ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[danbrotherston]

   

That moment where concrete ties become wooden.  I mean, I guess it had to happen somewhere.  I still find it strange they end up using both.



   

This is looking across King towards the passage that lets trains continue down the spur line.  I recall at the Spur Line Trail meeting, the city indicating their hopes that the rail line would be shifted slightly north (left in this picture) to allow the trail to continue through here.  The picture shows that there is indeed space (just barely), and you can see the tracks shift to the north side at the end of the passage, but are towards the middle in the foreground where they enter the passage.  Seems unnecessary to have them positioned there, I suppose they could still move, but it doesn't look like they will.  I am not surprised about this, given that the city is twice removed from those actually doing the work.

I did express my frustration at the idea in the original meeting.  I felt that even if the rails could be moved, the trail would be tight through there.  I felt that the "temporary" (now looking less temporary) "routing" of the trail down Regina and onto Willis Way should be considered permanent and room in the budget should be made to implement a proper trail connection that people would actually feel safe using.  I didn't think they should count on being able to actually move the freight alignment, although I suppose we still have some time to go on this.

[zanate]

I did express my frustration at the idea in the original meeting.  I felt that even if the rails could be moved, the trail would be tight through there.  I felt that the "temporary" (now looking less temporary) "routing" of the trail down Regina and onto Willis Way should be considered permanent and room in the budget should be made to implement a proper trail connection that people would actually feel safe using.  I didn't think they should count on being able to actually move the freight alignment, although I suppose we still have some time to go on this.

My recollection of spur trail planning is different. ISTR finding out from staff that the gap between those buildings was rail only and the spur trail would never officially use it, that it would route down to Willis Way officially, but (nudge nudge wink wink) of course they couldn't stop people from filtering through the more direct way even if it's technically trespassing. I don't remember hearing anything about shifting rails and the idea surprises me, because rail cars are often quite a bit wider than the rails on which they sit, so clearance is an issue.

So, I'm not expecting much here.

Also, isn't there a footpath along the parking garage next to the button factory? Surprised that this hasn't become the official trail route, but I guess it's a challenge to cross King.

[danbrotherston]

My recollection of spur trail planning is different. ISTR finding out from staff that the gap between those buildings was rail only and the spur trail would never officially use it, that it would route down to Willis Way officially, but (nudge nudge wink wink) of course they couldn't stop people from filtering through the more direct way even if it's technically trespassing. I don't remember hearing anything about shifting rails and the idea surprises me, because rail cars are often quite a bit wider than the rails on which they sit, so clearance is an issue.

So, I'm not expecting much here.

Also, isn't there a footpath along the parking garage next to the button factory? Surprised that this hasn't become the official trail route, but I guess it's a challenge to cross King.

*shrugs*...I wouldn't be surprised if staff didn't all have their stories straight.

Remember also "staff" is an ambiguous term.  At the meeting, I heard this from city staff directly, not region staff.

As for space, I realize that rail cars are wider, but look at the positioning of the trail at the far end of the passage.  It is clearly closer to the north building than the south.  If you take a closer look (in person), if you give an equal buffer on the south side of the track as the north side has from the building, there is still about 2 meters of space between that and the next building.  Narrow to be sure, but something staff would probably consider feasible.  However, at the entrance, since the rail is in the middle between the two buildings, there is not sufficient space for a trail.  The adjustment staff stated specifically they wanted was for the rail to be moved closer to the north building, as it is at the other end.

There is a gap at the parking garage, but it is also quite narrow, one end is in the middle of a bus stop, the other end is in the middle of a parking lot, not exactly the best place for a bike/ped path.  Although crossing King and Regina there are no more difficult than crossing at the rail line.

Quite frankly, the Willis Way route is not a bad compromise, especially given that it has lights at King.  But it needed to be built properly.  The access at the City Hall is decent, but the crossing of Regina is wanting.  The bigger problem is, that there is a very large percentage of the population who are uncomfortable riding on a road, even a quieter one like Willis Way.  The lack of connections between our pieces of infrastructure I think is one of the biggest obstacles our bike network faces.

