Highway 7 - Kitchener to Guelph

[ijmorlan]

Everybody is going to be wondering why we didn’t just build an interurban LRT line between Kitchener and Guelph instead of blowing the money on another highway.

They have already done all the environmental assessments, land acquisition and design. Plus this project will provide another link for the region to the 401 corridor via the Hanlon (which I believe is to be converted to limited access highway). I don't think this money is blown. I wonder what the cost would be to run an lrt line into Guelph's core. Also I wonder what route they would take.

I don’t deny that the highway has benefits. But building an LRT line would be a bigger capacity increase. Over time, the traffic that essentially consists of people moving between the cities could move to the LRT line, while cargo traffic could continue to use the road. Additionally, the existing road could be widened to four lanes as needed on the existing right of way. Building a controlled-access highway is overkill.

As for route, between the cities is obvious — just run parallel to the existing rail right-of-way, as close as permissible. Within the cities, probably mostly the same, with possibly some slight adjustments near each end of the route. At both ends, terminate immediately next to the train stations/transit hubs for seamless transfers to GO trains, local buses, and Ion.