ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[urbd]

Yes, this really belongs in a different thread. But I don’t really understand what you’re saying, in light of what I recall from the plan. My recollection is that the plan calls for a bicycle trail immediately next to the ION fence, then a line of trees, then a pedestrian path, with each path being 4m in width. OK, maybe there isn’t room between the fence and the existing line of trees for a 4m path, but clearly there is room for, say, a 3.5m path, because there is one there now. So just pave that. Then pave a pedestrian path on the other side of the existing line of trees.

I’m not sure exactly what is planned for the other items in the way of the pedestrian path, but it seems pretty clear that things will be moving, at least if I’m reading the plans at all correctly.

On of the things I’ve noticed about planners is they’re incredibly bad at saying “X is ideal, but 0.9X is fine if that is what is existing or convenient to fit into existing conditions”. This goes for everything from lane widths to wheelchair ramp inclines, and it is very often the case that by pushing a limit just a little, many possibilities are opened up to make things better overall even if the specific aspect being pushed is in some theoretical sense not as good as it “should” be. Take a wheelchair ramp example. Say that ramps should be 1/20 slope (can’t remember right now). But in *this* location, making it 1/19 allows eliminating a switchback. Worth doing? Very likely. Just a tiny bit steeper than what is ideal, but better in other ways. Same concept in the park — the existing path is great, partly because of the trees. So don’t destroy all the existing trees just because they aren’t in *exactly* the right place.

You do misunderstand what I am saying, I will clarify.  

There is plenty of room on the west side of the line of trees between the trees and the LRT fence.  Probably 5 meters or more.  Enough room for one wide trail, but not separated trails.

The problem is the east side of the line of trees, between the trees and the farmstead where the animals are kept.  Obviously, the fence would need to be moved, and the farmstead would be shrunk far more than it would be by moving the trees.  But the bigger problem is the two buildings that are in the way of the trail.  These buildings are part of the farmstead, and must be inside the fence, but would obstruct your path.



In the end, they are fairly small trees.  The philosophy of "compromising" on standards is not a straight forward one, and a more interesting conversation for another place.

Probably reviewing the latest designs from March 23 for the Waterloo Park Central Promenade would help here (and yes, related to ION as it is a direct interface between one station and part of the line):

http://www.waterloo.ca/centralpromenade/