As Andrew Buckner looked over concept images of a planned bus rapid transit station in downtown Vancouver, one detail stood out.
The design included two food trucks — both of which happened to be the same bright red color as Esoteric BBQ, the traveling food stand Buckner owns and operates. Esoteric BBQ sets up every Tuesday at Turtle Place, the site of the planned BRT station. He hopes to stay there, even after 60-foot articulated buses start rolling by.
“I like it,” Buckner said at an open house meeting on the project Thursday. “I think it has the potential to be something nice.”
C-Tran has plans to build a $53 million bus rapid transit line between the Westfield Vancouver mall and downtown, primarily along the city’s Fourth Plain corridor. The downtown terminus station would be located at what’s now Turtle Place, the public plaza built after C-Tran’s Seventh Street Transit Center closed in 2007.
C-Tran chose Turtle Place as the end of the line for BRT largely because it still owns the property. The plaza runs along the north side of Seventh Street between Washington and Main streets. The idea initially met resistance from some nearby businesses and property owners with less-than-fond memories of the old bus mall.
Planners have said the station would only serve BRT vehicles, not other C-Tran routes. Designs displayed Thursday showed a single lane for buses through the plaza, next to a single (but extended) bus shelter.
C-Tran has pledged to preserve many of the existing elements of Turtle Place, including the large mural on one wall. Plans also include room for food trucks, seating and public art.
Many initial worries with the downtown station stemmed from fears that it would bring back loitering and other unsavory activity associated with the old bus mall. BRT Project Manager Chuck Green said Thursday that there are plans for up to eight surveillance cameras at the site, plus plans to reach out to local police to ensure safety.
Neighboring businesses will be watching to make sure that happens, said Lee Rafferty, executive director of Vancouver’s Downtown Association.
“I think that C-Tran and their designers have been very open to our suggestions,” Rafferty said. “They’re working through some of our safety concerns very well.”
Some have also questioned the safety of maneuvering large buses in and out of the site with pedestrians nearby. The vehicles would enter Turtle Place from Washington Street, then make an S-turn through the intersection of Main and Seventh streets before continuing east on Seventh. But the vehicles will be equipped with audio and visual warnings to alert pedestrians to a turn, planners said.
The downtown association would still rather see the temporary park developed into a retail or residential use, Rafferty said. But C-Tran’s intentions for the site are good, she said.
“I believe that they want this to be a success,” Rafferty said.
Meanwhile, planning for the enhanced bus system — which uses larger vehicles, raised boarding platforms and other features — continues at full speed. C-Tran plans to begin construction next year, with the system opening as early as 2016. The C-Tran Board of Directors authorized local funding for the project in July.
C-Tran is now beginning the process of purchasing BRT vehicles, and taking other steps toward bringing its plans to fruition.
“It’s real,” project consultant John White told the open house gathering Thursday. “It’s actually going to happen.”
The project comes just as the Vancouver attempts to revitalize Turtle Place, seen as one of the city’s underused public spaces. Buckner’s Esoteric BBQ sets up in Turtle Place as part of a pilot program introduced earlier this year. The goal is to draw more people to boost businesses in struggling parts of downtown, according to the city.
Even after Turtle Place converts to a transit station, Rafferty and others say they hope it remains an asset.
“It’s one of those little gems in our city center,” Rafferty said.
Eric Florip: 360-735-4541; eric.florip@columbian.com; twitter.com/col_enviro
