ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[tomh009]

Lots of work along Charles! Bit by bit, more concrete is showing up. The grounding wires have been encased in a couple of areas. Still just rails roughed in at Cameron Heights. Wonder what the deal is there.

Yes ... I hadn't posted this morning's photos yet, sorry!

The poured median at Cedar:
   

Welding rails near Cedar:
   

Ready to pour near Madison:
   

Freshly poured concrete on the WB rails at Stirling (some work still remaining on this curve):
   

EB rails pretty much done between Kent and Borden:
   

[Pheidippides]

   
   
   
   

[Canard]

How did you get access to where that 2nd photo was taken, Pheidippides?

[GtwoK]

There's a fenced path there! It's the only way across king between Victoria and Wellington at the moment. It's meant for people getting to the King's Crossing plaza / train conductors getting to the Go trains in the layover

[Canard]

That's great - thanks!  I'll have to check that out.  Right in the eye of the storm, so to speak!

Here's a slightly different vantage point of construction.  Take a trip along Charles, from Queen to Borden, including the newly-opened intersection at Queen!



...also out today, an actually not-too-terrible article from the Record:

At 60 per cent constructed, LRT project hit bumps along the way

[KevinL]

Great video!

As for the article, I don't like that it conflates the Ion/Eglinton LRVs with the streetcar contract. Yes, both are Bombardier vehicles to be used in Toronto, but they were ordered at different times by different organizations on different specs.

[danbrotherston]

Great video!

As for the article, I don't like that it conflates the Ion/Eglinton LRVs with the streetcar contract. Yes, both are Bombardier vehicles to be used in Toronto, but they were ordered at different times by different organizations on different specs.

This is not a new "conflation" in the Record unfortunately.  

Definitely great video, although I can't help but notice the rather uncomfortable angle cyclists will have to cross the LRT rails, far too close an opportunity to get a wheel stuck in the middle of an intersection.

[TMKM94]

I wonder why the plaza signs for 607 King St. Were taken out for? are they going ahead with preparing for Kings Crossing already? 

[Canard]

YouTube Video: ion Construction, July 2016 (Charles, Queen to Borden)

Definitely great video, although I can't help but notice the rather uncomfortable angle cyclists will have to cross the LRT rails, far too close an opportunity to get a wheel stuck in the middle of an intersection.

I was hoping someone would bring this up.  I'm actually quite shocked that we haven't discussed this yet!  As a long-time car driver and novice cyclist, I'm hyper-aware of my surroundings and, while timid, I'm learning to firmly take my place in traffic and follow the rules of the road.  So when a hazard like the tracks show up, I'm super careful to understand the risks and physics of it and make sure I'm crossing the tracks properly (at least ~30 degrees or so, and most importantly, keeping a firm grip on my handlebars and giving a quick and careful turn to get a sharper angle at the wheel-to-rail interface moment).  But I fully expect that in these "crossover" sections (Benton/Charles, just north of King/Victoria), there are going to be problems with people taking a header if they cross at too shallow of an angle.  It will be far worse if the tracks are wet.



This has been a big problem in Sheffield, UK - of course now I can't find the news article, but a quick search on YouTube brings up a ton of videos of people running into issues crossing the tracks at shallow angles, due to the design of the suggested path that cyclists should take when crossing.  It's probably not helped at all by the UK's seemingly persistently-moist climate.  In some places, as a result of the accidents, they've painted ~0.5m wide solid green "Safe Path" stripes, with suggested paths that cyclists should take when attempting to cross the tracks.  I think this is a great idea!

Again... safety campaign?  I really feel like the time is right to start bringing some of these issues up.  4 months to first train movements.  Waiting until then is too late.  I'd be happy to host.  Do I have to make my own "ion Safety Channel" on YouTube?  

[danbrotherston]

This has been a big problem in Sheffield, UK - of course now I can't find the news article, but a quick search on YouTube brings up a ton of videos of people running into issues crossing the tracks at shallow angles, due to the design of the suggested path that cyclists should take when crossing.  It's probably not helped at all by the UK's seemingly persistently-moist climate.  In some places, as a result of the accidents, they've painted ~0.5m wide solid green "Safe Path" stripes, with suggested paths that cyclists should take when attempting to cross the tracks.  I think this is a great idea!

