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ION Phase 2 - Cambridge's Light Rail Transit
#28
(02-10-2017, 11:51 PM)dunkalunk Wrote: So, I have some opinions.
TLDR; Add stations at River Rd/King and the 401 and move the route off Hespeler Rd and onto Coronation Blvd.

I totally agree with your entire (well written) post!

At the first Phase 2 consultation (a year ago? I don't even remember...), my partner and I both talked at length with staff about using Coronation. It just seemed so obvious to us. Preston gets a huge (needed!) uplift, running through downtown European tramway style... then zips down the wide centre median on Coronation to the Delta. We stressed that nobody is going to take the train to Pinebush and walk to Home Depot or any of the Smart Centre shops. 24 is a lost cause... and, as you brought up, we did too the issue of Eagle being a total mess (far too narrow/massive expropriation). But they kept saying "our hands are tied" and "we have to use the route that the Region directed us to use" - which is to go down 24 and use the LRT only as a Development Tool (which I hate). In my mind, trains should be used for moving people.

I do get that we've already seen a huge push from developers even before Phase 1 is open, and that's great. But is it sustainable? What happens when all the buildings are up? Does it just stop? And then we'll be left with a non-optimal transit system? People might forget about the development and just say "shoot, this train is really akward and doesn't go where I want it to go."

On the station art;
  • I love the birds at Fairway. I actually shouted "YES" when I saw it made the recommended list!
  • The entrance canopy at R+T is going to look stunning - I bet that's going to be my favourite stop now.
  • Continuum at Conestoga was a no-brainer - it's just perfect! (for those who didn't know - where that fence is going, there has to be a fence, anyway, to keep people from jumping up onto the driver's lounge roof.)
  • I am going to stop and have a sit on the Spine bench every time I bike by. Big Grin
  • I'm very sad that Jonathan Enn's Digital Sun didn't make the cut - that, I feel, was the most interesting piece (and the most developed from a conceptual standpoint). I wonder if there were technical issues that couldn't be overcome (cavities fill with snow?)
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RE: ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit - by Canard - 02-11-2017, 09:29 AM

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