[thommyjo]

Elaborating more on WEM: Originally planned as a rebuild in 2014 for the 2015-2018 Capital Budget cycle, but while approved, it was only on the condition that admin had to come back with other options in light of future LRT in 2015. Admin came back recommending saving $1.4 million by refurbishing the transit centre building rather than building a new building. The $1.4 million would be made available to other projects. Council approved April 2015... I haven't tracked down any council documents that explain how the hell we ended up building a whole new structure only to completely tear it down 4 years later. The only items that were saved were some of the furniture, although, the glass might have been reusable at other locations.

The west valley line wasn’t expected to be funded until the 2030s. That’s why the transit centre refurb and then tear down just years later. Feds came through with huge transit funding way sooner than expected.

In some ways, wasteful (also see SPR being redone just years before the LRT too). In other ways, tough to predict funding from other orders of government.

A good example today is what to do with the High Level Bridge. What if the province decides to drop a billion dollars to help rebuild it as a massive HSR connector in the next 5 years? Or what if nothing happens for the next 20? What does the city do in the meantime?