ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[danbrotherston]

Does anyone know which track the train will be going on through downtown? I'm off early this afternoon, and I'm wondering where to camp out.

[robdrimmie]

Does anyone know which track the train will be going on through downtown?  I'm off early this afternoon, and I'm wondering where to camp out.

I was walking along Francis between King and Duke around 12:30, and there was a small (car-sized), construction yellow rail vehicle with two people in seats, being followed by a skid steer or other sort of tiny bulldozer with another couple of workers that was clearing snow very meticulously. My assumption from seeing this is that it will be going on the Duke St. tracks, so perhaps today will be the first full loop of the line?

[ijmorlan]

Then why is there a tactile plate? A grade down to it from the platform? Platform signs indicating it's a way out?

hehehe i'm chuckling a bit :p

remember, bad design can be dangerous, even fatal... however, you can cross wherever you want as long as you are sure that you are safe, but some people will always stick to the rules and will never jaywalk for example, even if it's perfectly safe to do so.

It just occurred to me that, since mid-block crossings are legal (right? somebody please correct me if I’m confused), the location is a legal crossing location (probably). It’s just a weird combination of built to indicate an intended crossing (on one side) and not built to indicate such (the other side, and the curb in the middle).

[danbrotherston]

hehehe i'm chuckling a bit :p

remember, bad design can be dangerous, even fatal... however, you can cross wherever you want as long as you are sure that you are safe, but some people will always stick to the rules and will never jaywalk for example, even if it's perfectly safe to do so.

It just occurred to me that, since mid-block crossings are legal (right? somebody please correct me if I’m confused), the location is a legal crossing location (probably). It’s just a weird combination of built to indicate an intended crossing (on one side) and not built to indicate such (the other side, and the curb in the middle).

Legal, yes, accessible no, confusing, absolutely.

[Canard]

We’ve been through this already. Borden and Kitchener Market also have “extra” tactile plates at the “wrong” ends.

[ijmorlan]

We’ve been through this already. Borden and Kitchener Market also have “extra” tactile plates at the “wrong” ends.

I’m not sure what you’re saying. I think what people are pointing out is that the intent is unclear. Presence of a tactile plate unambiguously marks one end of a sanctioned crossing. Absence of a curb cut on the other side, absence of zebra stripes, and presence of a curb in the middle suggests not a sanctioned crossing. General design principles dictate that almost all LRT stations, certainly including this one, should be accessible from both ends, which again suggests there should be a sanctioned crossing.

For those who don’t require accessibility accommodation, it’s not a big deal because we can just step over the curbs and make a mid-block crossing, and we can see what is going on. For others, it’s a confusing and potentially dangerous mess.

[Canard]

[tvot]

We need a GPS tracker on the trains so I can set a proximity alert on my phone. I work near enough to the Mill Street Station but I don't have a clear view of the station so I can't keep a look out for it.

[Pheidippides]

[KevinL]

Every station has at least one way in that ticks all those boxes - nothing there indicates there must always be more than one. (Particularly, neither Mill nor Northfield seem capable of more than one.)

The approaches we're talking about seem to be Grandlinq's acknowledgement that people will want to get to stations like Frederick, Kitchener Market, and Borden from the non-primary direction and give another method of access. It just seems to be built strangely given tactile strips on the station side of the crossings but nothing on the curb side.

[Bob_McBob]

From the sounds of things, the curve at Northfield and the Spur is the latest casualty for gauge rework. Unbelievable.

I drove past there around 3:30pm and there were several workers going at it with a tent and blowers, and a huge row of traffic cones restricting part of the right lane. On my way home at 10pm the equipment was all still there. Hopefully they will be done by Monday or the traffic won't be fun.

A week later and everything is still there. The heater, the tent, the mass of lane restricting traffic cones. How big a repair job is this?

[Canard]

Borden/Charles was about 3 weeks, and about 60° of the 90° of the outboard rail concrete was removed.

[Square]

The Region road closures states that section of construction is ongoing till Monday, February 26th. @Canard, thank you for the info about the equipment blocking the northbound route from Fairway to Mill. I heard on the radio that they were going back North using the Southbound track and wondered why.

[Pheidippides]

Every station has at least one way in that ticks all those boxes - nothing there indicates there must always be more than one. (Particularly, neither Mill nor Northfield seem capable of more than one.)

The approaches we're talking about seem to be Grandlinq's acknowledgement that people will want to get to stations like Frederick, Kitchener Market, and Borden from the non-primary direction and give another method of access. It just seems to be built strangely given tactile strips on the station side of the crossings but nothing on the curb side.

After doing a bit more reading I now think the the approaches we are talking about, either by design or in error, are probably considered emergency exits:
(viii) Provide clear emergency exiting from platforms.
(xi) Exits shall provide safe exiting from trains and platforms under normal operational and emergency conditions. Platforms and exits shall allow passengers to completely clear the platform prior to the arrival of the next train. 


Based on the final configuration at Frederick and Duke it looks like they could have extended a sidewalk boulevard/platform right to Duke had they not placed the utility boxes on the south side in such an awkward place. The sidewalk jogs south, the road jogs north. Had the road just gone straight there would be 1.0-1.5m available to use the middle of the road to combine with they >1m curb boulevard the did managed to fit in the middle.


Also, here is weird statement I came across in my reading today:
"Platforms to be a fare paid zone."

Surely that is a mistake or won't actually be enforced? Are the really expecting someone, for example, out for a walk along the west side of Charles between Water and Gaukel or Queen and Benton to cross the street mid-block to avoid being on the Victoria Park or Queen St platforms without a ticket?

[KevinL]

I guess if you're clearly waiting for a train on one of those platforms you can expect a fare inspection. So no loitering or using station benches unless you've tapped in!