ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[Rainrider22]

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

Shelter supports at Victoria Park station:

From this angle, can anyone else imagine how cool it would look if Manulife optioned on the ability to build a tower on their building ?

[Pheidippides]

Over on the GRT thread I mentioned some new GRT bus stop signs appearing along King and Charles.

One of them is on Charles immediately north of Water as seen in the project agreement, but I am wondering how these stops will actually work in practice because there is no curb cuts to access the bus stop island and it isn't tied in to the pedestrian crosswalk.

[Canard]

Ha! So I just drove down Charles this morning... and all the wrong-way speed limit signs I mentioned have been flipped around!

[panamaniac]

Over on the GRT thread I mentioned some new GRT bus stop signs appearing along King and Charles.

One of them is on Charles immediately north of Water as seen in the project agreement, but I am wondering how these stops will actually work in practice because there is no curb cuts to access the bus stop island and it isn't tied in to the pedestrian crosswalk.

Just guessing, but won't the bus stop and the passengers get on and off?   No, seriously, I am having trouble understanding what you've described.  Maybe post a pic?

[GtwoK]

Over on the GRT thread I mentioned some new GRT bus stop signs appearing along King and Charles.

One of them is on Charles immediately north of Water as seen in the project agreement, but I am wondering how these stops will actually work in practice because there is no curb cuts to access the bus stop island and it isn't tied in to the pedestrian crosswalk.

Just guessing, but won't the bus stop and the passengers get on and off?   No, seriously, I am having trouble understanding what you've described.  Maybe post a pic?

I believe what Pheidippides is saying is that there is no depressed portion of the curb to get pedestrians from the sidewalk, across the tracks, to the island / bus stop without tripping.

[danbrotherston]

...
I believe what Pheidippides is saying is that there is no depressed portion of the curb to get pedestrians from the sidewalk, across the tracks, to the island / bus stop without tripping.

And you know, for those who might have some difficulty with a curb.

[KevinL]

Hopefully just a construction oversight and it can be altered to include a slope.

[Canard]

Official response regarding the Bus Only signs on the rapidway at Victoria.

   

   

[Canard]

There is a depression in the concrete. Like the platforms for the stations, it's at the crosswalk at the end, where it should be. To have it anywhere else would intice people to cross at an unsafe location.

[isUsername]

The obstruction sign is also wrong. I don't know whether it should be a gold-and-black chevron type, or a diagonal-down and left type, but it definitely shouldn't be a diagonal-down and right type.

[Rick O'Shay]

The obstruction sign is also wrong. I don't know whether it should be a gold-and-black chevron type, or a diagonal-down and left type, but it definitely shouldn't be a diagonal-down and right type.

It should be down and left.  Unless they really do want buses up on the tracks  
Which if that is the case I'm all for it lol

[KevinL]

There is a depression in the concrete. Like the platforms for the stations, it's at the crosswalk at the end, where it should be. To have it anywhere else would intice people to cross at an unsafe location.

Well, that's fine then.

Great overhead shot of Erb and Caroline by the Ion team:

[Markster]

Erb/Caroline. They have created as many problems as they fixed.

[Canard]

If you mean the upper right crossing in the above image, it can't go straight across because then you need yet another set of railway crossing arms.

[chutten]

Erb/Caroline. They have created as many problems as they fixed.

Let's see what we can come up with:

It looks like the new design helped by:
Streamlining the Westbound traffic flow from Caroline
Making crossing Erb St safer on the E crossing, by a significant decrease in length
Making a preliminary commitment to improve bicycle crossings (that bike box is hopefully a sign of what's to come)
Making crossing Caroline safer on the N crossing, by placing an island (two shorter segments instead of one longer)
Improving train/vehicle safety Northbound by removing that dumb "one shortish car only" box between the rail crossing and the stop line (replacing it by setting the stop lines _way_ back)

It looks like the new design didn't help by:
Complicating the pedestrian Erb St crossing on the W crossing. (Canard comments it might be best of a bad situation due to MTO regs, etc)
Setting the Northbound traffic so far back from the intersection. It is _inviting_ drivers and cyclists to cheat across the tracks.
Planting a light standard in the middle of the sidewalk on the SW corner. Mobility is restricted, reinforcing feelings of hostility to non-motor traffic.
There is no clear picture as of yet how cycling traffic down the new Laurel Trail alignment will be accommodated. If memory serves, the drawings have it emptying straight onto the pedestrian crossing from the NW corner to the pedestrian island with no connection to the concrete MUT alongside the tracks which I presume is the desired connection for cyclists who wish to continue South or East. (As before, West is in-lane cycling nightmare on Erb, and there is no North).
Cyclists in the bike box continuing Southbound will likely try to enter the trackside MUT with too-shallow turns over the tracks, causing accidents unless designed appropriately (maybe paint a perpendicular path?). But maybe since this happens outside of the intersection it doesn't count?

Also, wow but the construction dirt trails make it obvious how _little_ of the intersection is actually used.

What'd I miss (pro or con)?