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

[reaperexpress]

I've seen a lot of kids playing at this location. The library and rec centre is one side, and there's apartments and a park on the other, which always seemed to have kids running around in the trees, whenever I walked past.

It wasn't unusual to see kids playing on the tracks - which was perfectly safe, as everyone nearby knew when the train passed, and it passed so slow, that it couldn't have run over anyone, unless snuck up behind it, and dove under the front wheels.

There's also a lot of bike traffic.

I think you're thinking of Old Albert Street, which is the next crossing to the north, also ped/bike only. Quiet Place is the old Bearinger Road.

Old Albert Street is a fairly popular pedestrian and bike route, and there are often children around near the community centre, but Quiet Place has relatively few bikes and fewer children.

 

[nfitz]

Oh, I am too. Been a few years ... used to live off of Quiet Place - but I normally walked across at Old Albert - heck, I often just walked up the tracks to Northfield ... never saw a train - but I didn't do it in the evenings.

 

[KevinT]

All the pedestrian crossings on the off-road / ties-and-ballast sections are getting gates as well as fencing to control access, so that the trains can travel at speed. I just didn't expect the lights and actuators for a 2 metre pedestrian gate to be the same ones they'd use for a 3 lane road crossing gate...

 

[reaperexpress]

All the pedestrian crossings on the off-road / ties-and-ballast sections are getting gates as well as fencing to control access, so that the trains can travel at speed. I just didn't expect the lights and actuators for a 2 metre pedestrian gate to be the same ones they'd use for a 3 lane road crossing gate...

It may be that it's just easier for them to get all of the same type rather than specifically spec'ing smaller units for the pedestrian/bike-only crossings. There is no harm in having overpowered crossing equipment.

And at least they put in crossing bells at all. When they built the Finch Hydro corridor bike path, they claimed they would install crossing gates at the Barrie Line, but in the end they only put up a slalom and signs saying "look both ways for trains". And the speed limit is much higher there: 120 km/h, compared to 70 km/h on the Waterloo LRT. Fortunately the adjacent busway does have bells and lights.

 

[smallspy]

I'd expected that they'd use smaller mechanisms for the pedestrian-only crossings, but this thing is full sized and massively dwarfs you when you stand beside it!

There's really only one size of mechanism, so it is what it is. What will vary is the size of the arm itself - they won't need to use a 1 lane or 2 lane arm here.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

 

[KevinT]

There's really only one size of mechanism, so it is what it is. What will vary is the size of the arm itself - they won't need to use a 1 lane or 2 lane arm here.

Agreed. If you look at this one however, http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/v...eet-intersection-stock-video-footage/88975467, the motor/actuator box is identical but there's a much smaller mount for the pedestrian arm. Quiet Place has the full size counter-balanced mount and so looked a bit ridiculous on my first encounter.

It may be that it's just easier for them to get all of the same type rather than specifically spec'ing smaller units for the pedestrian/bike-only crossings.

And I'm sure that's exactly what it was.

Thanks guys!

 

[smallspy]

Agreed. If you look at this one however, http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/v...eet-intersection-stock-video-footage/88975467, the motor/actuator box is identical but there's a much smaller mount for the pedestrian arm. Quiet Place has the full size counter-balanced mount and so looked a bit ridiculous on my first encounter.

Oh, you mean the counterweight....

In that case, yeah, they could easily run it without one if the arm is short enough. Perhaps they plan on using a longer arm that will require it?

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

 

[drum118]

Lets see how much lost time can be recover for this History delay.

Discovery of Waterloo corduroy road caught the imagination of the region

 

[boris davenport]

These area is really nice, I was there for 6 month. I got some good neighbors AWS good frnds from this area.. love you guysZZ

 

[KevinT]

Lets see how much lost time can be recover for this History delay.

