News   Mar 28, 2024
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Waterloo Region Transit Developments (ION LRT, new terminal, GRT buses)

Their pace in construction seems to be fast and furious. Could they actually be done long before the first trains even leave the factory?
 
Now that on-street trackwork has started there is tangible visible progress, especially in the Waterloo section, but there are a few major components that will hold up completion of construction.

King St. Grade separation at Guelph Sub. just got underway within the last month or two, and is comparable to the Weber St. work which took 18 months. I'm betting this will be on the critical path to becoming fully operational.

Second bridge over Schnieder Creek has not yet started.

No work on terminus at Fairview Mall yet, other than Hydro burying transmission lines.
 
A few weeks ago I passed by and it looks like they were almost starting to pour concrete for platforms. It was a pretty messy construction site
 
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When you look at the scale of construction from this season, it seems like there's not nearly as much utility work to be done next year - only a few of the one-way sections haven't been started yet (northbound through Uptown Waterloo, northbound and small parts of southbound through Downtown Kitchener, northbound along Ottawa), and smaller parts of the off-road track - Huron Spur, along hydro corridor to Fairview. You can get a fairly decent idea for what work has been started this year by looking at the latest Google satellite imagery.

There are hopes that next year is less painful for drivers as they move onto tracks, stations, and peripherals.
 
Oh absolutely - 3/4 of the work is "pushing dirt around" - digging up stuff, replacing pipes and so on, and covering it back up. Once that is all done, the surface construction doesn't take long at all (a few months). Just look at Borden - a year of dirt, and then in the last month, there's already half the track down already poured in concrete.
 
Track going in on Borden, between Courtland and Nyberg:

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Charles/Benton intersection work. Curbs now in place, including protection for OCS pole foundation:

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Waterloo Park station and gauntlet track passing through Seagram:

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Track work progressing on Caroline:

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From a minute ago: new fences and tactile paving at the University of Waterloo stop.

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That's more of a UWaterloo project that's trying to emphasize certain places for pedestrians to cross Ring road. Doesn't hurt that it also limits places for crossing the Ion tracks as well.
 
Here's a video that was just released by the project team, recapping the work done to date, and what's to come.

 
Delayed, but not over budget - video, CTV Kitchener

-First train delivery should be October 2016
-King grade separation will get a heated "dome" so construction can continue over winter
-Caroline and Borden are behind a bit
-Still on track for revenue operation in late 2017
 
Has there been any talk about any other expansions once phase 1 is done? I know there is a Cambridge expansion in planning now. I am wondering if there are any other plans (University, Fischer-Hallman, ??)...maybe connect up Guelph while they are at it?
 
Has there been any talk about any other expansions once phase 1 is done? I know there is a Cambridge expansion in planning now. I am wondering if there are any other plans (University, Fischer-Hallman, ??)...maybe connect up Guelph while they are at it?

Not by the Region of Waterloo - it's too early politically. Cambridge must be the second phase for regional coherence, so having serious discussions of other lines before the Cambridge EA is complete and funded would not be received well.

Considering that the primary driver of the project is urban intensification, it really isn't that clear that lines radiating out into the suburbs would be helpful rather than harmful to the Region's land-use objectives.
 

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