ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[ijmorlan]

As others noted - the old cobblestone path through these two buildings has now been paved wall-to-wall.  Surprised, but very happy to see, as I'm a frequent user of the Spur Line and Laurel trail.[/i]

I just wish they had used bright yellow boots instead of the usual black. In this location all the traffic is parallel to the tracks so bicycles will have to be extra careful. Still, it’s nice, and much better than it ever has been.

[KevinL]

The final gap on Benton was being poured this morning. This leaves just Frederick as a gap in downtown Kitchener (though the Cameron crossover also still has to be fully poured).

[KevinL]

Saw work on the signals at Gaukel and Charles today - they're not turned on but they are all uncovered and correctly oriented. Could well be activated soon (today?).

[boatracer]

Lots of form work being down around the KCI crossover today. Was driving so not able to snap a photo.

[Canard]

Take a drive along King and Northfield:



(Here's the same section, from 5 months ago: https://youtu.be/770ZAYnlBqI)

[Viewfromthe42]

Seeing the ballasted section, I'm wondering what part of the track design accommodates the bridge contraction/expansion cycle in winter/summer?

[Canard]

The ballasted track can dance around a little bit, and the bridge has a steep vertical curve to it. Another reason why it's ballasted here is weight.  Ballasted track weighs per cubic unit than embedded track, and the bridge was already existing.  Even with the modifications to the bridge to strengthen it, it was only enough to support ballasted track, not embedded.

[BuildingScout]

According to the TV show "How's it made?" ballasted track is also preferred on bridges because of dampened vibration.

[panamaniac]

According to the TV show "How's it made?" ballasted track is also preferred on bridges because of dampened vibration.

I like that show!  You can turn off your brain and learn something at the same time.

[Markster]

Yeah, that's not my issue at all!  I was wondering what the confusion was.

Also.... I sure hope that they build that rightmost crossing you have painted in there!  A "sidewalk" as commonly called.

No, I'm talking about this:


Straighten out that thing to match what any normal person is going to actually walk.
Also... while we're at it, let's give some asphalt that is never going to be used by cars back to pedestrians.

Hey, so I don't recall if anyone pointed it out yet, but they repainted the tilt-a-crosswalk, and now it's much closer to the yellow lines in my mockup than it was before! Huzzah!

The crossing arms have been going in as well, and... well... some of them are in really awkward locations.

[timc]

I did point that out a little while ago, but it's worth noting again. The one crossing arm across the pedestrian crossing on the southwest corner looks like it is going to be in the wrong orientation, but I'm not sure. It will be easier to tell what things are going to look like once they have the boards on them.

[Coke6pk]

5/6 - Sunday, December 4, 2016

Even though I'm still primarily a motorist, I still can't help but think these very few spaces along King could have been better used as bike lanes.  There are hundreds of spots just the other side of the building - did the extra ~10 spots on King really make that much of an improvement?

From the photo, I'd assume there isn't even 10 spots.  Guarantee at least two of those spots fall within 3 m of that fire hydrant.  Those spots really should be X'd out, or maybe its just a sneaky way to increase city revenue...

Coke

[KevinL]

Saw work on the signals at Gaukel and Charles today - they're not turned on but they are all uncovered and correctly oriented. Could well be activated soon (today?).

I was right - signals are now active in this intersection! Hopefully Ontario will soon follow.

[Markster]

From the photo, I'd assume there isn't even 10 spots.  Guarantee at least two of those spots fall within 3 m of that fire hydrant.  Those spots really should be X'd out, or maybe its just a sneaky way to increase city revenue...

Coke

They have done just that, for the spots that they deem are too close.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">All the effort to retain street parking, and then they go and put in a hydrant which knocks one space out of commission forever. <a href="https://t.co/JJSqNkz6RZ">pic.twitter.com/JJSqNkz6RZ</a></p>&mdash; Mark Jackson-Brown (@Markster3000) <a href="https://twitter.com/Markster3000/status/804100390933381121">November 30, 2016</a></blockquote>

[KevinL]

Some photos from midday today!

As noted above, signals are active at Gaukel and Charles.


Just around the corner, we can see things are doing well at Victoria Park station. Canopy with glass is up, feature-wall frame is done, approach sidewalk is fully poured.


Reverse angle. (Yes, that taxi parked on the rails while I came through.)


The platforms are designed for canopies over their full length, but initial install is only half (as that's one trainset). For now, the unused canopy bases will get these luminaires, at least.


The platform level is notably lower than the approaching sidewalk, a sure sign that the final surface is not yet on.