Buses return to Lonsdale Quay Exchange as renovations near completion

Lonsdale Quay Bus Exchange renovations. (TransLink)

With renovations to the Lonsdale Quay Exchange now largely complete, all buses serving the transit hub returned to the facility starting Monday, June 22.

TransLink’s The Buzzer says the entire island of the bus loop has been upgraded and is now complete, which means temporary stops along Carrie Cates no longer need to be used.

Some remaining minor construction work will continue through late July or early August. Renovations first began in January 2019.

See also:

The $14.7 million upgrade improves the bus loop’s experience and creates additional capacity for the hub’s growing passenger volumes, including the capability to handle the articulated buses used for the R2 Marine Drive RapidBus, which launched in early April. Transfers between bus routes and the SeaBus have been improved.

Specific upgrades include adapted bus bays, new concrete pavers, a new ceiling with new lighting, improved accessibility for wheelchairs and strollers, tactile walking surface indicators at bus stops and passenger crossings, and public art.

Artistic rendering of the renovations to Lonsdale Quay Bus Exchange. (TransLink)

Although both SeaBus terminals have seen upgrades over the past decade, more recently the Waterfront Station ferry terminal, the public transit authority says this is the bus exchange’s first upgrade since it was built in the 1980s.

Lonsdale Quay Exchange is the second-busiest transit hub on the North Shore, with 12 bus routes, over 5,000 riders using the bus exchange on an average weekday, and 20,000 SeaBus trips per weekday.

TransLink is also planning a rebuild of Phibbs Exchange, the eastern terminus of the R2, but the timeline of this project has not been determined.

But new bus exchanges for Nanaimo Station and Richmond-Brighouse Station are set to reach completion this year.

Artistic rendering of the renovations to Lonsdale Quay Bus Exchange. (TransLink)