But I realize this is getting off topic...so just to bring it back...I hope that connections between buses and LRT work better than connections between the Spur Line and Iron Horse Trail.

[Bureaucromancer]

It seems like the proper solution would be to consider that section equivalent to street running, sign the hell out of it and acknowledge that the risk is quite manageable for a pedestrian path with the level of use the spur actually gets.

[danbrotherston]

It seems like the proper solution would be to consider that section equivalent to street running, sign the hell out of it and acknowledge that the risk is quite manageable for a pedestrian path with the level of use the spur actually gets.

This would be my suggestion except that I don't think it will work for bikes, because riding along the tracks, even embedded in asphalt is really risky, especially in a confined corridor.  You could possibly split bikes from peds at the intersection further back, but there still must be accommodation for people on bikes who aren't comfortable riding on the road.

Also, there's railway rules and all that jazz, quite frankly, I'm already impressed they managed to get the spur line trail within the rules without a big fence.

[Canard]

It seems like the proper solution would be to consider that section equivalent to street running, sign the hell out of it and acknowledge that the risk is quite manageable for a pedestrian path with the level of use the spur actually gets.

Two words: Transport Canada.

Street running heavy rail will never be a thing again, anywhere.

[GtwoK]

What did the poles look like? What diameter? Was there a mounting flange on top?

Only got a brief glance at them while walking past.
 Looked to be maybe 8" across. The inner diameter was much smaller, maybe 3 or 4". Don't remember if there was  flange on top, but looked like they may have been connecting them , possibly with pipe or wire of some sort?

Here's a crude drawing

[Viewfromthe42]

I would say those are surely for bollards. Look in the background of your image, the intersection side of the crosswalk: every light stripe has a spot for a bollard, and this would envelop the last of the brick crosswalks in downtown.

[GtwoK]

Doh, how did I not notice that when making the image? That being said, why have we never seen them used?

[Viewfromthe42]

There's never been much in the way of events large enough to need to close off *THAT* much of King Street, aside from perhaps an expanded version of the two weeks (?) they had it closed 1 or 2 summers back for event-a-day car-free-ness.

[isUsername]

It seems like the proper solution would be to consider that section equivalent to street running, sign the hell out of it and acknowledge that the risk is quite manageable for a pedestrian path with the level of use the spur actually gets.

Two words: Transport Canada.

Street running heavy rail will never be a thing again, anywhere.

I can't believe this is still a thing in the U.S.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFk-yeGHn-o

[ijmorlan]

It seems like the proper solution would be to consider that section equivalent to street running, sign the hell out of it and acknowledge that the risk is quite manageable for a pedestrian path with the level of use the spur actually gets.

This would be my suggestion except that I don't think it will work for bikes, because riding along the tracks, even embedded in asphalt is really risky, especially in a confined corridor.  You could possibly split bikes from peds at the intersection further back, but there still must be accommodation for people on bikes who aren't comfortable riding on the road.

Also, there's railway rules and all that jazz, quite frankly, I'm already impressed they managed to get the spur line trail within the rules without a big fence.

Put the pedestrian path in the middle, between the rails and extending out to approximately the ends of the ties. Put bicycle lanes outside of that. Mark clearly. Done.

And/or use gap fillers to fill in the flange space.

This is a problem that can be solved technically fairly easily, with some creativity.

In the event bureaucrats (Transport Canada) get in the way, officially have the trail detour to the path immediately north of the parking garage from King to the laneway. In any case, install an excellent crossing of King St. right at the tracks.

Also, leave space in the design for the path to run immediately north of the tracks from King to Erb/Caroline. Oops, they screwed that up! Oh well.