Discovery of Waterloo corduroy road caught the imagination of the region

Not as much as you'd hope.

http://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/another-corduroy-road-work-stops-on-king-street-north-1.2890855

 

[Markster]

The RideIONrt Instagram posted a sweet aerial video. It shows significant track work underway between KCI and Wellington St.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BFRgCLIzR9H/

 

[Markster]

A big cohort of Bramptonians and Hamiltinians (terms I am reasonable sure are not the correct ones, but hilarious regardless) descended on Kitchener-Waterloo this past Saturday to take a tour of the construction progress!

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to make it. (jeez, I filled out the Doodle and everything) But there have been a bunch of pictures taken, and tweets twoted.

https://twitter.com/thedaleykate/status/731558826776858624

https://twitter.com/ham_LRT/status/731577126516850688
(I spy a number of UTers there, but I'll let them out themselves!)

There have even been some media writeups! (click through to read the full articles, only snippets quoted.)

Local mayors share light rail tales with Brampton group
The Record

KITCHENER — Brampton folk had heavy questions about light rail transit: What about construction? What about the disruption to downtown businesses?

On a cold Saturday in May, standing in front of the Charles Street bus terminal, the mayors of Kitchener and Waterloo gave answers for the visitors as a long line of construction pylons stretched into the Victoria Street distance.

LRT construction is coming to Brampton in 2018. It's already here in Kitchener-Waterloo.

"Construction is long," Waterloo Mayor Dave Jaworsky said. "Construction happens everywhere."

And LRT construction, the kind of big dig operation stretching through uptown Waterloo and downtown Kitchener with the goal of running electric trains on 19 kilometres of new track by late 2017, is more a waterworks project than LRT operation.

"What we're talking about, at least in Waterloo and, perhaps, in Brampton, there are pipes underneath there that have to be replaced anyway," Jaworsky explained as members of OneBrampton, a citizen's group, listened intently.

"We have pipes up here that date back to the 1880s."

Photo Tour of Waterloo Region ION Light Rail Construction
By UT's very own @mdrejhon

Last week, I accepted an invitation by the Brampton LRT advocacy to tour the Kitchener-Waterloo ION LRT construction on Saturday May 14. This tour was also covered in the Hamilton Spectator and Waterloo Record.

The co-founder of a Brampton LRT advocacy group, OneBrampton, contacted me to invite Hamiltonians to join the tour along with the Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge transit advocacy group TriTAG. I brought along a contingent of Hamilton residents and LRT supporters, and we headed to Kitchener-Waterloo together.

Here are photos of our LRT construction tour in Kitchener-Waterloo.

It looks like it was a really good time! I'm just minorly disappointed I didn't get to meet my name doppelganger. Find out if he talks as much as he types!

 

[Allandale25]

A big cohort of Bramptonians and Hamiltinians (terms I am reasonable sure are not the correct ones, but hilarious regardless) descended on Kitchener-Waterloo this past Saturday to take a tour of the construction progress!

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to make it. (jeez, I filled out the Doodle and everything) But there have been a bunch of pictures taken, and tweets twoted.

Is there a reason the font changed throughout that post? Just makes it a little hard to read.

 

[Markster]

The small stuff is just parenthetical asides

 

[KevinT]

More cell phone pics from a lunch time jaunt...


The deck plates have been removed from the northbound track at Quiet Place in prep for final alignment.


It never occurred to me before that the ties are wider (and closer together) where the deck plates for the crossings sit. The blue insulators on the rail clips are curious, I don't know if that's just random or a way of marking that particular section of track for signalling and/or power system purposes.


Southbound view from Quiet Place. Bearinger Road is closed and they were vacuuming out the ballast from the northbound tracks in prep for final alignment. The northbound tracks in the crossing never quite lined up with the mainline (they were installed prior to it), having slight kinks at either side of the road. Presumably that is what they're about to fix now that all of the bolted joints surrounding the crossing have been replaced with welds.


The switch on the northbound track heading into the OMSF has been partially welded into place. There are freshly ground thermite welds to the left of tie 46, although the gaps at tie 37 remain (for now).


The majority of the arms on the poles at the OMSF have been installed now, and the suspension wires that cross the future yard tracks to support the catenary are also all in place.