A Viaduct in Richmond

Or an example of an elevated Guideway working  well [1][2].

The urban setting of the Westminster road restrain vision on  the viaduct reducing its intrusiveness feeling.

On Number 3  at Westminster road, the viaduct on one side of the road is balanced by High rise building lining the street on the other.

Number 3 near Brighouse: the viaduct is “kissing” the buildings, acting like a Canopy from a pedestrian experience.

Have you noticed it? When the Viaduct is close enough of the background building (built afterward) it tend to blend easier with it.

The pedestrian experience: Note the dressing of the Viaduct pillar by greenary. The viaduct pillar also separate the pedestrian space from the motorized one.

Number 3 is still dotted by numerous strip malls , where the viaduct doesn’t necessary help to improve the visual experience,  except at night (picture at  lansdowne mall). the space below viaduct is also used to exhibit some sculptures.

On daytime, the pedestrian experience can be particularly pleasant, with the viaduct pillars contributing to form a buffer zone with the motorized traffic. Note that a bikpath is also sitting under the viaduct (photo credit: Richard).

thumbs up for Richmond!

And the stations

The Canada line station  have got their fair share of critics, too short, blend architecture,…But they seems to past the test of  heavy usage, thanks eventually to  deep platforms, and also present numerous positive upside: let’s see below:

The viaduct pillar is here used as an advertising opportunity, cyclists take advantage of the weather protection provided by the viaduct, and visibility from a station offering lot of transparency and safety feeling (for  bike parking also)

The station platform offer a pleasant waiting experience.  warm and  good quality material  is contributing toward it. Transparency provide a safety feeling as well as keeping the station in symbiotic with its urban environment.

The Canada line stations are short (40m), but paradoxally this eventually help to their integration in the  environment: their footprint is small, and couldn’t be larger than a “tram station”. The complete transparency of the station doesn’t separate the waiter of its surrounding

The entrance of Aberdeen at night:  The station is right along the street, the pedestrian is supposed to contourn it by the East (left side of the picture): this aspect doesn’t work that well: pedestrian tend to walk on the bikeway, eventually because the experience is otherwise quite unpleasant (lack of lighting, construction site), eventually the extension of the Aberdeen Mall will correct this issue (the location of the bike rack behind the entrance is also questionable since it doesn’t provide the safety feeling of the passer-by eye looking at the bikes like  we have at Brighouse but provide weather protection).

[1] this  to provide illustration in support of a discussion on the Stephen Rees blog , as well as one of the Jarret Walker blog.

[2] One would like also read the an entry relative to richmond on the Gordon price’s blog

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