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

[Komiksulo]

When I was at Waterloo, first-year students were *required* to live on campus. Don't know whether that's still the case. In second year I shared an apartment in Cockroach Towers, the (at the time) only apartment building nearby, on the south side of University. Even so, I would occasionally visit friends in town by bus... But I understand about Uptown feeling remote from the university. The LRT will definitely change that.

 

[ShonTron]

I have an interesting anecdote like that, too.

I was walking around E5, where the UW Station is, during class change, and was caught up in a huge throng of students. I overheard some talking about the LRT, and their overriding thought was that it's going the "wrong way". It was their belief that "no one" needs to go north/south, and that it should be built east-west along University Ave.

I do understand their thought. University Ave, from Westmount to Weber, is a growing clusterfuck of buses. And at peak hours, a lot of those buses are very packed. It's only natural to think that's the "best" route, particularly when viewed from a University-centric viewpoint. Once the LRT cuts the corner through Waterloo Park, I think that Uptown will feel a lot closer to most UW students. No more relying on the infrequent (and very unreliable) 7D, or the not-so-conveniently-located 200, if you want to go to Uptown.

The area around King/University/Columbia is where much of that the butt-ugly precast private student housing is being built (serving both UW and WLU), so I can see why some students think that way.

 

[Duck]

Waterloo Park/Laurier/Seagram Platform is in and the forms/tarps are off:

https://twitter.com/Canardiain/status/712766847804907520

 

[robmausser]

Using existing rail rights of ways, hydro corridors, the pace and professionalism of construction... this project really is awesome.

I love the fact that they are already discussing Phase 2 as well, which I see as really important to ridership.

I hope they don't realign off the CP corridor and onto the street like in some variants, that will really slow down the speed of the LRT, even in an ROW. Still have to contend with traffic lights, etc.

 

[LNahid2000]

I explored pretty much every corner of Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge when I had free transit there. It was free, so why not?

 

[Duck]

Future Conestoga Mall Station (Northern Terminus):

At the Operations, Maintenance and Storage Facility, the yard has been mostly cleared, and rails moved into position:

Lots of OCS footers at the front of the facility:

 

[Duck]

Trackwork has resumed along Charles, heading South from the intersection of Benton/Charles:

Looking South from Water/Charles:

I'm pretty sure this track lubricator/sensor has been misplaced:

There is no room for the wheel flange on the left. My guess is whoever placed these saw the one on the right was up against the restraining rail, and just made the one on the left the same (instead of noticing on the drawing that there should be a gap for the flange). I know this because I deal with this sort of crap every day as an engineer. When the guys don't look closely enough at the drawing and get it right!

Here's a close up of a lubricator, just for fun:

 

[Steve X]

^^ Looks like someone has to redo that lubricator. There's no way a wheel can go through that without loosing contact with the rail.

 

[Duck]

Does the TTC use track lubricators anywhere on the streetcar lines? If so, do they look similar to these?

 

[EastYorkTTCFan]

Does the TTC use track lubricators anywhere on the streetcar lines? If so, do they look similar to these?

They tend to have them at curves I think but they also have them built onto some of the new cars too. I think someone posted somewhere tat all the even nubered ones have auto lubricators on them that get some grease onto the rails that the ones that don't pick up

 

[KevinT]

Hey guys, been lurking this thread for months (thanks for all the pics!) and finally have something to contribute.

I work near Bearinger / Quiet Place and walk over there about once a week on my lunch break to check out the progress. Today I chatted briefly with one of the Aecon guys that was installing the Quiet Place signal lights, he confirmed that both signal lights and crossing arms were going in. He said there will be arms at every street and pedestrian crossing on the route. So that settles that question...

 

[Duck]

Yeah, every railway-type crossing where the system is operating in tram-train mode will have typical railway crossing hardware, but obviously not in the low-speed centre running rapidways in the city. You can actually see all the light/arm locations on the project RFP/Functional Design Plan documents on the Region's website.

 

[KevinT]

The underground work looks finished for the substation at Bearinger. I drove by it at lunch today and the hole has been filled with a whole forest of conduit ends poking up out of the ground now.

Edit: Ooo, and Google Maps' 3D view of the route through Waterloo is now fully modelled with imagery that looks to be from the September time period!

 

[tripwire]

Wow, I haven't been back to KW since I graduated back in '99! I stayed at Cockroach Towers for a term too (who doesn't?!). It's really exciting to hear about the new transit they are putting in place for folks living there. In the winters, I remember if I missed the bus, it was still faster to just walk home in the cold and snow than wait for the next one.

 

[KevinT]

Drove past the Bearinger crossing at lunch, had to hop out and grab some quick cell pics...

1 Substation, installed:

Wired:

Terminated: