ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[ac3r]

map of ridership - you can see university has the highest ridership - should ion branch there

Branch as in add a 3rd LRT line? There will of course be a Line 3 built at some point, though there is no exact plan as to where it might go yet. I've had many talks with colleagues in architecture and planning about where it might go and there are some potential options, but there is a hell of a lot to consider and a huge obstacle is finding the land to build tracks on. The current Intensification Strategy Plan does have some proposed intensification areas currently being studied. Below, the areas highlighted in yellow/with pink dotted lines are intensification areas:

Below includes potential routes that I've had in discussions with some colleagues. Breslau to Boardwalk makes good sense. Have it start in Breslau at the future GO Train station, follow Victoria and completely revamp that awful street until it hits the new train station downtown, have it make its way around Victoria Park using that small CN spur, then run it down Highland which is a very dense area, then run it up Ira Needles to The Boardwalk.

In addition to that, the red dashed lines include optional extensions that could service the intensification areas. If it were to go northbound after The Boardwalk, it could go up Ira Needles, down Erb and terminate at the University. If it went south, it could follow Ira Needles south, make its way down Ottawa Street, connect to Mill Station, then branch off so it could go down Manitou and Homer Watson terminating at Conestoga College/Highway 401. Both of these ideas follow the intensification plan the Region of Waterloo has set out and IMO the latter makes more sense because the potential for future development along the proposed intensification routes would be a lot greater than what can be developed along Ira Needles/Erb to the University. Another benefit is that this would allow a 3rd line to have an interchange at both Central Station and Mill Station for people who need to travel north/south on Line 1.