Passengers who regularly use the main entrance into the Canada Line’s Waterfront Station will be inconvenienced next week to allow for station improvements to be made.

TransLink says the staircase to reach the station from inside the CPR building hall will be closed from Tuesday, October 15 to Friday, October 18.

The staircase’s temporary closure is required to allow for the installation of a new descending escalator that will improve the accessibility of entering the Canada Line ticketing concourse and platforms.

The ascending escalator leaving the Canada Line station will remain open, and the elevator will be operational as well, but there will be a priority to customers with accessibility challenges.

Passengers boarding the Canada Line from Waterfront Station during this construction period will be required to detour to the station’s street entrance on the southwest corner of the intersection of Granville Street and West Hastings Street — one block away from the CPR building hub.

There will be SkyTrain attendants present at the hall’s closed entrance during all operating hours to provide directional assistance.

For passengers who need to transfer between the Expo Line and the Canada Line, an alternative transfer between Granville Station and Vancouver City Centre Station is suggested.

TransLink is spending $35 million on upgrading the Canada Line to better ensure the system can accommodate the surge in ridership from the addition of 12 two-car trains in early 2020. This includes an expansion of the Bridgeport operations and maintenance centre’s train storage yard and the addition of new escalators reaching the platform level at all three downtown Canada Line stations.

The new escalator at Yaletown-Roundhouse Station recently opened.