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ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit
(12-11-2015, 12:00 PM)tomh009 Wrote:
(12-10-2015, 09:51 PM)GtwoK Wrote: Charles from Madison - Stirling is almost completely ready for curbs. I think I may have been dead on when guessing that 90% of Charles would be open by Christmas.

What's the construction on Charles between Borden and Ottawa?  That shouldn't be LRT, right?

Yes, the inbound rail from Fairview Mall.
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Lane markings have been painted on Charles from Water to Ontario. The road is still not fully open, however, with cones and equipment keeping access down to one lane.
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(12-11-2015, 02:37 PM)MidTowner Wrote:
(12-11-2015, 02:12 PM)Pheidippides Wrote: The co-owner of Grand River Rocks has changed his opinion on LRT since recording this interview.

I listened to the interview on The Morning Edition this morning, and I don't think it's accurate to say that his opinion on the LRT has changed. I don't personally think that his type of criticism of the construction is helpful, but probably some of his points of contention were accurate and valid, and anyway he did keep his criticism focused on the construction process, and not LRT.

Yeah, I also thought the summary didn't have anything negative about the concept of LRT.

Last I checked GRR was still filling up pretty much every weeknight. (And they also had problems with sprinkler systems, which is certainly not LRT's fault). They will also be better off when LRT is running.

But it has been a hassle for them to deal with LRT construction, which has been just outside their door for an exceptionally long time.
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One of the intriguing side aspects of the whole project is its supply chain. That happens to be uniquely visible at a place being used as something of a marshalling yard - one of the old Schneiders parking lots. I got some good shots of it earlier today:

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Passing through uptown Waterloo last night there was a crew working under the lights at Caroline and Erb at 8:45PM.

Also, the tracks now extend south on Caroline almost to Freemont and the concrete extends to just south of William.
Everyone move to the back of the bus and we all get home faster.
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(12-06-2015, 08:39 PM)timio Wrote:
(12-06-2015, 08:36 PM)KevinL Wrote: Here's an unorthodox use of the right-of-way, but I guess it's not being used right now anyway...
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It'll be interesting to see how the finished product looks.  If it's like that, I'm curious how they'll enforce it when the time comes.

Looks like a trench blocking them from using their driveways right now... so despite the No Parking signs, I assume they have been given permission during construction to use the tracks as a parking spot.

When the trains are running, and someone needs the spot for a few mins... 

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When people told me "I was only parked for a minute" I'd always happily respond, takes less than a minute for the tow truck guy tho... here's where you can find your car... Big Grin

Coke
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I believe Willis Way station is the only one where both the platform and the embedded track have had the concrete poured. (We have some stations beside open track with the concrete poured as well.) Here's a look at it from today...

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Meanwhile at KCI, the base of the new front steps is proceeding well. They have a BIG crane on site to help, as well.

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Great pictures Kevin!

And wow, I didn't realize how much they were digging up in front of KCI! I hope they give the school some funds to restore their front yard back to its former state. It seemed like the school had put a lot of effort into beautifying that area in the past couple years. In fact, I think I remember reading in the Record that they even won an award for their work. I'm sure Grandlinq/the Region has something figured out though.
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(12-12-2015, 03:57 PM)KevinL Wrote: Meanwhile at KCI, the base of the new front steps is proceeding well. They have a BIG crane on site to help, as well.

I saw this today, too.  It's still hard for me to visualize what the finished project will look like.
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The rail bed in front of Charles St Terminal and Victoria Park Station is being cleaned up and leveled.
I'm wondering if we might see rails here before winter hits.
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The two-week forecast is now calling for four degrees on the 28th of December...amazingly, we could still see plenty of work getting done into January.
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I'm sure that GRT is really looking forward to getting Charles St back!

Living at the corner of Queen and Courtland, I'm quite happy that they eventually figured out that sending 80% of their buses around a Queen/Courtland/Benton loop was ridiculous.
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Most curbs were in from Stirling to Cameron today. Sidewalks also going in on Borden, so people are finally parking in their driveways now. Also, and I might be wrong about this, but think they added more asphalt to the crossing at Courtland, because it seems more spread out and less of a bump now.
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(12-12-2015, 06:51 PM)tomh009 Wrote:
(12-12-2015, 03:57 PM)KevinL Wrote: Meanwhile at KCI, the base of the new front steps is proceeding well. They have a BIG crane on site to help, as well.

I saw this today, too.  It's still hard for me to visualize what the finished project will look like.

Conceptual Renderings

However, they demolished the entrance under the stairs as well, going all the way up to the front facade, so it may look a fair bit different.
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