ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[BuildingScout]

They did, the curbs this past weekend, if I remember correctly! About to take a drive through there anyhow, I'll check it out.

I saw them pouring the curbs using a concrete forming machine on Monday I think. It takes about a single day when done this way.

[GtwoK]

Alright, update:

NB curbs on King are all the way from Louisa to Union. From KCI, to the GRH entrance, Northbound traffic is still in the Ion ROW. From the GRH entrance to Union, Northbound traffic is in the automobile ROW. At some point they're going to have to shut down two way traffic in order to pave, which is going to be a challenge in front of the hospital.

Stakes / wires are in for curbs from Water to Ontario, finally. These should be poured tomorrow I would assume.

Curbs are fully in between Benton and Eby. Southbound road here has been paved.

Stakes / wires are in for curbs from Eby to Cedar. These should be paved tomorrow.

Southbound curbs are in from Cedar to the Madison ramp. Nothing Northbound yet.

Catpoles were going in in front of Cameron Heights today.

The giant pit at Borden was finally filled in today.

Some unpaved portions of Borden have had more dirt laid and flattened, in preparation for the final road. Other parts are still a muddy cess pit :p.

Thats what I saw today! No pics, because it was raining out.

[plam]

I dropped by GRH yesterday coming from the north and they were running one way traffic with signal people between Union and the hospital.

[Square]

I heard on the news today that gas pipe relocation will cost the city of Kitchener triple. Was not the relocation of gas pipes done last year prior or was suppose to be moved early to speed up the project? Thank you.

[tomh009]

I heard on the news today that gas pipe relocation will cost the city of Kitchener triple.   Was not the relocation of gas pipes done last year prior or was suppose to be moved early to speed up the project?   Thank you.

It appears most of it is just due to the things that were discovered once they actually dug holes.
http://www.therecord.com/news-story/6142...locations/

Several factors have led to the cost overruns, said Wally Malcolm, director of Kitchener Utilities.

First, the LRT is a design-build project, which means that design work is going on at the same time as construction. Unexpected changes in the field lead to last-minute changes to design, which adds to costs.

Second, the ground beneath the future rail line is crowded with all kinds of infrastructure, especially in the downtown. Whenever workers dig beneath the existing roads, workers encounter everything from old rail ties to disused hydro bunkers, as well as water, sewer, gas, electric and other utilities, all of which adds to the cost of the work.

[mpd618]

I heard on the news today that gas pipe relocation will cost the city of Kitchener triple.   Was not the relocation of gas pipes done last year prior or was suppose to be moved early to speed up the project?   Thank you.

Some utilities were moved early before Grandlinq started on the work, but most are being moved as part of the big street reconstructions that Grandlinq is doing. Kitchener Utilities deals with water, sewer, and stormwater pipes as well as gas pipes.

[Square]

Thank you for the replies. That sounds better. The way CTV News said it, was $1.3 million for gas relocation at Duke and Frederick? I didn't understand that quote cause they haven't even started that dig yet.

[Canard]

The media (CTV, 570 and The Record) are just trying to write sensationalist pieces that get people riled up. 1.3 million instead of 400k is peanuts in the grand scheme of things. Did they mention the 10 million or whatever savings that were realized on the aBRT portion? Nope.

[ijmorlan]

The media (CTV, 570 and The Record) are just trying to write sensationalist pieces that get people riled up. 1.3 million instead of 400k is peanuts in the grand scheme of things. Did they mention the 10 million or whatever savings that were realized on the aBRT portion? Nope.

I’m just waiting for somebody to combine the $1.9 billion total contract value with the “OMG, costs quadrupled!” story to realize that the LRT will cost eight beeeeeeeeeeeeellion dollars!

[timc]

The media (CTV, 570 and The Record) are just trying to write sensationalist pieces that get people riled up. 1.3 million instead of 400k is peanuts in the grand scheme of things. Did they mention the 10 million or whatever savings that were realized on the aBRT portion? Nope.

The way I read it in the Record, there are four other relocation projects in Kitchener that still haven't been budgeted yet that are not included in that $1.3 million. If they are all over by similar amounts, at what point does it become more than peanuts?

And as for the aBRT, I'm surprised that there was no outrage in Cambridge at how quickly they cut the costs before the ink had even dried.

[BuildingScout]

The way I read it in the Record, there are four other relocation projects in Kitchener that still haven't been budgeted yet that are not included in that $1.3 million. If they are all over by similar amounts, at what point does it become more than peanuts?

For a project of this magnitude I'd say 30 million.

[timc]

The way I read it in the Record, there are four other relocation projects in Kitchener that still haven't been budgeted yet that are not included in that $1.3 million. If they are all over by similar amounts, at what point does it become more than peanuts?

For a project of this magnitude I'd say 30 million.

Do you happen to know how much was Kitchener's planned input into the project?

[BuildingScout]

For a project of this magnitude I'd say 30 million.

Do you happen to know how much was Kitchener's planned input into the project?

Relocation of public infrastructure is $60 million.

[Canard]

Point is, media are being stupid jerks just trying to get people angry. There are a billion other stories they could have run about the project but they pick and choose the ones that will evoke the strongest public reaction, wether it's positive, or (usually) negative. I seriously think they must teach this tactic in journalism school or something.

[zanate]

Well, whether it's taught in journalism school or editor school, it's definitely a major tool in their toolkit.

Kitchener deserves a bit of stick here, though. Their delay in committing to getting it done has pushed up the cost due to winter work premium on a larger project that cannot withstand the delay without incurring even greater costs.

I'm a little unhappy as a Kitchener citizen that this is costing more, but equally unhappy that dithering has made it even more painful.