ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[Pheidippides]

Charles near Francis today:
   
   
   

Also, I was surprised at how many motorists seem to be taken by surprise by the Erb/Caroline closure Monday. The signs have been up, the email updates are available, it has been on social media; I don't know why it doesn't register with people. I was wondering if it had to do with the type of signage. I was in Thornhill/Markham last weekend and they are just getting started on the next phase of their bus rapidway expansion for the VIVA system that is going up Yonge from Hwy. 7 to north 6.5km. They are just moving utilities and removing a few medians, but they had electronic signs like the one below before and along the route announcing reductions/closures as well as expected travel times (e.g. Normal 5min to Major Mac, Current 12 min). I wonder if something more visible/informative would have made more of a difference?

[Canard]

   
Today's update from Erb/Caroline -  a second hole!

   
Finishing up at Columbia.

   
Nice shoes!  I didn't realize this was how they pad down the asphalt.

   
Hi catenary tensioner!

[Canard]

   
Rails going in at Caroline & Allen!

   
Close up of the scribework on the rails.  This particular section's length, Southbound rail, Curve 12.  You can find all this info on the drawings under the Functional Design Plans on the Rapid Transit site.  I particularly like looking at the markings for the entrance and exit points for the spiral curves that make a nice smooth transition from straight track to curve track!

   
Constant radius section - radius is about 25 m, the minimum for the trains we're getting (FLEXITY Freedom).  This is pretty much the standard minimum radius for all LRV's though.

   
Not happy about this. There are two bike racks that, when used, essentially completely block off the path on the North side of Waterloo Town Square.

[clasher]

Not happy about this. There are two bike racks that, when used, essentially completely block off the path on the North side of Waterloo Town Square.[/i]

Looks like they could have pushed the fence back... I'm sure folks will do it for them until/unless they are bolted down. I see people downtown opening and moving fences all the time after hours. I guess the mall never got the memo about it and the construction crews can't just go on private property and remove the racks.

[Markster]

Looks like they could have pushed the fence back... I'm sure folks will do it for them until/unless they are bolted down.

I've noticed them doing that more and more, lately.

[GtwoK]

The fence is separating the temporary car path from the pedestrian walkway. The only way to cross from Caroline into the parking lot is at the East end of the parking lot right now, because of the ditch where tracks will be installed. So cars have to drive along the building to get to the parking lot entrance.

[MidTowner]

From the CBC:

Region considers raising development fees to pay for LRT
Townships argue that rural developers shouldn't have to pay for a service they will never use

Increased development fees don't seem like an inappropriate way to help fund the Ion. And I find the argument on the part of the township mayors that they will "never use" Ion to be not particularly compelling- surely most of their constituents work in one of the three cities, and will benefit from decreased congestion. And all ratepayers will benefit if we can avoid the cost of new roads.

[KevinL]

A quick look along the hydro corridor - catpole bases are in, fence posts are up, rails and ballast in supply. Looks like it's all ductwork for now, then the tracks can be built.

[Viewfromthe42]

If we had to build the original 500 lane-km of extra roads we'd expect in the no-LRT scenario, would the cost of those roads have been area-rated to not affect townships?

[darts]

From the CBC:

Region considers raising development fees to pay for LRT
Townships argue that rural developers shouldn't have to pay for a service they will never use

Increased development fees don't seem like an inappropriate way to help fund the Ion. And I find the argument on the part of the township mayors that they will "never use" Ion to be not particularly compelling- surely most of their constituents work in one of the three cities, and will benefit from decreased congestion. And all ratepayers will benefit if we can avoid the cost of new roads.

To be fair development fees are for growth related projects and is from new development. There is a bit of a disconnect between building a new chicken coop or silo in Linwood, St Jacobs or Ayr and saying x$ of dollars will go towards the LRT due to the growth. Additionally the townships already have certain disadvantages in attracting new non agricultural development and employment.

As for the people who live in the towns, they represent about 12% of the regions population. Once you widdle away people who work in the townships, don't work in KW and work in the surrounding area it does get to a much smaller population that actually enters the cities, of those people there will be some that work on the outskirts vs the middle of the city and wouldn't see the benefits of the LRT, or if they do it is a few cars an hour off the road, nothing substantial.

Guelph has more than twice the population of the townships

[darts]

If we had to build the original 500 lane-km of extra roads we'd expect in the no-LRT scenario, would the cost of those roads have been area-rated to not affect townships?

Depends if it was a regional road or a city road. In the end the city of Kitchener and Waterloo see the benefits in increased property values and increased development and the taxes that come along with that the townships would not enjoy.

[clasher]

Do the townships cover all their share of regional road expenses? Or all the other regional services they receive? I don't know one way or the other but it might end up that the cities of the regions are paying money for things in the townships most will never use. In aggregate we are all paying for stuff we'll never use directly but still see some benefits from in one way or another.

[darts]

Do the townships cover all their share of regional road expenses? Or all the other regional services they receive? I don't know one way or the other but it might end up that the cities of the regions are paying money for things in the townships most will never use. In aggregate we are all paying for stuff we'll never use directly but still see some benefits from in one way or another.

The rates are the same except for GRT and Libraries. The region provides libraries for the townships and they have development fees that pay for it, the cities have fees for GRT that the townships don't pay for.
http://www.regionofwaterloo.ca/en/doingB...OCHURE.PDF

[tomh009]

Apparently the mayors of North Dumfries and Wellesley haven't really read up on how development fees work. In fact, new construction in the townships pays ZERO development fees toward transit improvements.
http://www.regionofwaterloo.ca/en/doingB...6Final.pdf

Cry wolf first, check for wolf later ...

[clasher]

Do the townships cover all their share of regional road expenses? Or all the other regional services they receive? I don't know one way or the other but it might end up that the cities of the regions are paying money for things in the townships most will never use. In aggregate we are all paying for stuff we'll never use directly but still see some benefits from in one way or another.

The rates are the same except for GRT and Libraries. The region provides libraries for the townships and they have development fees that pay for it, the cities have fees for GRT that the townships don't pay for.
http://www.regionofwaterloo.ca/en/doingB...OCHURE.PDF

I see that's for development charges but they don't cover ongoing maintenance of infrastructure. I am just wondering if the townships' share of regional taxes covers their share of the infrastructure or if the cities are in fact subsidizing it.