ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[Canard]

Delayed, but not over budget - video, CTV Kitchener

-First train delivery should be October 2016
-King grade separation will get a heated "dome" so construction can continue over winter
-Caroline and Borden are behind a bit
-Still on track for revenue operation in late 2017

[megabytephreak]

Paving went in as expected on King between Allen and William today. No curbs so it might be temporary. They were bringing in portable lights, so there must still be some finish work expected.
   
   
This included paving the intersection.
King south of Allen has what looks like final paving on the northbound side as before. The southbound side was also paved today, but again no curb so it may be temporary.
   

[Waterlooer]

Does anyone know what sections of underground utility work are completed? Is underground work finished for Charles Street south of Benton? Or on King from Union to Wellington?

[KevinL]

The tarps are finally off the southbound tracks at Benton.


This allows me to get a clear shot of this assembly...


Anyone know its purpose?

[GtwoK]

Not sure what was done at the time you took those photos Kevin, but walking by at about 6pm, curbs had been completed from Benton to Eby! Southbound, at least.




Significant grading work also done at Eby. The large pit has finally been filled in, and a retaining wall-worthy area has been created. This'll be created soon, I'm guessing:





Smaller updates: embedded track poured just before FDB. The forms are also off the Willis Way station. It's much lower than the Vicotria Park station! 

Also: my comment about the remaining rusty fence / grass at Grand River Rocks / the Borden station seems to have been answered; there was a gigantic pit almost ion the Borden / Charles intersection today right where that grass used to be. Dunno why they waited this long to do it!

Borden was also impassable at the Schneider Creek bridge today. Not sure what's going on here.

[Canard]

Borden @ Creek is prepping the culvert for track work. They have stripped the dirt away right down to the top of the culvert over the last week or two. They may be putting another layer of concrete on top to beef it up.

The item in Kevin L's photo might be a thermal expansion joint or a flange lubricator.

[Canard]

Road work 2015: most projects done on time but LRT was a challenge - article, Kitchener-Waterloo Record

[timio]

Could be a signal trigger like they have at railway crossings. Once the LRT crosses, the signals turn off and gates go up.

[Waterlooer]

Does anyone know if they will have bike lanes down King and Charles now? Definitely seems like there's enough space for them.

[Canard]

Plan B in case Bombardier is late: http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=21629

[KevinL]

Stage 2 consultation documents are available. Of most interest is the maps at the end; the endorsed route from 2011 is highlighted, but alternatives are also indicated (including alternate/additional stop locations). Some potential GO station locations are also provided with routes for the LRT to service them.

[Canard]

Yep, big discussion around this over on UT. The Shantz Hill options are weird. I don't like the idea of trains running down King south of Fairway. I wanted them to go along the rail line for high speed operation (80 km/h). Going down King means 60 km/h max with lots of stoping at intersections.

[clasher]

The alternative alignment via Maple Grove and Speedsville seems really out-there to me... and the grade on Speedsville is probably 3 or 4%... Shantz hill seems even steeper to me based on riding my bike up both hills. The current rail alignment just seems to be the easiest and sanest way to go... Grand River Railway probably picked it for a reason back in the day.

[Andy]

Yep, big discussion around this over on UT.

UT? Is that another forum I should be following?

[jamincan]

He means UrbanToronto. Besides Toronto-specific stuff, there is a fair bit of GO Transit stuff and a few threads about out-of-GTA projects, such as ION and London's plan for LRT.