If somebody had been really interested in excellent bicycle infrastructure, the tracks could have been shifted slightly south from King to the bridge crossing the creek. Then the path could have been on the north side of the tracks from Seagram all the way down to Breithaupt St., with no places where crossing the track was necessary (unless you count the squeeze between King and Regina).

One more comment: the Laurel Trail officially runs/ran next to the tracks between King and Regina. It was cleared of snow right up to and including last Winter and was shown as a trail on the City's map. I don’t see why the slight route adjustment being done now needs to interfere with the routing of the trail. I assume this was done in the 80s or early 90s and was apparently fine at the time so it should be allowed to continue, especially now that the spur line will be getting precisely no traffic at all except in the early morning hours. I find it hard to believe that even the paranoids at Transport Canada would have a problem with this.

[Canard]

This is a problem that can be solved technically fairly easily, with some creativity.

I don't think anyone doubts that.  From an infrastructure standpoint, it's dead easy.  The point I'm making is that what seems easy to us, isn't, because of all the red tape and rules and regulations on the "other side" that forbids things like this for reasons that are not apparent to us, as armchair civil engineers and city planners.

In the event bureaucrats (Transport Canada) get in the way, officially have the trail detour to the path immediately north of the parking garage from King to the laneway. In any case, install an excellent crossing of King St. right at the tracks.

I can't imagine that the Region would actually undertake any form of construction or upgrading of the path here to turn it into a "non-official trail" and somehow try to lie to Transport Canada that "No no, it's not really a trail!  Honest!".

One more comment: the Laurel Trail officially runs/ran next to the tracks between King and Regina. It was cleared of snow right up to and including last Winter and was shown as a trail on the City's map. I don’t see why the slight route adjustment being done now needs to interfere with the routing of the trail. I assume this was done in the 80s or early 90s and was apparently fine at the time so it should be allowed to continue, especially now that the spur line will be getting precisely no traffic at all except in the early morning hours. I find it hard to believe that even the paranoids at Transport Canada would have a problem with this.

That's really interesting that it was officially through that gap until recently.  I think that's pretty telling of what's happened here - that this path flew under TC's radar for many years, and only with the Rapid Transit project coming along bringing it to light.

With regard to the second bolded statement - I absolutely do believe that they will have a problem with it.  My guess (since we're all only guessing, right now) is that the rules and laws probably work in such a way that "if you touch it, it's now going to have to follow the new rules".  "If you leave it alone, it can stay as it was, grandfathered in."  Because there was work on the tracks around there, it's possible that TC rained down on them and said "This whole trail situation can't happen anymore."

Think of it this way:  Look at all the fencing along the Waterloo Spur.  It's there because of the same one freight train at night that goes through that gap in the buildings between Regina and King.  So, if it was ok to have people walking along the tracks there, why on Earth would TC require all these fences along the spur?  It doesn't add up.

[timc]

The impression I get from previous discussion is that things are "ok" with Transport Canada until you go and make any changes to the track. So all the new spur line track being put in for ION has all the bells and whistles (literally!), but the spur line trail is allowed to co-exist with the track with no fences at all. Am I wrong about this? And if the spur line were to be reconstructed, would it need fencing to separate it from the trail? If this is so, would it even be possible to have an informal trail running between King and Regina if the track were moved, or would additional safeguards need to be installed?

[tomh009]

There's never been much in the way of events large enough to need to close off *THAT* much of King Street, aside from perhaps an expanded version of the two weeks (?) they had it closed 1 or 2 summers back for event-a-day car-free-ness.

Assuming that's King & Francis (and I do think it is), King St has been closed that far at least twice this summer.  Once was some kind of food truck festival (?) early in the summer, the second might have the multicultural festival. 

The Blues Festival is further east on King, closing from Frederick/Benton up to City Hall, probably because that makes sense with the locations of the YNC (at City Hall) and BIA (between Queen and Frederick) stages book-ending the stretch of King St that's closed.