News   Apr 23, 2024
 793     2 
News   Apr 23, 2024
 416     0 
News   Apr 23, 2024
 1.1K     0 

Waterloo Region Transit Developments (ION LRT, new terminal, GRT buses)

14570351_10154600231822959_1281600324290562472_n.jpg
From the ION Facebook page, we have an almost complete Erb/Caroline intersection.
 

Attachments

  • 14570351_10154600231822959_1281600324290562472_n.jpg
    14570351_10154600231822959_1281600324290562472_n.jpg
    162.5 KB · Views: 1,364
This is where the electric Grand River Railway (on Caroline), part of the CP network, met the Grand Trunk/CN Waterloo Spur - the tracks line up almost exactly where they once were.

Happy to see the bike box too.
 
Considering this is a spur owned by the Region of Waterloo, and there is only a single freight customer on the line, which will be running time-restricted deliveries in the middle of the night, I don't think we're going to end up with freight crews who didn't get the memo.

Yeah, it's probably not actually going to be an issue, but it still seems really sloppy to me to have such counterintuitive signage. This is the same construction project that went to the effort to manufacture beautifully embossed "ION" manhole covers. I'd like to see that attention to detail continued through to the signage.
 
About time the press doing something on this issue

LRT cuts off low-income neighbourhood’s access to shops

The horror that a low income neighbourhood will only be a 10-15 minute walk away from a LRT stop. Stop the madness!

Right now they cross a hydro ROW that backs onto private property (I think its either a McD's or Timmies). No landowner would grant a permanent ROW onto the property which would restrict future development (condo?) and create a legal liability if someone was injured without compensation.

The only place for a ROW would be across city-owned property @ Traynor Park. And that cuts maybe 2 minutes from the walk. So not worth it.
 
The horror that a low income neighbourhood will only be a 10-15 minute walk away from a LRT stop. Stop the madness!

Did you bother reading the article you're commenting about? It doesn't have anything to do with how accessible the LRT stop is, the article states that residents currently have a 5-10 minute walk each way to grocery and other stores nearby, which is going to be a 20-30 minute walk once the LRT blocks off access. Not sure what you're talking about with being 10-15 minutes from an LRT stop as that is irrelevant to the matter at hand.
 
The horror that a low income neighbourhood will only be a 10-15 minute walk away from a LRT stop. Stop the madness!

Right now they cross a hydro ROW that backs onto private property (I think its either a McD's or Timmies). No landowner would grant a permanent ROW onto the property which would restrict future development (condo?) and create a legal liability if someone was injured without compensation.

The only place for a ROW would be across city-owned property @ Traynor Park. And that cuts maybe 2 minutes from the walk. So not worth it.
Have you really waked that corridor and see where residents currently used to get across that corridor???

There are at least 4 location being used until the fence went up.

There are 2-3 location that could be use for crossing if agreement can be had between the city and the landowners. Tims & McD are 2 locations and have to pull the photos out to see the other locations. I have photos of that corridor before construction was started on it as to locations being used to cross it.

What is the different between here and the University area that use private property today for a crossing???

Have you heard of easement right of way???
 
The horror that a low income neighbourhood will only be a 10-15 minute walk away from a LRT stop. Stop the madness!
I wrote this, to summarize the entire issue:
http://www.tritag.ca/blog/2016/08/15/ion-walkability-fences-and-its-never-too-late-to-fix-mistakes/
It will help clarify some misconceptions you have.

Alternately, you can watch/listen to this, a radio interview I gave when the issue first came to the attention of media in August. I embedded several pictures I had taken before construction, showing the crossings, some of which were remarkably formal.

 
Underpass won't work - Hydro One buried transmission lines along the corridor prior to LRT work beginning.
 

Back
Top