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(01-07-2016, 02:38 PM)chutten Wrote: Do we have a catalogue of known LRT biases for news outlets and reporters?
Apart from the usual suspects, it's really not that simple. For instance, Eric Drozd has been very supportive in the past of transit (and the LRT project) as well as things like improvements to cycling infrastructure. He seems generally progressive.
But he works for a news organization. News organizations like a good scandal and drumming up a controversy. I think it's unreasonable to expect a good journalist (radio, print, otherwise) to be consistently biased one way or the other.
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Anybody done a run-through (or partial) of the Ion route this week? I've been away and haven't been able to do any of my nightly drives along the downtown / uptown portion, curious what's been happening this week! Has Charles opened up from Benton To Borden bi-directionally now, or still just Southbound?
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01-07-2016, 05:13 PM
(This post was last modified: 01-07-2016, 05:14 PM by KevinL.)
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Some pictures from around UW station:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The <a href="https://twitter.com/UWaterloo">@UWaterloo</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/rideIONrt">@rideIONrt</a> station. Is it just me, or have they protected most stops for 3-car trains in the future? <a href="https://t.co/Hke4UFeRs3">pic.twitter.com/Hke4UFeRs3</a></p>— Mark Jackson-Brown (@Markster3000) <a href="https://twitter.com/Markster3000/status/685182282076962820">January 7, 2016</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Looking south along the <a href="https://twitter.com/rideIONrt">@rideIONrt</a> tracks from the E5 bridge. <a href="https://t.co/9Un1dGiBPm">pic.twitter.com/9Un1dGiBPm</a></p>— Mark Jackson-Brown (@Markster3000) <a href="https://twitter.com/Markster3000/status/685182793610051584">January 7, 2016</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I'm pretty sure there will be crossing arms installed at Columbia. There are three unused pole footings still. <a href="https://t.co/wPR6XLoYDk">pic.twitter.com/wPR6XLoYDk</a></p>— Mark Jackson-Brown (@Markster3000) <a href="https://twitter.com/Markster3000/status/685189649455792132">January 7, 2016</a></blockquote>
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Do city buses have to stop for railway tracks if there are crossing arms?
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(01-07-2016, 05:36 PM)jamincan Wrote: Do city buses have to stop for railway tracks if there are crossing arms?
They do - I always see the 7 stopping at the tracks on Park.
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(01-07-2016, 05:36 PM)jamincan Wrote: Do city buses have to stop for railway tracks if there are crossing arms?
While not provincial law ( see here), it certainly is currently GRT policy.
I really hope that they revise that policy once ION is up and running.
Imagine buses pulling up to the tracks... slowing... stopping... looking... letting go of the brake... and then the signal bells start! Does the driver slam back on the brake? Do they just go? Either way, it's not great for the passengers. The current status quo only works because trains are so infrequent, that such scenarios are unlikely.
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01-07-2016, 06:09 PM
(This post was last modified: 01-07-2016, 06:10 PM by GtwoK.)
On another note: heaps of new closures announced!
- Allen / King Eastbound closing Jan 18 for 3 weeks
- Tracks being installed across Gaukel / Charles from January 17 until the end of February
- George / King closing for a week starting Jan 17
- Hayward is closing Jan 17 for 10 MONTHS! That's a hell of a long time to install track along 1/2 a block of a small side road. Are they completely reconfiguring the CN storage area here?
- King / Union closing Jan 17th until the end of February. Does much Utility work need to be don here, considering it's the city boundary? Not sure if utilities actually cross the street or not. Possible it could simply be track installation?
- King / William and King / Mount Hope closing for a week starting Sunday
- Water / Charles closing until the end of January starting this Sunday. I would assume this is track installation, considering the road has already been repaved and painted.
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(01-07-2016, 06:09 PM)GtwoK Wrote: - Water / Charles closing until the end of January starting this Sunday. I would assume this is track installation, considering the road has already been repaved and painted.
Saw a lot of equipment in the area earlier today, I presume that's what was up.
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(01-07-2016, 06:09 PM)GtwoK Wrote: - Hayward is closing Jan 17 for 10 MONTHS! That's a hell of a long time to install track along 1/2 a block of a small side road. Are they completely reconfiguring the CN storage area here?
Looks likely, judging by the location of the replacement freight rail bridge.
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01-07-2016, 07:13 PM
(This post was last modified: 01-07-2016, 08:10 PM by KevinL.)
They have to shift the freight track from the east side of the corridor at Hayward to the west side; that then means all the initial branches in the yard have to be redone as well. Quite an undertaking.
Incidentally, the new creek bridge has been built for the freight track but it still runs over the old bridge at the moment. They still have to demolish the old freight bridge and build a new one for the LRT tracks.
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(01-07-2016, 06:09 PM)GtwoK Wrote: On another note: heaps of new closures announced!
...
- King / Union closing Jan 17th until the end of February. Does much Utility work need to be don here, considering it's the city boundary? Not sure if utilities actually cross the street or not. Possible it could simply be track installation?
...
Okay, so now GRT will have not one but two stops on Weber between Victoria and Uptown. Good idea; I wonder why they wouldn't have added one of the stops before.
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Markster, to answer your comment about three car trains, when I spoke to Nancy Button years ago she said they were designing to allow for future expansion to three car trains. I've never seen any reference in the project agreement, and a lot has changed since she was in charge, so who knows what that means now. But it definitely was on their radar at some point.
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Has anyone driven down King between Union and Wellington in the last day or two? The detailed ion emailer that just went out reads like OCS Poles and Wires are actually going up here right now!
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(01-08-2016, 03:29 AM)taylortbb Wrote: Markster, to answer your comment about three car trains, when I spoke to Nancy Button years ago she said they were designing to allow for future expansion to three car trains. I've never seen any reference in the project agreement, and a lot has changed since she was in charge, so who knows what that means now. But it definitely was on their radar at some point.
That's nice to hear.
There's only one platform I've seen so far that doesn't have an additional 30m of runoff space that could clearly become a platform extension. Victoria Park Station is tightly squeezed in between Gaukel and a ramp into the Manulife parking garage.
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