The Broadway Subway Project has reached a critical phase of construction with the start of tunnel excavation to connect six new underground stations on the 5.7-kilometre extension of the Millennium Line.
Article continues below
The two cylindrical tunnel-boring machines (TBM), each six metres in diameter, weigh about one million kilograms apiece. They will be launched separately from the Great Northern Way-Emily Carr Station and tunnel five kilometres to reach their destination at Cypress Street, near the future Arbutus Station.
Each TBM is expected to take about a year to carve out the subway’s inbound and outbound tunnels. The TBMs have been given the names Elsie and Phyllis, after two influential British Columbian women, Elizabeth (Elsie) MacGill and Phyllis Munday. Elsie is about to start tunnelling. Phyllis is being assembled and is expected to begin operating this winter.
In preparation for the TBMs, tunnel liner rings, manufactured in Nanaimo, were transported to the construction site as crews built the concrete base slab and assembled the conveyor system to transport the excavated material out of the tunnel.
At the same time, work is progressing on the elevated guideway and station locations along the line, including relocating utilities, building traffic decks and excavation.
Once tunnel boring finishes, crews will complete construction of the underground stations, and install the train tracks and supporting systems. The final steps include testing and commissioning the new line.
The Broadway Subway will extend the Millennium Line from VCC-Clark Station to Broadway and Arbutus, providing people with fast, convenient SkyTrain service along the Broadway corridor, home to B.C.’s second largest jobs centre, health-care services, an emerging innovation and research hub, and growing residential communities.
The project will result in faster travel, better access and fewer cars on the road in this heavily used corridor. Once open, the trip from VCC-Clark to Arbutus Station will take 11 minutes, saving the average transit commuter almost 30 minutes a day and relieving congestion along Broadway. ■