King-Victoria Transit Hub

[MidTowner]

They would have to get creative with parking and discourage people driving there but it might work. Maybe block off Gaukel street to cars and have it be pedestrian and bicycles only.

I like BuildingScout's idea of extending Victoria Park to Charles to connect it to downtown. This idea- of blocking off Gaukel- is nearly as good. It could be turned into a mini greenway linking City Hall and Victoria Park.

[Canard]

What will happen to traffic driving along Charles? You'll be asking people to redirect into what, King? That would be a traffic nightmare. The idea is cute though. I kind of wish King was just closed and both directions of LRT went down it, instead, and traffic would go along Duke/Charles.

[Viewfromthe42]

King may be losing a single lane in each direction North of Victoria, but nothing else is lost in the core, lane-wise. So no traffic redirection is really necessary.

[Canard]

But you guys were suggesting that Charles close in front of the Gaukel St Terminal, were you not?

[BuildingScout]

But you guys were suggesting that Charles close in front of the Gaukel St Terminal, were you not?

Not at all. Charles remains open and Victoria Park though extended would be crossed by Park (as it does now), Joseph and Charles.

It is Gaukel that someone proposed closing. Once the Charles St. station is gone, there is no real need for Gaukel to remain open.

[MidTowner]

It is Gaukel that someone proposed closing. Once the Charles St. station is gone, there is no real need for Gaukel to remain open.

I think that this is very true, and my interpretation of clasher's suggestion to close Gaukel was to turn it into a pedestrianized street, crossed by Charles (which would continue to allow cars).

[nms]

I'm pretty sure that there may be some lingering ground pollution under the terminal which would pre-empt any quick development. A few years ago there was remediation around the old post office across Gaukel, and around the fountain facing Charles. I'm not sure if they have any data on where the rest of the plume sits in that area.

[BuildingScout]

Is there anyone who can mock up a render of a park on the Charles Station lot connecting to Victoria Park?

[clasher]

I suggested closing Gaukel to automobile traffic. I'd say they could double or triple the width of the sidewalks and a dual bike down the center of it. They could also give Kava Bean an outdoor patio space and put greenspace on the current driveway of the terminal facing Gaukel.

Hall's lane would still give those businesses delivery truck access and the only folks that would have a caniption might the people that park in the spots along Hall's lane, they'd have to drive to Water street since Hall's lane is one-way.

If someone was crazy enough to listen to my ideas about a grocery store at the Terminal (LOL call it the Food Terminal...), I would ban left turns into the parking lot and coming out of it.

[panamaniac]

If Gaukel St could be pedestrianized once the terminal is gone, would that also be an option for Ontario St between Duke and Joseph, perhaps with the King to Charles block as a first stage?

By the way "The Food Terminal" would be a much better name that "Terminal Foods".

[BuildingScout]

I'm sorry but it would a terrible idea to place a grocery store here. Downtown needs a Metro store that can be snuck in in any of the many empty store fronts on King. Extending a park in Downtown however is an opportunity that happens once in a generation, and connecting beautiful Victoria Park with still not-so-nice (though much improved) Downtown Kitchener would be a great boost to that area.

[panamaniac]

Plus, it would provide a great new space for the installation of the statues of the Prime Ministers!

[zanate]

I would prefer to see as prime a site as the terminal redeveloped (and redeveloped well) instead of attempting to extend the park, especially with the site's proximity to LRT and the chance to put up a major development where it will be buffered from established low-density neighbourhoods. However, there's a huge opportunity to create a gateway to the park from the downtown core along the entire length of Gaukel.

I'd like to see such a development animate the street along Charles, too. Both Charles and Duke are quite "dead" compared to King St. today. That would be nice to change.

[clasher]

Downtown needs a full size grocery store, something at least as big Central Fresh. There's more towers around the current terminal than almost anywhere else in the region. The parking lots on Francis south would be fine places to build it and then they could build a mixed use tower on top of it there and likely preserve all the precious parking spots too... or even that old post office building across Gaukel could be incorporated into a neat mixed use building with a ground-store grocery.

They've already spent millions on making the park nicer and people in other parts of the city are gonna want to see some upgrades to their parks too. They just spent a mint on shiny new washrooms and all that work around the boathouse. I think it's gonna be tough sell to tell everyone else that Vic Park needs even more money.

[MidTowner]

It is a very big lot. As zanate says, a very nice gateway to the park along the length of Gaukel could be developed. That could be made very wide using part of the former terminal lot, and there would still be plenty of room to the east for redevelopment.