On April 14, 2023 Elsie, one of two TBMs constructing the twin tunnels for the Broadway Subway, brokethrough to the future Broadway-City Hall Station, that will be the busiest and largest station on the Millennium Line SkyTrain extension.
The Broadway Subway Project will extend the Millennium Line 5.7 km from VCC-Clark Station to West Broadway and Arbutus Street, providing people with fast, convenient SkyTrain service along the Broadway corridor.
Once in service, the trip from VCC-Clark to Arbutus Station will take 11 minutes, saving the average transit commuter almost 30 minutes a day and relieving congestion along Broadway.
The new Broadway-City Hall Station will provide a convenient underground connection for people to transfer between the north-south Canada Line and the east-west Millennium Line.
Broadway-City Hall Station will be the deepest station constructed for the Broadway Subway Project at more than 20 m underground, allowing the new tunnels to travel underneath the existing Canada Line.
Elsie, the TBM named after B.C.-born aircraft designer Elizabeth (Elsie) MacGill, arrived at Mount Pleasant Station in late January 2023 and began tunnelling toward the future Broadway-City Hall Station on March 4.
Elsie will undergo scheduled maintenance on her cutterhead after excavating more than 1.3 km of tunnel and installing more than 900 concrete tunnel liner rings. She will then be relocated to the west side of the station to continue tunnelling. Her next stop will be at the future Oak-VGH Station, passing the halfway point in tunnelling toward the future Arbutus Station terminus.
The second TBM, named after Phyllis Munday, a nurse and mountaineer who founded the Girl Guides in British Columbia, will relaunch from Mount Pleasant Station next week. Phyllis is expected to breakthrough at Broadway-City Hall this spring.
For further information please click here and ca/38 for the tunnelbuilder archive. Also visit https://news.gov.bc.ca/, https://www.ghella.com/ and https://www.broadwaysubway.ca/. 16/23.
