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London Rapid Transit (In-Design)

Something that I've noticed in this light rail plan is the aversion of converting two-way roads to one-way operation, despite the benefits of reducing the overall ROW requirement as well as improving operations. For instance, why not keep the LRT on Clarence and convert to roadway to one-way?
 
WislaHD said:
But it made room for the bike lanes, which I think is bringing it back to those streets.
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Hopefully, with contra-flow bicycle lanes.
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I can't wait for SHIFT London to get moving.

This is the most exciting period for London since the 1960s. London will become even more enticing with SHIFT and London is already a pretty damn nice.
 
As we know, the alignment of the LRT through Western University's campus is still TBD. The City of London has stated that it will work with the University to determine the best alignment. As a student at Western, with many friends on Student Council, I have learned that apparently Western University will let Student Council decide on what alignment it wants, then it will recommend that alignment to the City of London. Select students on council are actually meeting today to discuss rapid transit plans. To further complicate things, student council is in the middle of an election, and the various candidates probably have different takes on how to proceed.

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I'm all for student democracy, but I don't think it should be up to people who really don't have any transit/planning background, let alone people who have probably never heard of an "LRT" before. I'm sure the University and the City would never let a dumb routing proceed, but it would just be a shame if the stop(s) wasn't centrally located due to people starting to worry about "LRT disrupting student life" or other garbage like that. I personally am going to try to get into one of the focus groups that Student Council is consulting (City of London SHIFT also already held a PIC on campus last year). I want to fight hard for a central station on campus, with ample weather shelter, preferably in front of the Natural Science building as proposed in the rendering below:

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If I hear anything more about London SHIFT Rapid Transit and Western University I'll let the forum know. I'm really excited about this project, even though I'll be long gone from Western when it opens.
 
alexanderglista said:
As we know, the alignment of the LRT through Western University's campus is still TBD. The City of London has stated that it will work with the University to determine the best alignment. As a student at Western, with many friends on Student Council, I have learned that apparently Western University will let Student Council decide on what alignment it wants, then it will recommend that alignment to the City of London. Select students on council are actually meeting today to discuss rapid transit plans. To further complicate things, student council is in the middle of an election, and the various candidates probably have different takes on how to proceed.
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I see that London is taking inspiration from Toronto, a world leader in election-based transit planning. These students will be well prepared later when they get into politics.
 
I don't really know London and Western campus.

Western students probably will want that central location for transit. I'd be more concerned with the university admin itself, with faculty and staff who probably mostly drive, trying not route it through a location where it would be inconvenient for staff. Frankly, students are creative, even if they aren't urban planners. They use transit, so they'll know not to be dumb with it.
 
I don't think it's the same.

UWO is private land owned by the university. How it goes thru the school should definitely have input from the Western as they know the schools long term expansions of facilities and student housing. The students are primarily the ones that will take the line so will be the best to know where to put the route and stations that will serve them best. Also the students aren't subservient to developers, real estate agents, or own land near a station which they could profit by.

Western is itching for this line and the students and faculty want to make sure they get the most bang for the buck. It is still the city that will set the limits for costs and the plan is presented to council. Council has the right to reject the plan offered by the students. The route will have little impact on the cost of the line thru the university and the city is getting feedback from the actual riders on where the best route thru the school should go.I think it's a great way for the students to become proactive and become more participatory in the universities' and city's future.

I don't think this is akin to politics setting transit policies and priorities in the slightest.
 
alexanderglista said:
As we know, the alignment of the LRT through Western University's campus is still TBD. The City of London has stated that it will work with the University to determine the best alignment. As a student at Western, with many friends on Student Council, I have learned that apparently Western University will let Student Council decide on what alignment it wants, then it will recommend that alignment to the City of London. Select students on council are actually meeting today to discuss rapid transit plans. To further complicate things, student council is in the middle of an election, and the various candidates probably have different takes on how to proceed.
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If I was there I would hope they decide on a route that comes into Western as south as possible and goes by the stadium. This would mean that you can then ask for a second station as part of future planning meetings or even after the LRT is built. The alumni would be very supportive (and they are a powerful group in London and at Queens Park).

For those on the site that don't know about Western...the alumni are very powerful and very supportive of the football team. Having a station there (or even a special events only station) may only be important for a few days a year but would go miles in getting political support.
 
So for those not familiar with Western, here are the SHIFT LRT alignment options placed on a map of the University (note the "walking time" legend):
vWJQ6Du.jpg

My preferred alignment is in yellow. Other alignments are in different colours as to differentiate them.

As a transit enthusiast, and as a current student at Western, the yellow line in my opinion is the best option for Western's LRT. The LRT line enters campus off of Richmond with a station near Elgin, Medway, Sydenham, and Alumni residences (~1261 students). It would then run over the Thames River bridge, which will need to be widened (currently there is barley enough room for 2 lanes of traffic and sidewalks). It then runs along Middlesex Drive, which is currently 1-way and mainly used by busses and taxis. It would then stop in front of the Natural Science/Taylor Library building. This is a central place on campus in terms of student access to classes, the Social Science Centre (biggest faculty at Western), as well as to the University Community Centre (UCC) where classes, restaurants, shops, and programming takes place. It then proceeds to Western Road, with a stop at Windermere Road, servicing bus routes, the hospital, and other Western residences such as Saugeen-Maitland Hall (1250 students).

I know this isn't "scientific", but I'd assume that the two biggest LRT destinations for Western students (besides the campus itself) would be either Masonville Mall to the north (for shopping, groceries ect) or downtown London for the VIA Station, but most importantly for the bars. I'm sure that Western students would embrace LRT. Its way more comfortable than busses, and Western students get to ride London Transit for free, as part of their tuition. Let's build this.
 
alexanderglista said:
I know this isn't "scientific", but I'd assume that the two biggest LRT destinations for Western students (besides the campus itself) would be either Masonville Mall to the north (for shopping, groceries ect) or downtown London for the VIA Station, but most importantly for the bars. I'm sure that Western students would embrace LRT. Its way more comfortable than busses, and Western students get to ride London Transit for free, as part of their tuition. Let's build this.
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So true about Richmond Row....the LRT would have to run to about 3am Thurs-Sat. But they would have to make the cars easily cleanable.
 
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