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

Light Rail Transit approved by Regional Council

Waterloo Region - Light Rail Transit (LRT) was approved by Regional Council Wednesday as the preferred technology for the Region of Waterloo’s rapid transit system.

“In future years, people will look on this decision as doing more than anything else to manage growth and shape Waterloo Region,†said Ken Seiling, Regional Chair. “Our ability to cope with growth and ensure our future quality of life will depend on providing a transportation system that encourages intensification, limits urban sprawl to protect our agricultural and environmentally sensitive lands, and avoids gridlock by providing alternatives to the dependence on cars as we grow.â€

The rapid transit system will provide a long-term, environmentally sustainable solution to help manage the Region’s future growth and transportation needs and help build a vibrant and sustainable community.

The project will be implemented in a staged approach that will allow the Region to match transit technology with current and projected ridership and development potential in a cost effective manner. Stage 1 of the approved rapid transit route consists of light rail transit running from Conestoga Mall in Waterloo to Fairview Park Mall in Kitchener and adapted bus rapid transit from Fairview Park Mall to the Ainslie Street transit terminal in Cambridge. Stage 2 consists of continuing light rail transit from Fairview Park Mall to the Ainslie Street terminal, which will follow the completion of Stage 1 as closely as possible.

The approved rapid transit system will cost an estimated $790 million. Council also allocated $1 million annually for an initial 10-year period to implement transit supportive strategies to build transit ridership in Cambridge.

“The Region has undertaken an unprecedented program of public consultation on this issue over the last four years,†said Mike Murray, Chief Administrative Officer. “We have heard from thousands of people and organizations, and their input has helped shape this project. Rapid Transit will help manage growth, move people, and make our community healthier and more sustainable for decades to come.â€

The Region will now proceed to negotiate funding agreements with provincial and federal governments. When funding is secured, final design will be undertaken in 2010. Construction of LRT is scheduled to launch in 2012, with the system opening late in 2014. Adapted bus rapid transit in Cambridge could start as early as 2011.
 
here's the report that went to council (spur line recommended)

not sure if staff recommendation was accepted or changed, but this was the preferred route from staff

WaterlooRapidTransitPreferred.jpg
 
That's pretty much the ideal alignment. I would have added a station at Fountain St. in Cambridge for Toyota workers, and I'm not sure whether the rail alignment from Preston to Galt would've made more sense, but that's about it. I like how it uses railway corridors where possible.
 
There was a plan to put a station at Fountain Street in the industrial district, but it seems to have fallen off the map (big surprise...).

The rail alignments make sense when you consider that they run through areas that can't really be urbanized much more than they already are. Between Preston and Fairview, the majority of the land is rural, with a few factories here and there (and a long-term care hospital just north of the Grand River). The Sportsworld station I don't like because they're building it in the middle of nowhere as a park-and-ride. There is a huge retail development going on the site of the old Sportsworld funfair, but they wouldn't divert to serve it.

Splitting the routes in downtown Kitchener and Waterloo is a mistake, especially in Kitchener. In Waterloo they're a block apart, but in Kitchener they're at least three blocks apart. Nobody's going to walk that far without complaining.
 
I don't think that will be too much of a problem. I've used LRTs where different directions were three blocks apart and it generally doesn't matter (people are going one way, or another, so they don't really care).

If this were a Transfer City line, it would have three times as many stations and would run along King street all the way past Sportsworld into Cambridge; it would also go past WLU but not UW ensuring that the largest trip generator in the region would require a transfer.
 
DHLawrence85 said:
Splitting the routes in downtown Kitchener and Waterloo is a mistake, especially in Kitchener. In Waterloo they're a block apart, but in Kitchener they're at least three blocks apart. Nobody's going to walk that far without complaining.
Click to expand...
There's only one station in Kitchener that is effected by the split, and only one, if that, in Waterloo. And how is Duke to Charles 3 blocks? In Watlerloo, there seems to be only one station, despite the split - not sure how that will work, but it's not very far from Caroline to King Street here ... less than a length of a subway platform!

I'm curious what they are planning in Kitchener though ... with that new bus terminal on Charles Street. Do they simply intend to have all downtown buses go to both stations? Or are they planning to route them all to the new intermodal terminal at King and Victoria; which mean that they don't go into downtown.
 
Grand River Transit intends to overhaul its routes so that they tie into the light rail stations all along the route in the same way some TTC buses link up to the subway. Intercity buses will serve the intermodal terminal on King and Victoria, whenever that gets off the ground. The Charles Street terminal is definitely on its way out, clearing up a good piece of real estate for redevelopment.
 
^Those plans have not been made public. I'm also curious to see what they come up with. Personally, I would like to see the current Charles Street Terminal demolished and sold to developers. There would not need to be as many platforms at any new terminal at Victoria street due to the linear cross-corridor nature of new bus routes. Not all buses would need to terminate downtown as they do now.

There is virtually no reason for route splits in Waterloo and Kitchener.

Yes, the length between stations in Waterloo is less than a subway platform, but at least on a subway platform, you don't have to make 2 road crossings and cross 2 sets of tracks to make a transfer, a situation that would be made much worse with winter and wind-tunnel effects. The main reason, why the route was split was to lessen the impact on local residents, most notably the ones that live right here. If you take a look at the detailed design plans, you see the line switch sides of the road to mitigate the impact of noise to this block of townhouses. If the region is smart, they can save themselves a lot of money by just buying out this block and putting up a mid-rise development in its place similar to Bauer Lofts or 144 Park.

The Kitchener route was chosen mainly for the purpose of "minimizing effects on local traffic movements". I mostly thin the biggest hurdle was maintaining access to a parking garage currently under construction at the corner of Charles and Benton. I personally don't see any problem with reducing Charles Street to one-way operation between Victoria and Benton to allow for a two-way LRT corridor. It seems like the system in downtown Kitchener was just shoehorned in to an existing, inflexible road network with very little thought given to how passengers will actually use the greater system of express busses, LRT, and local routes.

This system will likely be in place for at least the next 50 years, and should be designed as such. Traffic is fluid, it will find alternate routes. Land development can be just as dynamic given proper policies.
 
Hmm, interesting. I think I've have simply stayed on the railway tracks through Waterloo Town Square and put all the service down King. Perhaps put the station in the centre of that new square at the corner of Willis and King (shock, horror).
 
While the region owns the trackage through this area, CN still retains the right to run vehicles along this track. So as long as CN retains their one revenue earning customer in Elmira, it would be impossible to run rapid transit along this same right-of-way. Because light rail vehicles aren't heavy enough to meet freight specifications, they would not be able to use the same track as heavy rail, even if it is only one train a day. It seems really trivial for such a short stretch, I know, but bureaucracy being what it is, it can't happen.
 
It's not CN any more; it's Goderich-Exeter, a short-line that makes its bread and butter from serving the small industries that CN wrote off years ago. They're not going to give up that line without a fight unless their customers suddenly shut down.
 
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I don't get it ... why can they run alongside the rail ROW from Northfield to Erb, but not the last 100 metres to King. All they'd need was some space in the parking lot and that new square.
 
Funding

Over at Steve Munro's Blog he is reporting that the LRT has received full funding commitments 2/3 from Ontario and 1/6 from Ottawa (160M) all while having just approved it this week, and having not yet filed an application for any monies to build it!
 
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