ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[Elmira Guy]

Does anyone know where I can find a good map of ION Phase 2 which also shows street names associated with the route(s)?

Thanks

[Pheidippides]

Catenery stays were up on the poles north of Columbia today. Sorry mid hail storm on a bus so no pictures.

[jwilliamson]

There are sleepers and rails in place for the second track from the Seagram station down to the bridge in Waterloo park. It looked like there was still a gap at the station though.

[KevinL]

The embedded track is now laid across Ontario St, but just the first concrete pour.  They still need to lay the concrete on either side of the tracks.  Ontario might be open again in a week or so.

Actually, on intersections they do a full pour right to the edges - the two-side-section arrangement is only in lower-traffic areas. Thus I think Ontario may open earlier than you expect.

Looks like things are coming along well north of Water street on Charles - I would not be surprised to see the focus of work move there pretty soon.

[Canard]

The track between Water and Francis has sat there for quite some time (many weeks/couple of months) - I haven't seen any movement there in a long, long while. I suspect they're waiting until they do the "big rush" along Victoria to do it all then. Unless something has changed in the last day or two.

[Markster]

Actually, on intersections they do a full pour right to the edges - the two-side-section arrangement is only in lower-traffic areas. Thus I think Ontario may open earlier than you expect.

Looks like things are coming along well north of Water street on Charles - I would not be surprised to see the focus of work move there pretty soon.

Yeah, I went the next day, and saw there was concrete right to the asphalt.
I swear I saw a gaping void between them, but I guess I was hallucinating.

It should be open in days.

[Square]

Gaukel at Charles is open again, and buses are using it.

The embedded track is now laid across Ontario St, but just the first concrete pour.  They still need to lay the concrete on either side of the tracks.  Ontario might be open again in a week or so.

Queen St seems to be having continual work, as I'm seeing trenches appear and disappear each time I go past.  Really wonder how much longer it's going to take. If all the other on-street stations are indicative, they'll pour the Queen Station platform before they lay rail, so I suppose Queen St still has a couple months of closure to go.

Yeah, the pit at Queen and Charles is unreal!  I wonder if they "found something" there that caused a hiccup, or if there really was just that much work to be done there, and it's on-track.

Must be something major because this closure has been extended to May 25!

[GtwoK]

For the record, that's 300% the length of the original intended closure.

[Canard]

...but it's opening early on April 2017!

[insider]

...but it's opening early on April 2017!

Feel free to continue making fun of every single thing I post. That's what community is about! (Edit: not.)

[MidTowner]

Feel free to continue making fun of every single thing I post. That's what community is about! (Edit: not.)

Hey, insider, just to clarify: you have inside information that suggests that the full Ion system will start revenue operations in April 2017?

I’d be surprised by that, but sometimes things are completed ahead of schedule, and it would be encouraging even if some people in the know were simply entertaining the possibility of an early open.

[panamaniac]

You will be vindicated, insider. I still believe in you!

[insider]

Feel free to continue making fun of every single thing I post. That's what community is about! (Edit: not.)

Hey, insider, just to clarify: you have inside information that suggests that the full Ion system will start revenue operations in April 2017?

I’d be surprised by that, but sometimes things are completed ahead of schedule, and it would be encouraging even if some people in the know were simply entertaining the possibility of an early open.

What I heard from someone involved in construction is that the system will be ready in April 2017 - they didn't specify if it would start operations at that time. They also mentioned some numbers about how much it is being spent per month, but I forgot exactly how much.

[GtwoK]

New today: Union / King Intersection reopening was actually bumped UP by 2 weeks, now on May 2nd instead of May 15th.

Also:

- Louisa / King, Andrew / King, and Agnes / King are all closing for 4 weeks! Not sure what this could be for, other than trackwork? It seems too early for that, but with roads already in place, what's left to do?

- Moore / King closing for 6 months. It makes sense why it's needed, but how is access to the King's Crossing lot supposed to be accomplished? Just the roundabout way from the back of Wellington? Either way, big work on the grade separation coming soon!

- William / King closing for 2 months. This is ridiculous. It's literally the only way across Uptown right now. What are they thinking? And with Erb / Caroline more than likely closing soon, there will be absolutely no way to access the Uptown parking lots from the East side. I'm not one to complain about construction impeding travel, but I have to question if they put any thought into the timing of this closure.

- Duke / Water and Duke / Queen closing for 2 months. Looks like we're finally starting to see some real work get done on Duke.

[timio]

Can you still cross King via Willis Way or has it been closed to vehicle traffic?