Waterloo Region Connected
ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit - Printable Version

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RE: ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit - urbd - 01-16-2018

Businesses close and new ones open all the time, it's completely normal and expected. Lets not get fixated on this non-issue.

So no news on more testing?

RE: ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit - Bob_McBob - 01-16-2018

(01-16-2018, 04:41 PM)creative Wrote: She states a long list of reasons for closing her business that included the LRT construction and loss of parking convenient to her store. But you obviously know more about her business than she does.

The "lost" parking lot is still there and only at 80% peak capacity on Saturdays, or 70% on weekdays. There is street parking across King St. There is a private parking lot behind the business. You don't have to own the business itself to poke holes in some of the reasoning.

RE: ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit - jeffster - 01-16-2018

(01-16-2018, 08:19 AM)MidTowner Wrote: I also didn't understand how "home-made cookies" are incompatible with "high-rise condos."

Someone just the other day was telling me he was speaking to the owner of a sports store now closing its doors, and the owner was blaming LRT. He didn't seem to have any other factors he was blaming (though I am receiving this second-hand), and apparently claimed that the year before construction started was a banner year.

It's usually pointless to argue against things like some of the claims made in that letter. I do think it's sad to see businesses go under, though.

I'm guessing she's suggesting that those moving into 'high-rise condos' have no need (or time!) home-made cookies.

As for that sports store...who knows. I'm sure for any store closing there are a lot of factors, and perhaps lost business to the LRT is just the final straw.

RE: ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit - Bob_McBob - 01-16-2018

O.W. Sports said their peak sales period was getting shorter and shorter and similar stores were closing all over Ontario, and they wanted to get out before being forced through bankruptcy. Also worth noting MEC was opening in Kitchener a few months later.

https://www.therecord.com/news-story/7110524-o-w-sports-closing-after-nearly-50-years-in-waterloo-core/

RE: ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit - Canard - 01-16-2018

Watch for more testing later this week, just up North though.

RE: ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit - urbd - 01-16-2018

(01-16-2018, 05:36 PM)Canard Wrote: Watch for more testing later this week, just up North though.

Ahh. When would you guess we'll see powered testing?

RE: ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit - chutten - 01-16-2018

I now have a desk that overlooks the Uptown platform. I was kinda hoping to see an LRV pulled past sooner rather than later.

Ah well, later can be sooner than y'think, I guess.

RE: ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit - NotStan - 01-16-2018

(01-16-2018, 04:41 PM)creative Wrote: She states a long list of reasons for closing her business that included the LRT construction and loss of parking convenient to her store. But you obviously know more about her business than she does.

Well put.   She did list multiple factors with perhaps an emphasis on the LRT construction and changes to the parking as being the primary reasons to retire.  I am not surprised by this at all.  I know my spending along the the LRT construction route dropped by 90% during the past couple of years as I would consciously avoid those areas.  Not sure how many others may have stepped up their spending to offset that.  Perhaps if they decided to continue they would reap the benefits of the LRT but I fully understand why someone would throw in the towel as they probably burned through a lot of their savings.  
And now that construction is over I've started going back to uptown and DTK but my spending there is still probably at only 25% of what it was pre-construction.    The construction was a big disruption that broke my routine and so I found alternatives that are in other parts of the city and now I have a new routine.  Not sure my spending in Uptown and DTK will return to 100% of pre-construction levels - not out of spite or anything other than the inertia of following my newly established routines.

RE: ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit - embe - 01-16-2018

Yeah, there were multiple reasons listed, and probably a better summary of personal experiences than anything. I know everyone is sensitive about defending LRT, but sometimes a mile long walk in someone else's shoes gives a different perspective (such as I interpret this to be) . It's not just about a new train in a few years, it could be day-after-day of an increasingly difficult struggle to maintain a passionate hope, but after a while the risk outweighs the reward and you need to fish or cut bait.

So to get (more) back on topic: during LRT testing, when I see the pics/videos in this thread I like to think they've got some train related songs blasting over the PA in that empty train. Train Kept a Rollin etc.

RE: ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit - Canard - 01-16-2018

I'd rather this:



RE: ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit - PhilippAchtel - 01-17-2018

I don't think discussion about the effects of LRT on uptown businesses and whether the closure of businesses can be blamed on the construction is off topic. It almost always comes up in discussions about the LRT off site, after all, and is one of the top reasons people opposed and oppose the project.

RE: ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit - chutten - 01-17-2018

This morning I suddenly sat straight up in my chair when I saw the crossing arms come down in front of Cora in Uptown Waterloo. Thought they might have been taking advantage of the clear weather to pull an LRV all the way down here.

But no. It was just the long crossing arms being tested. Even the short ones further towards the valu mart were left up.

Ah well.

RE: ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit - timc - 01-17-2018

I saw them testing the ones at Seagram when I was out at lunch time. Maybe this is a precursor to something happening soon?

RE: ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit - trainspotter139 - 01-17-2018

(01-17-2018, 02:35 PM)timc Wrote: I saw them testing the ones at Seagram when I was out at lunch time. Maybe this is a precursor to something happening soon?

they were doing some track inspection today in a lot of places. the gauge checker (I have no idea what else to call this) probably set them off.

RE: ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit - KevinT - 01-17-2018

On my drive in to work this morning there was a guy on a ladder adjusting the sign at King & Northfield that the foam 'clearance fingers' dinged during last week's pull test, but that was the only activity between Conestoga and the OMSF.  At lunch today I saw that the tracks on King & Northfield had been completely cleared of snow (this morning they were uniformly white), but no other activity was evident.