ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

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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.

It shouldn't be up to the public to have to list every detail that should be put into the project.  That's what Regional Staff are for.  The Public Consultation Centres were for catching minor issues.  Added to this, there was probably a certain amount of Public Consultation Centre fatigue that kicked in given the protracted nature of the consultation process.

We don’t want to get in a situation where supporters of the project implicitly support every decision taken by those in charge, and opponents reflexively oppose every action — every road closure, sign, vehicle choice, and so on. Instead, I am absolutely in favour of the project as a whole, but I think that many many details have been flubbed due to low creativity and an unwillingness to really engage with suggestions from the public. In some cases, as with, apparently, the fences in the park, the fault lies outside of Waterloo Region, of course.

...which means waiting until next year, as I've said - project completion. At any rate, Tom Galloway is bringing it up on Monday, to find out how it all happened.

But then after Project Completion and Delivery, all future work is covered by the Operating Agreement.  As well, were we not told from the outset that the whole reason for a P3 and a private operator was because the Region didn't have the expertise to carry out this kind of project?  Unfortunately, the private operator can only work with whatever specifications Regional staff and politicians give them.

On a related note, does anyone know what kind of traffic (pedestrian, cyclist, car) patterns were observed prior to the project construction.  Was any thought given to existing routes across the corridor and how they might be affected after the LRT is in place?  I seem to recall that quite a bit was discussed about car traffic patterns and needs, but I can't recall seeing anything about pedestrians or cyclists.  That's not to say it wasn't done, I just don't know if it exists.