TransLink wants to make waiting for the 99 B-Line bus to UBC a little easier on Vancouver’s notoriously rainy days.
Construction starts next week on a new bus shelter in front of the Shoppers Drug Mart on Broadway to shelter 99 B-Line passengers heading westbound.
The large glass and steel bus shelter will provide weather protection for approximately 160 passengers standing the queue.
The bus stop is the busiest in the Lower Mainland, and is one of the most important transit interchanges in the region.
In fact, the 99 B-Line attracts more riders than any other bus corridor in Canada or the United States with more than 17 million annual boardings.
Commercial-Broadway Station is also the busiest SkyTrain station in the system.
TransLink is the midst of major upgrades to the Broadway-Commercial SkyTrain station, including:
- new east platform serving westbound Expo Line trains
- new pedestrian walkway over Broadway, connecting the platform to the Millennium Line platforms and the westbound 99 B-Line stop
- permanent queuing system and bus shelter for the 99 B-Line stop.
- widening of the walkway that provides access to the north station platforms (Platforms 1 and 2)
- two new elevators
- four new up and down escalators
- expanded Broadway concourse
- widened Broadway entrances to the Broadway Station
- new retail spaces in Broadway Station
- replacement of mesh panels with glazed panels at platform level
- new lighting design to respond to specific conditions in the station
- fare gate and Compass Card implementation
- new bike storage room that will accommodate 70+ bikes
The transit stop is about to get even busier, with the redevelopment of the Broadway Safeway site by Westbank, as well several other upcoming projects nearby, bringing hundreds of new residents to the adjacent blocks.
The new bus shelter should be complete by the summer of 2018.
