Three years from now, around this time of year in the fall, the Broadway Subway is expected to be complete, allowing trains carrying over one hundred thousand people per day to zip through seamlessly.
A newly released video by the provincial government provides an update on the Fall 2024 construction progress on SkyTrain Millennium Line’s Broadway extension.
This includes a fly-through inside a segment of the completed twin 5-km-long bored tunnels and aerial footage from above of the 0.7-km-long elevated guideway in the False Creek Flats and the construction sites of the new subway stations.
Construction crews have been installing the tracks and other equipment for the short segment of the elevated guideway between the existing VCC-Clark Station and the tunnel entrance just east of the future Great Northern Way-Emily Carr Station.
Fall 2024 construction progress: Mount Pleasant Station of SkyTrain Millennium Line’s Broadway subway extension. (Government of BC)
Fall 2024 construction progress: Oak-VGH Station of SkyTrain Millennium Line’s Broadway subway extension. (Government of BC)
The new video and recent photos provided by the project office also show the advancement of the construction of the subway station structures, with clear visual progress on the platform level and the mezzanine/concourse levels of the stations. The progress on each station varies.
Station construction work has greatly accelerated since April 2024, when the tunnel boring process reached full completion following nearly half a year of delays related to this particular stage of work.
Work is also ongoing to create a major network of underground passages at Broadway-City Hall Station to allow passengers to seamlessly switch trains between the Canada Line platforms and the Millennium Line.
Fall 2024 construction progress: Underground paths at Broadway-City Hall Station for SkyTrain Millennium Line’s Broadway subway extension. (Government of BC)
Fall 2024 construction progress: South Granville Station on SkyTrain Millennium Line’s Broadway subway extension. (Government of BC)
Fall 2024 construction progress: Track switch at Arbutus Station on South Granville Station on SkyTrain Millennium Line’s Broadway subway extension. (Government of BC)
As station construction continues to progress toward the upper underground level, the project will near the major step of removing the temporary traffic deck bridges that span each of the five station construction sites along the arterial roadway of Broadway, with these five station sites fully restored. Under the City of Vancouver’s “Great Street” plan for Broadway, these rebuilt station blocks will see a street design configuration of four vehicle lanes (down from the previous six lanes before construction) and wide pedestrian sidewalks.
This past spring, shortly after the completion of tunnel boring, the provincial government announced the Millennium Line’s 5.7-km-long extension — with a total of six new subway stations reaching Arbutus — will open in Fall 2027 instead of the previous timeline of an early 2026 opening. The project’s budget remains officially stated at $2.83 billion.
During the Fall 2024 provincial election, the BC NDP included a platform commitment to extend the Millennium Line westward to reach the University of British Columbia.
Fall 2024 construction progress: Roof deck of Arbutus Station on South Granville Station on SkyTrain Millennium Line’s Broadway subway extension. (Government of BC)
Fall 2024 construction progress: Oak-VGH Station of SkyTrain Millennium Line’s Broadway subway extension. (Government of BC)
Fall 2024 construction progress: Elevated guideway of SkyTrain Millennium Line’s Broadway extension. (Government of BC)