unimaginative2
Senior Member
Plan to widen Weber Street would consume homes, businesses
December 01, 2010
BY JEFF OUTHIT, RECORD STAFF
KITCHENER — Regional council’s proposal to punch four lanes through the last narrow section of Weber Street has escalated to $52 million, affecting 53 homes and businesses.
The latest plans made public Tuesday show a widened road gobbling up 34 properties, including several businesses.
The Station plaza at Weber and Victoria streets is among properties facing demolition, along with more than two dozen homes. Most doomed properties are along the west side of Weber Street. Another 19 homes or businesses would lose parts of their frontage.
The project, proposed for construction from 2015 to 2017, was last estimated at $39 million. It has now become slightly more expensive than the bridge council is building over the Grand River at Fairway Road.
Regional government says the extra lanes are needed to eliminate a bothersome bottleneck, ease rush-hour congestion, reduce collisions at Weber and Victoria streets, and handle traffic displaced from King Street if rapid transit consumes two lanes there. The plan calls for:
• Widening Weber to four lanes between College and Guelph streets in Kitchener, and straightening it to eliminate the S-curve.
• Building an underpass beneath the CN Railway tracks, beside the Via Rail station.
• Making minor changes to four lanes of Weber between Guelph and Union streets in Kitchener and Waterloo.
Residents attending a public consultation centre said the wider road will be better for traffic. They expect it will reduce collisions. But some are also struggling with how it will affect their properties.
“It’s right what they’re doing,†Steve Browne said. “They’re straightening the street out.†But the proposal will put his Breithaupt Street home at the corner of the wider street and he worries how this might affect its value.
Ron McCarthy will lose part of his front yard. He’s frustrated planners can’t yet tell him if he’ll lose one metre or three. He worries about the escalating price tag and figures politicians should put the project to a vote by residents. “It’s our dollars that they’re spending,†he said.
Landlords Angela Campbell and Shauna Richter, who own nearby properties, figure widening Weber will help revitalize the central neighbourhood. “I think it’s a good thing,†Richter said. “It will really open up the area.â€
They point out the neighbourhood will soon have GO Transit commuter trains and a central transit hub at King and Victoria streets is also proposed. “I think it will be good for the downtown area,†Campbell said.
Regional government has already purchased nine of the properties facing demolition. No designated historic homes are in the way of the wider road.
jouthit@therecord.com
December 01, 2010
BY JEFF OUTHIT, RECORD STAFF
KITCHENER — Regional council’s proposal to punch four lanes through the last narrow section of Weber Street has escalated to $52 million, affecting 53 homes and businesses.
The latest plans made public Tuesday show a widened road gobbling up 34 properties, including several businesses.
The Station plaza at Weber and Victoria streets is among properties facing demolition, along with more than two dozen homes. Most doomed properties are along the west side of Weber Street. Another 19 homes or businesses would lose parts of their frontage.
The project, proposed for construction from 2015 to 2017, was last estimated at $39 million. It has now become slightly more expensive than the bridge council is building over the Grand River at Fairway Road.
Regional government says the extra lanes are needed to eliminate a bothersome bottleneck, ease rush-hour congestion, reduce collisions at Weber and Victoria streets, and handle traffic displaced from King Street if rapid transit consumes two lanes there. The plan calls for:
• Widening Weber to four lanes between College and Guelph streets in Kitchener, and straightening it to eliminate the S-curve.
• Building an underpass beneath the CN Railway tracks, beside the Via Rail station.
• Making minor changes to four lanes of Weber between Guelph and Union streets in Kitchener and Waterloo.
Residents attending a public consultation centre said the wider road will be better for traffic. They expect it will reduce collisions. But some are also struggling with how it will affect their properties.
“It’s right what they’re doing,†Steve Browne said. “They’re straightening the street out.†But the proposal will put his Breithaupt Street home at the corner of the wider street and he worries how this might affect its value.
Ron McCarthy will lose part of his front yard. He’s frustrated planners can’t yet tell him if he’ll lose one metre or three. He worries about the escalating price tag and figures politicians should put the project to a vote by residents. “It’s our dollars that they’re spending,†he said.
Landlords Angela Campbell and Shauna Richter, who own nearby properties, figure widening Weber will help revitalize the central neighbourhood. “I think it’s a good thing,†Richter said. “It will really open up the area.â€
They point out the neighbourhood will soon have GO Transit commuter trains and a central transit hub at King and Victoria streets is also proposed. “I think it will be good for the downtown area,†Campbell said.
Regional government has already purchased nine of the properties facing demolition. No designated historic homes are in the way of the wider road.
jouthit@therecord.com