ION Phase 2 - Cambridge's Light Rail Transit

[DHLawrence]

Intensification is going to have be done very carefully here; the roads are at capacity (anyone driving through Preston after 3 in the afternoon can tell you that) and room for resident parking is pretty much nil. Between Waterloo Street Lowther you've got maybe half a dozen sites for redevelopment that won't touch something people want to hang onto, most of them parking lots. The effect light rail will have on spurring them will be limited, moreso south of Lowther.

The biggest redevelopment potential will be along Eagle heading towards Hespeler Road to fill in the holes made by whatever they demolish to fit the tracks in. I can't see anything going in the building overlooking the river, but there's a couple industrial buildings between the CP tracks and the hill that will likely be casualties of the grade separation. There's a specialty wood and veneer shop southwest of the tracks, but I kind of hope they get to stick around. Another church at the top of the hill that might have to come down, but otherwise only maybe one or two buildings of even the most remote architectural merit. The easiest way would probably be taking out the end houses on the south side of Eagle like they did with the Weber widening. Let market demand take care of the rest and potentially justify a station at Eagle and Concession in the future.