W. K. Lis
Superstar
https://www.wired.com/2014/06/wuwt-traffic-induced-demand/
What's Up With That: Building Bigger Roads Actually Makes Traffic Worse
What's Up With That: Building Bigger Roads Actually Makes Traffic Worse
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Waterloo Region Transit Developments (ION LRT, new terminal, GRT buses)
micheal_can
Senior Member
I think it has more of the attitude that they wanted to get it into service as quick as possible. Their problem seems to be not enough trains. Had they waited till they got enough, then maybe these issues would not have happened.
tmlittle
Active Member
That's certainly planned, and in fact people are already speculating on real estate for where Line 2 (projected for 2040s) is suspected to run. The market here is aggressive and a certain part of me would much rather see redevelopment fall in Cambridge, where most of the built environment has no social or heritage value. Kitchener's downtown really suffered with misguided "urban renewal" attempts in the 70s-2000s that just resulted in more parking lots. That said I think the unfortunate realities of Cambridge are that the built environment in many areas after redevelopment is going to end up being more like Mississauga than Toronto, with pretty low walkability, and more high rises along million-lane curved arterial roads. It's hard to fix that stuff without reconfiguring the street network, which isn't likely to happen any time soon.
Towered
Superstar
Will the Cambridge extension make it to Galt?
MidtownKW
New Member
Its terminus will be downtown Galt. It serves all three former towns that comprise Cambridge.
Edit: Or comes close, anyway. I don't know how far north the boundary between North Galt and Hespeler was fifty years ago, but I think it was Pinebush. I also guess that Blair is not being served.
Edit: Or comes close, anyway. I don't know how far north the boundary between North Galt and Hespeler was fifty years ago, but I think it was Pinebush. I also guess that Blair is not being served.
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jamincan
Active Member
If it does serve Hespeler, it's a technicality. The former town is well away from downtown Hespeler.
tmlittle
Active Member
Blair is on the other side of the 401 from Doon and is actually served pretty well relative to its size due to proximity to Conestoga College. I personally think that Conestoga transit is a mess and the Region missed a critical opportunity with its Homer Watson Blvd reconstruction in not adding bus lanes or at least a transit priority signal. Density is rapidly increasing there but the traffic around the college and 401 are so bad buses can sometimes end up being delayed longer than their actual run (the 110 is a 15 minute single stop express between Fairway and the college, but can get delayed up to 20 minutes in traffic at rush hour). The 201 extension has improved transit in the area enormously and alleviated the 110 to the point where it's no longer the most overcrowded route in the GRT system. I really wish LRT to the college was justifiable but ION isn't the kind of system that will ever get spur lines, and a loop/short line wouldn't really make sense. That said there's a lot of rapidly densification happening around places like Pioneer Park Plaza, Forest Glen, etc, and 201 ridership around there is high. Articulated buses around there will help when they come in.
Streety McCarface
Senior Member
Anyone know what's with the slow orders on the iON at all switch points, but especially the freight switches?
tmlittle
Active Member
I wasn't aware it was affecting all switch points, but I've noticed it around the south end. The switch heaters at Fairway seemingly run most of the day when it's below freezing (understandably), and Fairway speeds are the lowest they've been since the launch due to the slow order in the hydro corridor from the belated construction of the pedestrian crossing, which is one of the few stretches in the south end where trains were able to sustain any speed. During the recent cyclist collision trains stacked up there and had to use the rarely-used southbound platform, then seemingly got stuck until Railterm did something with the lesser-used half of the crossover. My guess is there's engineering concerns around freezing and functionality of the switches.
salsa
Senior Member
tmlittle
Active Member
I get the impression this is all a result of CN not wanting to play ball. It's clear that all the other planning that's been done, from the bridge design to the LRT routing, was around the idea of a King/Victoria transit hub that extended as far as Duke, not a ... Victoria/Duke transit hub that extends as far as King?
Streety McCarface
Senior Member
I swear this region butchers every attempt at proper transit integration it drives me nuts.
mrxbombastic
Active Member
Could it be an issue of a standing train on mainline track stationery so close to a junction? It looks like there is enough space between the end of the overpass and switch for a loco to stick out beyond the overpass and still have a line of sight to the signal bridge
Streety McCarface
Senior Member
Thing is you don't even need to worry about the sightline distance while in a locomotive under normal operating conditions since all GO trains run with the locomotives facing East.
mrxbombastic
Active Member
Thanks! I had no idea. I looked at their yards on Google Maps and you're right. I can't unsee it now and I'll notice it everytime I'm on a train ?