+- Waterloo Region Connected (https://www.waterlooregionconnected.com)
+-- Forum: Waterloo Region Works (https://www.waterlooregionconnected.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=14)
+--- Forum: Transportation and Infrastructure (https://www.waterlooregionconnected.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=25)
+--- Thread: King-Victoria Transit Hub (/showthread.php?tid=15)
RE: King-Victoria Transit Hub - panamaniac - 01-08-2020
(01-08-2020, 06:18 PM)taylortbb Wrote:But the process did fail, no? This seems to be an attempt to salvage something. Although I too find it odd that the platform is not covered.(01-08-2020, 05:52 PM)panamaniac Wrote: I don’t get the second one at all.
At first I didn't either, but I think it's hard to see in the small picture on the forum. The second design is basically a station with a green roof, and a huge slope down to Victoria St creating an outdoor space. Most of the station is under the grassy area that appears in the middle, and gets light from the glass on either side.
That said, I think both designs are absolutely terrible and represent complete failure of this process. Neither is as large or as bold as this project was supposed to be, nor are they designed enough for integration with later phases. I'd rather we build nothing and wait a few years until we can do it right than build either of the options presented.
RE: King-Victoria Transit Hub - Rainrider22 - 01-08-2020
Everyone needs to go and give feed back we need them to move forward just for the sake. this needs to be a show stopper.
RE: King-Victoria Transit Hub - ijmorlan - 01-08-2020
(01-08-2020, 07:30 PM)clasher Wrote: I think they could have built the original plan they had and just leave a pre-built base for a mixed use tower. Both these designs seem kind of stupid since they don't cover the tracks; what is so hard about a train shed?
If we need to do a small version of the project, it should basically be a train shed designed to look nice, with not much more than a bus shelter hiding under it for ticketing etc. Then build a real landmark station in the lower levels of the tallest building in the Region later.
It’s even OK if the trainshed looks weird standing alone without being part of a landmark building.
RE: King-Victoria Transit Hub - Spokes - 01-08-2020
What the actual fuck?
Seriously?
No.
Just no.
RE: King-Victoria Transit Hub - Coke6pk - 01-09-2020
Can we repurpose the "Million Dollar Bridge Dome" that everyone (in the media) had their panties in a twist over?
Coke
RE: King-Victoria Transit Hub - ac3r - 01-09-2020
This is sure mediocore, but I wasn't really expecting anything like what the region was throwing around a couple years ago. All the tall condos/offices you saw in the renderings were just suggestions, but no developer had any real interest in it at the time. In the future, I'm sure it'll look a bit different...but the station itself won't be too grand.
RE: King-Victoria Transit Hub - timc - 01-09-2020
Where is the rest of it?
RE: King-Victoria Transit Hub - ac3r - 01-09-2020
That's it.
RE: King-Victoria Transit Hub - MidTowner - 01-09-2020
Honest question: these designs are "terrible" and "brutal" compared to what? I can agree that they're not too exciting, but I don't think they're terrible and there's not enough in those sketches to say whether the final result would be something we'd be ashamed about. To be honest, if the roofline of the first option were extended over the tracks, I would probably look at that and say it might very well wind up quite nice.
I can see the merits of future proofing to some extent. It's true that this is a very important parcel of land. But there are parcels nearby that can and will accommodate high-density developments. I'm not sure it would be a good strategy to build nothing and wait for conditions to get better for something grander to make sense. That argument might make sense for a long time, meanwhile we're without an integrated terminal.
RE: King-Victoria Transit Hub - panamaniac - 01-09-2020
(01-09-2020, 02:52 PM)MidTowner Wrote: Honest question: these designs are "terrible" and "brutal" compared to what? I can agree that they're not too exciting, but I don't think they're terrible and there's not enough in those sketches to say whether the final result would be something we'd be ashamed about. To be honest, if the roofline of the first option were extended over the tracks, I would probably look at that and say it might very well wind up quite nice.
I can see the merits of future proofing to some extent. It's true that this is a very important parcel of land. But there are parcels nearby that can and will accommodate high-density developments. I'm not sure it would be a good strategy to build nothing and wait for conditions to get better for something grander to make sense. That argument might make sense for a long time, meanwhile we're without an integrated terminal.
Among those available sites is the rest of this site, which one assumes would become more attractive to private developers with the transit hub in place next door.
RE: King-Victoria Transit Hub - mastermind - 01-09-2020
It doesn't seem a whole lot bigger than the current train station a few blocks up. Maybe we can reno that one to handle the next 5-10 years and save this parcel of land for something more. Imagine once Garment St and Station Park and the Google building are complete, there will be thousands more people living or working right here. Maybe at that point the scales will tip enough to make this development worth it for someone.
RE: King-Victoria Transit Hub - panamaniac - 01-09-2020
I would have said that the proposal (#1) looks three or four times the size of the current station, if the scale is accurate compared to the Breithaupt Block and the Kaufman Lofts.
RE: King-Victoria Transit Hub - Acitta - 01-09-2020
(01-09-2020, 05:18 PM)mastermind Wrote: It doesn't seem a whole lot bigger than the current train station a few blocks up. Maybe we can reno that one to handle the next 5-10 years and save this parcel of land for something more. Imagine once Garment St and Station Park and the Google building are complete, there will be thousands more people living or working right here. Maybe at that point the scales will tip enough to make this development worth it for someone.The current station is too far from the Central Station LRT stop and we need to move the intercity buses from the Charles St. terminal so that that site can be redeveloped. The whole idea is to centralize all of the various types of transit at one location. 10 years is too long to wait for that.
RE: King-Victoria Transit Hub - clasher - 01-09-2020
I guess one advantage of leaving the corner just grass and trees, and a large surface lot, is that it would be easier to redevelop it in the future but that would cost a lot more money to try and built towers right beside an active bus/train station. It's possible to build in cramped conditions, Charlie West still needed some space for cranes and unloading stuff.
I would still like to see something with a train shed going over King street and stuff so people can get off the LRT and just be right in the station already, only having to walk up the stairs/escalator/elevator and be on the intercity train platform.
RE: King-Victoria Transit Hub - ijmorlan - 01-09-2020
(01-09-2020, 07:39 PM)clasher Wrote: I would still like to see something with a train shed going over King street and stuff so people can get off the LRT and just be right in the station already, only having to walk up the stairs/escalator/elevator and be on the intercity train platform.
Totally agreed. If they need to scale back they should scale back to only a train shed starting on the west/south side of King St. and going over to just short of Duke St., with a small building with washrooms, ticket booth, and small waiting room tucked under it. Platforms should connect directly to sidewalks on both sides of King St., as well as to Waterloo St. on both sides of the tracks (via tunnel, or bridge if a tunnel is truly impossible, but it’s interesting that the latest renders show a tunnel, although maybe it only runs from the main station site to an island platform between the tracks).