Cycling in Waterloo Region

[ijmorlan]

If we're going to the trouble of building a MUT there, why would we shove it in the middle? Why not just put it along the side like it is on Franklin and every other road in the region? It is more convenient for cyclists, connects naturally to the Parkside MUT, and could remain to the right of the slip lane until it can cross more safely at a perpendicular angle.

It’s an idea for what could have been done, not a serious proposal to renovate the bridge now.

To implement the idea now would require rebuilding the LRT all the way across the bridge. It might be possible to do this without closing anything for long (other than reducing the road to one lane in each direction), by first building the new LRT tracks in the innermost traffic lanes, then replacing the existing LRT tracks with the MUT, then replacing the sidewalks and bicycle lanes by new outer traffic lanes, but it would be a huge project regardless.

Doing it at the time of LRT construction, by contrast, would have been easy: first build the new MUT, then convert the existing sidewalks and bicycle lanes into new road lanes, then build the LRT tracks. I doubt it would have increased costs at all.

Starting from where we are, I’m not sure what to do about the bridge itself, but the crossing proposed as part of that large development on the Kraus site should definitely go ahead (I won’t express an opinion on bridge vs. tunnel for that one!), and should be designed to connect well to everything on both sides, not just the new development.