ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[Square]

There will be Gauntlet Tracks at 4 stations - Northfield, R&T Park, UoWaterloo and Seagram, because those stops will be on the Spur which is shared with freight trains.

Can't recall where I saw it, but my understanding for Northfield is that rather than gauntleting, the freight track will branch off south of the station and run to the west of it (so there will be three tracks throught the station corridor). The LRT tracks turn off the rail corridor just past that station, after all.

On page 23 of this PDF file is where it's shown, don't know if they are still doing that tho.   http://www.rapidtransit.regionofwaterloo..._Part1.pdf

[jamincan]

That tour train that ran to St. Jacobs from the train station near Uptown is supposed to run from Northfield station now, so the third track is essential if that will continue to be the plan.

[Viewfromthe42]

Also, if the photos showing the UpTown stop are accurate (with it being on the west side of king, rather than the east side), then either they'll need two tracks there where the station is (Northbound and freight) or a gauntlet track. I can't remember which it is supposed to be.

[timio]

Two tracks with the split just off Caroline.

Edit:  See pages 19-21 of this document.

[KevinL]

One side effect of the big push right now at Benton is that there's no clear spot to cross Charles between Queen and Eby. Hopefuly Benton reopens by the end of the week.

[Canard]

Sure there is, they have breaks in the fence all along there. Sure it's dirt but so is most of Charles. You can basically walk in a big circle all around the Charles/Benton intersection.

[KevinL]

Sure there is, they have breaks in the fence all along there. Sure it's dirt but so is most of Charles. You can basically walk in a big circle all around the Charles/Benton intersection.

That's been true for the past few weeks but I had some real trouble this morning. The sidewalk next to the Crowne Plaza is now closed and that whole area is a work zone; and the fences have been extended quite a bit in the Queen direction as well.

[Waterlooer]

Stage 2 of ION to Cambridge (as LRT) is expected to travel down Eagle Street to get to Hespeler right? If this is the case, does this mean dozens of houses will be demolished, because there doesn't seem to be any room to expand in this area.

[DHLawrence]

I don't think most of the houses on Eagle will have to be demolished, but I can see all of them losing their front yards and the gospel church might have to come down. Don't know about the Macedonian Orthodox church and the apartment building near the hill; that's going to be a complex earthmoving project.

[GtwoK]

Noticed they had covered all the embedded track at Benton with tarp again. Wonder what that's about. Some sort of finishing coat?

The Willis Way station had been uncovered and recovered with a new tarp today. Not sure why the switch.

The Victoria Park station has had some sidewalk grading done. They've been working on building up the hill behind the station, probably in preparation for the final curbs to come within the next week.

The retaining wall at Stirling is 90% done. Road has been re-leveled out here. Probably adding the final touches this week.

There are now NB curbs (inner and outer) on Charles between Borden and Stirling. Should be paved by the end of the week. I'm still curious as to the property boundaries at the Crossfit building. There's  still that last bit of rusty fence / grass at the corner, but I'd swear it needs to come down to make way for the road and sidewalk. Not sure why it still stands.

Also, this is peculiar: A lane closure on Charles between Water and Gaukel was just posted, despite it already being closed to traffic completely. The lane closure is supposed to last from tomorrow until next Friday, but is overnight from 7pm til 7am every day. What could this be for? Why at night? All I can think is maybe to accommodate installation of track, without compromising access to the parking garages?

[Canard]

I can't see them putting track in already under Manulife, but that'd be cool if they are. They could also be doing work on the Manulife building itself, to prep the bottom of the span over the road for supporting the catenary. Seems a bit premature for that though.

Seagram is back open, drove over it last night.

[KevinL]

Noticed they had covered all the embedded track at Benton with tarp again. Wonder what that's about. Some sort of finishing coat?

Could be just to keep the frost off to make sure it cures correctly.

[KevinL]

Demolition of the front steps at KCI happened yesterday. It was more thorough than I had expected, it's right up to those high front doors.

[GtwoK]

Ah! Was wondering when that would happen. Seemed like construction of the retaining wall had been on hold for a long time now. Are they still doing that curved double staircase? Or is that something that will happen post-Ion?

[Section ThirtyOne]

Lots of curbs and paving going on in the stretch of King Street around Wellington.

Also of note is that the grader really, really needs to run up King Street in that same area to resurface the gravel. It is getting really bad, to the point where I was happy that I had a Jeep last night going to Central!