for just the Olympics, but what about now that we’re talking about rerouting for the whole summer?
It would be quicker (the right turn onto Thurlow generally takes at least a whole light cycle due to pedestrian traffic), and it would preserve service to the Robson/Thurlow stop.
Failing this, I’d suggest adding a stop on Robson at the near side of Thurlow.
klparrot:
I sent your comment along to CMBC planning, and here is the response.
Any idea when bus routes will return to downtown Granville Street?
Andrew Joyce:
Trolleys will return to Granville Mall starting in fall 2010. Here’s what CMBC planning told me about this (I posted this in another post somewhere before, in case you have seen this answer).
If I might suggest to CMBC planning, have some of the buses remain on their Seymour/Howe downtown routing.
I sure remember the congestion of six or seven buses sitting along Granville Street, and seeing silly people jump in and out of the roadway at random as the buses got caught up in the lights.
Jhen, you might want to let news1130 know about the extention to the #5/N6 reroute… They are often heard saying/announcing that everything returns to normal after the Paralympics…
(I listen to news1130 alot)
Thanks Sean — our media team will get the word to them soon, I believe!
@Mike: The same bus congestion problem occurs right now on Seymour and Howe Streets. An idea that I have would be to have two or three bus routes operate on Seymour/Howe, and the rest on Granville Mall, to spread out the bus traffic.
Looking at the PDF diagrams, I’m wondering if they changed how the 5/6 operates. Wasn’t it 5 Downtown –> 5 Robson –> 6 Downtown –> 6 Davie in a continuous loop? The diagrams suggest that there are now two separate loops: 5 Downtown –> 6 Davie and 6 Downtown –> 5 Robson.
I agree with Mike about leaving the buses on Seymour and Howe, with Granville (north of Smithe) to remain a pedestrian corridor.
The issue is howe street and skytrain. It’s much further to walk coming out of the Granville station and it’s not visible to tourists. Having it go along the granville is more friendly.
Eric: I sent your comment to CMBC planning and here’s the answer they passed along.
Yes, but the maps show the 5 Robson starting on Richards at Cordova and the 6 Davie starting at Hastings, when it’s actually the other way around. The maps do give the impression that the buses run in circles as Eric said; it would be a lot less confusing to have just the 5 on one page and the 6 on another.
On a related note: since the N6 is now rerouting up Burrard as well, it should be a trolley run again, but there’s been a diesel on it so far this week. Since the bus that does the N6 runs on the 5/6 the rest of the day, this has meant a diesel bus running around the West End all day long (which, annoyingly, I always seem to run in to). I assume this is just an oversight, so could it be set right as soon as possible?
Rick: Thanks for that — I’ve passed it along to CMBC planning. Also, they’ve let me know that the N6 has been changed back to a trolley by now. It has just taken a little while to change over.
[…] 5 and N6 have been detoured since the Paralympics, owing to a construction project at Robson Square. It was originally expected to be completed by […]