ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[tomh009]

Looking down Charles.  If only we'd opted for PRIMOVE...  (And buried utilities)

But mostly buried utilities though, I would think — if you imagine using the catenary poles to support the streetlights, and bury the power cables, then the only visible difference between PRIMOVE and catenary is the actual catenary wires and the arms supporting them from the poles that would need to be there anyway, so the actual impact of the catenary wires would be pretty small.

Are the lights going to be mounted on the cat poles on Charles (from Benton to Ottawa)?  I recall the light posts on the boulevards/sidewalks looked permanent, but of course I may be mistaken.

[jamincan]

I drove both ways on Northfield today, but after dark unfortunately. Traffic is no longer directed to just one side (nor is it on King, for that matter), so I'm not really sure why the interchange isn't open yet. Perhaps they are waiting for the lanes to be painted?

[Canard]

That's probably it. When I drove through on Friday and Saturday afternoons it was a bit of a free-for-all.

[The85]

I drove both ways on Northfield today, but after dark unfortunately. Traffic is no longer directed to just one side (nor is it on King, for that matter), so I'm not really sure why the interchange isn't open yet. Perhaps they are waiting for the lanes to be painted?

They're definitely working on reopening the interchange. I drove 85 south mid last week at night from King Street (Regional Road 15 - Farmer's Market), and there were lane reductions both directions on 85 while the temporary jersey barriers at Northfield blocking the exit ramps were removed with a crane.

[danbrotherston]

I also went past Northfield, there are bike lane signs up, but none painted. Definitely waiting on some paint.

@KevinL No hard barriers, sure, but those accesses are plenty hard to access, with ditches, dirt, grades, and curbs. This just shows that lack of pedestrian access was a "designed in" problem from the get-go in this neighbourhood, as it is in pretty much every other neighbourhood in the city built after the automobile.

[timc]

Can anyone else just imagine this as being our own little Eaton's Centre? They really should tear that parking garage down, build a tower there, and rework the exterior of the building to be more accessible from all around.

A little bit like this? :-)

[GtwoK]

Update from the Ion site: Northfield ramp opening pushed to the 7th (this Friday).

Can anyone else just imagine this as being our own little Eaton's Centre? They really should tear that parking garage down, build a tower there, and rework the exterior of the building to be more accessible from all around.

A little bit like this? :-)

Damnit! I meant more so the purpose of the building rather than the owner, but I'm sure you knew that

[Section ThirtyOne]

Not sure if this has been reported yet, but last night I was able to go straight through from Bridgeport/Caroline to Caroline Street southbound. That alone is going to save some major delays in the area.

Although I will say, the new lane alignment coming down the hill on Bridgeport/Caroline just doesn't feel right for some reason.

[timio]

They will also need to repaint the existing road on Victoria westbound at King. The right lane currently quickly turns into a right turn lane with no notice.

[Pheidippides]

What exactly do the "resume safe speed" signs mean? They would seem to imply that the vehicle was previously traveling at an unsafe speed.

Cat pole arms and brackets going up along King, John to Green today.

[Canard]

The limit drops down to 45 km/h when crossing Colby/Conestogo. I agree that it's weird to see that sign, and not a fixed, higher speed sign (60?) through here at that point to resume to. All I can figure is in-cab signaling with some variable limit at this point based on upstream traffic but I can't imagine that's the case since then it'd also be used on the spur, too (which it's not, as evidenced by the speed limit signs on it).

[jwilliamson]

Tracks have been laid across William on King.

[Pheidippides]

I was actually referring to a similar sign on Caroline near Erb.

[Canard]

Oh, haha. You didn't say, so I assumed you were talking about Northfield which is the only place I had seen these signs.

Where are they at Erb/Caroline?

[Pheidippides]

It was just south of Erb but before the CIGI driveway.

Shelter supports at Victoria Park station: