ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[rangersfan]

Thanks Markster. So basically there won't be any freight run in parallel with Ion?

[Markster]

Not at the same time, no.
Freight will be after-hours

[Canard]

They can't run the LFLRV's at the same time as freight because of Transport Canada crash regulations. The track will be interesting at the ion stops because there will be gauntlet tracks.

[MidTowner]

I'm not sure where to put this (Outside Waterloo Region?), but the provincial government is in the process of announcing a billion dollars for LRT in Hamilton.

The reason I think it's salient to Ion is that I continue to believe this sets a good precedent for funding the conversion of aBRT to Cambridge to LRT. The plans for that exist, the business case exists (and is arguably better than Hamilton's), the support is there (unlike in Hamilton, where there is deep division over whether they want LRT or not). I think this (along with the Hurtontario announcement the other week) bodes well for us to go for very generous funding for Phase II funding sometime in the near future.

Maybe we should have an Ion- Phase II thread? Maybe I'm too optimistic, but I think it will be sooner than later when we start talking seriously about going after the money. Not long after opening day of Phase I, I reckon.

[belmont]

A second set of tracks has been laid across the Bearinger road intersection.

[Spokes]

To further on what MidTowner said:

$1 billion for Hamilton LRT line, additional GO train station, Wynne promises

May 26, 2015 | Waterloo Region Record | Link

HAMILTON — The city of Hamilton will get up to $1 billion from the Ontario government for a Light Rail Transit line from McMaster University to Queenston Circle in the city's east end.

Premier Kathleen Wynne says construction on the new LRT will begin in 2019, and it will connect directly to the new West Harbour GO train station that will open this summer.

Wynne says the province will continue talks with the city about extending the LRT line another three kilometres east to Eastgate Square on Centennial Parkway in Stoney Creek.

The province will also extend the GO Lakeshore West train service to a new stop at Centennial Parkway, which is expected to be completed by 2019.

The provincial government will provide 100 per cent of the capital costs of building the new LRT, which Wynne says will reduce travel times and connect people to other transit systems.

The funding is part of the Liberal government's planned $30 billion, 10-year plan to invest in public transit and other infrastructure projects, with just over half the money dedicated to the Toronto-to-Hamilton corridor.

[Square]

Thank you Belmont.

[Markster]

Heh, looks like the province is paying for 80% of Hamilton's LRT. If the city chips in, they can finish it to the real terminus.

[MidTowner]

No chance of the municipal government contributing any of their own money; it'll have to stop a little short of the original plan. The route proposed by the province is more than 90% of the distance of the original route, plus a tiny spur line to the Go station.

[zanate]

"Central Station - Innovation District". Uh, OK.


Light rail stop names get OK, with one tweak in Kitchener
May 26, 2015 | Paige Desmond | Waterloo Region Record | Link

WATERLOO REGION — Region of Waterloo councillors voted Tuesday on names for the light rail stops along the 19 kilometres of track from Conestoga Mall in Waterloo to Fairview Park mall in Kitchener.

But there was one tweak to accommodate a request from Kitchener politicians.

Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic appealed to councillors to change the name of the stop at the future transit hub at King Street and Victoria Street to Central Station-Innovation District.

"Kitchener has, over the past decade, invested significant dollars in that area in terms of our economic development investment fund," Vrbanovic said. "We have significant private sector partners that have invested in the area and it also speaks to what we're trying to do as a region with the innovation supercluster."

Coun. Sean Strickland, a member of the regional committee of staff and politicians who recommended the names, supported the move. Politicians approved the change.

"It is a key piece and there's a variety of different ways we could have dealt with that," he said. "In the end I think it's important to have innovation in there."

The transit hub was a key stop to name because of the hub's importance to the project.

It will eventually have infrastructure for light rail transit, Grand River Transit and GO Trains.

Strickland would like to see the actual hub named to reflect that light rail is a regional project.

"There may be opportunities to name the whole area a little bit differently because we're putting a lot of investment into that process," he said. "I would have preferred to have the regional banner somewhere on some of those stops."

Staff and politicians used a list of nine criteria for choosing stop names, including:

• Names should be short and descriptive

• Names should be identifiable by both local residents and visitors

• Stops should be named after established institutions and key landmarks if the stop primarily serves one of those destinations

• They should be named after the closest cross street where no primary institution is present

• They should be unique and distinct from another

• Stops should not be named for private enterprises

The names:

• Conestoga

• Northfield

• Research and Technology

• University of Waterloo

• Laurier-Waterloo Park

• Willis Way

• Waterloo Public Square

• Allen

• Grand River Hospital

• Central Station-Innovation District

• Victoria Park

• Queen

• Kitchener City Hall

• Frederick

• Kitchener Market

• Borden

• Mill

• Block Line

• Fairway

Also Tuesday politicians endorsed a plan to procure public art for some rapid transit stops and will go through a public consultation process to do so.

[ookpik]

To further on what MidTowner said:

$1 billion for Hamilton LRT line, additional GO train station, Wynne promises

May 26, 2015 | Waterloo Region Record | Link

So will Waterloo now join Ottawa in getting on board the fullfair-funding-of-LRT-Stage-2 gravy train? 

Wynne opens LRT purse strings, Ottawa wants "fair" treatment

Now Ottawa has watched Hamilton and Mississauga get full financial backing from the province for their LRT projects, at $1 billion and $1.6 billion, respectively.

After the Hamilton announcement, officials at Ottawa City Hall were talking a lot about getting their "fair" amount for the next phase of LRT.

Mayor Jim Watson's spokesman Brook Simpson, "The city is currently preparing its submission to the province for the funding of Stage 2 of LRT. Mayor Watson and the city have enjoyed a good working relationship with the province during the first phase of LRT and expect Ottawa to get its fair share for Stage 2."

[Waterlooer]

"Central Station - Innovation District". Uh, OK.

http://www.therecord.com/news-story/5645...kitchener/

That's way too long of a name. I hope the Transit Hub will get a different name...

[Canard]

Love the new name! King Central was awful and it made no sense to reference King, since that's the road you're traveling along and its therefore not unique.

[DHLawrence]

Heard the news on the radio this afternoon and it sounds like the Region is indeed looking at more provincial funding for Phase II.

[Waterlooer]

I feel like the only one who liked the name King Central I'm just glad it isn't "Transit Hub" or "Victoria".