Again... safety campaign?  I really feel like the time is right to start bringing some of these issues up.  4 months to first train movements.  Waiting until then is too late.  I'd be happy to host.  Do I have to make my own "ion Safety Channel" on YouTube?  

You don't even have to go across the pond to see that problem, up the err...street...in Toronto, you have the same issue:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yz1wnLhguhU

But this is a problem faced by numerous cities across the globe.  The frustrating thing about it is there seems to be a technological solution, a rubber flange can be placed within the flange gap in the track, that can support the weight of a bike allowing one to ride along the track with no issue, but will be depressed by the weight of an LRT vehicle.  I seem to recall this being discussed, and the suggestion was that it wasn't preferred at intersections like this because it would apparently lead people to believe the tracks are not dangerous for cyclists, which I find to be a really poor excuse.  Although I suspect there might be other maintenance implications as well.

There are a number of other options as well, from sharrows to...well properly designing our cycling infrastructure, that would ensure  there aren't crashes:

http://www.streetfilms.org/cyclists-vs-rails-in-zurich/

I think the most important intersection to get right is Caroline and Erb, on account of it will have the greatest cyclist volume.

[Canard]

It may have to do with rail lubrication. In the curves with a restraining rail (anything r<150m), there is a gap below the restraining rail to permit debris and grease so on to fall through. It may not be possible with an off-the-shelf solution to fill the gap with a rubber filler strip (I know what you're talking about - you often see it on heavy railways on newer crossings). There is a lot of wear on the curves from the flanges of the trains (especially since ours are fixed-bogie) so it's very possible that it's not as simple a matter as filling the gap with a rubber strip.

In the video you posted, I think the cyclist would have been fine if they had very firmly snapped their handlebars to the left at the moment of rail-to-wheel interface. The trick is if you're just loosely holding your handlebars, and going parallel enough to the tracks, it'll fall into the gap and throw you off. If you're very firmly holding the handlebars and bias the opposite way, you win out over the track and you're fine. I really should post a little video about this technique. You can "feel it" very easily once you've done it a few times.

[danbrotherston]

It may have to do with rail lubrication. In the curves with a restraining rail (anything r<150m), there is a gap below the restraining rail to permit debris and grease so on to fall through. It may not be possible with an off-the-shelf solution to fill the gap with a rubber filler strip (I know what you're talking about - you often see it on heavy railways on newer crossings). There is a lot of wear on the curves from the flanges of the trains (especially since ours are fixed-bogie) so it's very possible that it's not as simple a matter as filling the gap with a rubber strip.

In the video you posted, I think the cyclist would have been fine if they had very firmly snapped their handlebars to the left at the moment of rail-to-wheel interface. The trick is if you're just loosely holding your handlebars, and going parallel enough to the tracks, it'll fall into the gap and throw you off. If you're very firmly holding the handlebars and bias the opposite way, you win out over the track and you're fine. I really should post a little video about this technique. You can "feel it" very easily once you've done it a few times.

There are definitely off the shelf products used by tram lines in other cities very similar to ours, I cannot believe it is not possible at least in some locations, I can believe that it would cost more in maintenance.  This is still different from the rubber guides used on mainline rails, I've never seen this used anywhere in Canada, although I haven't exactly looked.

Yeah, you can cross safely by turning sharply, and its easy to practice now, but when riding in traffic, its easy to be distracted at the wrong moment.  I think it's much safer to encourage crossing at a safe wide angle to begin with, then there is little risk of getting it wrong.  The problem in some cases will be surrounding traffic forcing cyclists to take a dangerous angle, for example turning right across the tracks in some locations, I would make the turn wide, and cross at a 90 degree angle, but if a car was forcing me towards the curb at that moment, I may not be able too.  Sharrows showing cyclists the safe route to take will do some good, but at the end of the day, proper cycling infrastructure is always better.  Still, I'd just be happy to see sharrows and warning signs at this point, because right now, I haven't heard a peep about any plans.

[KevinL]

Got a close look a the Cedar/Charles area this morning.

The view from up the hill - looks great from here!


Up towards Eby:




And, the future station entrance area, as it were. Obviously that wooden railing is to be eventually removed.

[Canard]

Here's another little video tour, this time for R+T Park, down to Seagram.

[KevinL]

Let me guess, King Street is next.