SkyTrain station renovation to reduce Lougheed Highway to one lane for months

SkyTrain station renovation to reduce Lougheed Highway to one lane in each direction for months

April 2023 construction progress on the renovation and expansion of SkyTrain Brentwood Town Centre Station. (Google Maps)

Expect major traffic disruptions on Lougheed Highway through Brentwood Town Centre over a period of at least several months due to SkyTrain station construction.

According to TransLink, this is due to the needs of their contractor for the major renovation and expansion project of Brentwood Town Centre Station.

There have already been some traffic impacts to accommodate construction, but the public transit authority states further lane closures are needed for the forthcoming work.

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Starting on July 4, 2023, Lougheed Highway through the area will be reduced to just one vehicle lane in each direction — down from the current temporary construction configuration of maintaining at least two vehicle lanes in each direction.

One of the four westbound vehicle lanes will be open until October 2023, at which point there will be two westbound vehicle lanes until construction is finished.

For the eastbound direction, which typically has two vehicle lanes, there will be a single vehicle lane until Spring 2024.

Major construction activities on the $33-million upgrade first began in June 2022, and it is the first original Millennium Line station to see a capacity upgrade since the 2002 opening of the region’s second SkyTrain line — apart from the interchange hub capacity expansions of Commercial-Broadway Station and Lougheed Town Centre Station.

metrotown skyline brentwood burnaby skytrain f2

SkyTrain Brentwood Town Centre Station, with the Metrotown skyline in the background. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Previous condition:

Existing condition of SkyTrain Brentwood Town Centre Station. (Google Maps)

Future condition:

Artistic rendering of the upgrade for SkyTrain Brentwood Station. (TransLink)

Brentwood Town Centre is in need of a capacity upgrade due to the area’s immense densification, which will add tens of thousands of new residents and jobs over the coming years.

During the pandemic, the station also saw a ridership boost from the opening of the first phase of The Amazing Brentwood. The property’s developer installed a new additional station entrance that directly connects the mall’s main public plaza with the station’s mezzanine level.

The current station renovation project will provide the south entrance with a major expansion, including a new elevator from street level for the south side of Lougheed Highway. The existing staircases at both the north and south entrances will be replaced with new glass enclosed staircases to provide improved weather protection.

The mezzanine level, which doubles as a pedestrian overpass across Lougheed Highway, will be expanded by 6,000 sq ft to provide passengers with more circulation space. This also includes the installation of two new escalators between the mezzanine and platform levels.

Station capacity will also increase from the doubling of fare gates — from the current configuration of only three fare gates to six.

Other upgrades include new lighting, refurbished station finishings, additional real-time passenger information displays, and CCTV and public announcement system expansion. A new public art piece featuring glass artwork will also be installed on the mezzanine level.

Previous configuration:

Existing condition of SkyTrain Brentwood Town Centre Station. (Google Maps)

Future configuration:

Artistic rendering of the upgrade for SkyTrain Brentwood Station. (TransLink)

skytrain brentwood town centre station renovation

Artistic rendering of the upgrades for SkyTrain Brentwood Town Centre Station. (TransLink)

The south entrance is expected to reopen later this summer. The entire station renovation project is scheduled to reach completion in 2024.

According to TransLink statistics, Brentwood Town Centre Station was the 27th busiest SkyTrain station in 2022, with a total of 1.683 million boardings recorded throughout the year. It averaged 5,150 boardings per weekday, 4,000 boardings per Saturday, and 2,900 boardings per Sunday/holiday.

Burnaby’s Brentwood Town Centre Station experienced the highest ridership recovery in 2022 for any SkyTrain station, achieving 91% of its pre-pandemic ridership.

Platform level of SkyTrain’s Brentwood Town Centre Station. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

skytrain brentwood town centre station 2

Fare gate area on the mezzanine level of SkyTrain’s Brentwood Town Centre Station. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Aura treatment for the bridge between the SkyTrain station and The Amazing Brentwood Mall. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

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