The Bombardier FLEXITY Freedom mockup will be in Hamilton this weekend.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Coming to <a href="https://twitter.com/ConcessionBIA">@ConcessionBIA</a> Streetfest Saturday? So is a light rail vehicle! Join us + <a href="https://twitter.com/Metrolinx">@Metrolinx</a> 11am-7pm. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HamOnt?src=hash">#HamOnt</a> <a href="https://t.co/Q3JFQgX1iQ">pic.twitter.com/Q3JFQgX1iQ</a></p>— City of Hamilton (@cityofhamilton) <a href="https://twitter.com/cityofhamilton/status/764165847346614274">August 12, 2016</a></blockquote>
Right - so true BRT. Â So this is going to be extremely confusing to the General Public, who have been told all along that they already have BRT. Â What Mayor Craig is proposing is more like what is on Highway 7 in Toronto (VIVA) - which works very well.
Something had been bugging me - those two gaps in the embedded track. Â One in front of Cameron Heights in Kitchener, and one in front of KCI, between Kitchener and Waterloo. Â Then, this morning, I was thinking about crossovers... and realized that we haven't seen any installed yet in any embedded track sections. Â I put two and two together...
...and sure enough, the two gaps are exactly where the crossovers will go!
Charles Crossover:
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King Crossover:
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1/2 - Saturday, August 13, 2016
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Looking Northwest on Charles, from Borden. Â The skuffs on the left are where the car fell in!
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Looking Southeast on Charles, toward Ottawa.Â
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The curve from Allen onto King, in Waterloo.
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Looking South from Allen at the future Allen station.
(08-13-2016, 04:40 PM)Canard Wrote: [ -> ]Something had been bugging me - those two gaps in the embedded track. Â One in front of Cameron Heights in Kitchener, and one in front of KCI, between Kitchener and Waterloo. Â Then, this morning, I was thinking about crossovers... and realized that we haven't seen any installed yet in any embedded track sections. Â I put two and two together...
...and sure enough, the two gaps are exactly where the crossovers will go!
Ha! Thanks for realizing that, makes perfect sense.
Are there embedded switches anywhere else in the system yet? If not, I imagine those will all be going in at once.
(07-22-2016, 01:28 PM)Viewfromthe42 Wrote: [ -> ]Track is now embedded from Water/Duke to Duke/Beer Store.
(08-13-2016, 04:49 PM)Canard Wrote: [ -> ]1/2 - Saturday, August 13, 2016
Looking Northwest on Charles, from Borden. Â The skuffs on the left are where the car fell in!
Looking Southeast on Charles, toward Ottawa.Â
The curve from Allen onto King, in Waterloo.
Looking South from Allen at the future Allen station.
Why do they need to have crossovers and what determines the location?
1. No embedded crossovers have gone in; these are the only two. There is one already in just South of the OMSF on the Waterloo Spur, ballasted. There will be two full crossovers ("X's") at both Fairway and Conestoga. The one at Conestoga is unique in that it's more compact than typical (No. 5 vs. No. 8).
2. Their purpose is to permit trains reverse their travel direction; ie, to get back to the OMSF early, if required (ie, technical problems, cleanup, whatever). They are spaced at semi-regular intervals, where convenient. As far as how many: that would be a balance of cost (can't have too many - expense) vs. service impact (too few = loss of operational flexibility).
Since we discussed it a few weeks ago, I thought I'd mention it - there's now a petition out for the folks on Traynor asking for a pedestrian overpass:
Install an LRT Pedestrian Crossing to Fairway Rd from the Traynor-Vanier Neighbourhood
Not a bad idea to try, but just not so sure about the execution of the request. I don't feel it's directed at the right people, and with this being a P3, asking for changes now would open up a huge can of worms - the consortium could charge whatever they want and say it will take a ridiculous amount of time and there would be nothing the Region could do. It'd be best, I feel, to wait until the project is complete, then look at what can be done. Same idea as the ugly fences in Waterloo Park.
...and I can't let it slip: it makes my skin crawl every time I see someone misspell GrandLinq.
Even if it is too late to be folded into the project agreement, it does bring the issue to light for the politicians in charge. They failed to account for this need when drawing up the plans, and a good portion of their constituency is unhappy. How they act on that, I can't say, but making them aware is a vital part of the process.
(08-14-2016, 09:19 AM)KevinL Wrote: [ -> ]Even if it is too late to be folded into the project agreement, it does bring the issue to light for the politicians in charge. They failed to account for this need when drawing up the plans, and a good portion of their constituency is unhappy. How they act on that, I can't say, but making them aware is a vital part of the process.
Ok - but what about the general public? Why are these folks bringing this up now, then, and not 5 years ago during the public consultation meetings? Did they attend them? Did they submit their comments or concerns? Or did they just not care, and are now kicking up a stink?
It's P3 - nothing can be done now without huge costs or delays to the project. Have to wait until it's done and handed over -
then the Region might be able to do something.
1/2 - Sunday, August 14, 2016
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The Conestoga Mall platforms are in, and trackwork is about to extend to the official "start" point of the line!
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The foundation for the operator's building is in.
2/2 - Sunday, August 14, 2016
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The half-completed curve onto King, from Conestoga.
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Looking back at where the compact, non-standard No. 5 crossover will be installed.
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Wondering how they tamp and adjust all that tight ballasted trackwork in the OMSF? Â Here's how! Â It's a baby version of the MK IV.
(08-14-2016, 09:32 AM)Canard Wrote: [ -> ] (08-14-2016, 09:19 AM)KevinL Wrote: [ -> ]Even if it is too late to be folded into the project agreement, it does bring the issue to light for the politicians in charge. They failed to account for this need when drawing up the plans, and a good portion of their constituency is unhappy. How they act on that, I can't say, but making them aware is a vital part of the process.
Ok - but what about the general public? Â Why are these folks bringing this up now, then, and not 5 years ago during the public consultation meetings? Â Did they attend them? Â Did they submit their comments or concerns? Â Or did they just not care, and are now kicking up a stink?
It's P3 - nothing can be done now without huge costs or delays to the project. Â Have to wait until it's done and handed over - then the Region might be able to do something.
It's certainly true that this would have been better addressed before contracts were signed and construction started. Nonetheless, somehow this was not made enough of an issue at the time - perhaps the residents presumed too much, or there was misinformation about what would be possible or available - and it was not raised then. Simply throwing up our hands and saying 'what's done is done' is not going to help these residents; they deserve a voice, even if it's later than it should have been.