ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[Markster]

I wonder what the potential for that will be once Ion opens?

I hate to say it, but probably not much of a potential.  None of the stops really have a courtyard like that - our stops are much, much smaller.

We have a few that will be able to do something kinda like that:

• R&T Park, I believe is the one that most definitely has something that could be called a "forecourt".  It's a little recessed from the road, and there's a wide path planned to connect.
  
• Uptown Square certainly will have food trucks from time to time.
  
• Victoria Park station is right next to Charles St Terminal, which has a very spacious sidewalk; even more so after ION has been put in.
  
• Block Line might have something that could be like that, but I can't remember the station layout off the top of my head.
  

In any case, none of them will be exactly the same. We don't have many that will serve as bus hubs and park-and-rides.  Just the mall stations.  Though.... Fairview Mall station might be a good candidate too.

[JoeKW]

The restaurants would be upset if food trucks started parking in the mall lot outside... though I know that Cadillac Fairview has had food truck festivals in their parkings lots before.

[Canard]

Ottawa's first Alstom CITADIS Spirit LFLRV is ready to go:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="fr" dir="ltr">Our 1st LRT vehicle ready to hit the tracks for testing this fall! / 1er véhicule TLR prêt à s’enrailler cet automne <a href="https://t.co/SH18hM0EsQ">pic.twitter.com/SH18hM0EsQ</a></p>&mdash; Jim Watson (@JimWatsonOttawa) <a href="https://twitter.com/JimWatsonOttawa/status/751407746990366725">July 8, 2016</a></blockquote>

[GtwoK]

Noticed lots of that "black" concrete pouring going on downtown today, filling in what's left around some intersections.

Also noticed: a driver turning left from Water onto Charles (towards Victoria), despite the signs all saying "wrong way" and "do not enter". Of course, there was a line of multiple cars going the CORRECT way down this street, so the driver had no where to turn into (traffic cones blocked the "wrong" lane, specifically for this reason). Instead the driver chose to sit in / block the intersection until the cars impeding his way continued through, so that he would be able to continue on his wrong way journey.

Honking at him from all sides of the intersection ensued.

He still did it anyway.

[Canard]

Lots of work along Charles! Bit by bit, more concrete is showing up. The grounding wires have been encased in a couple of areas. Still just rails roughed in at Cameron Heights. Wonder what the deal is there.

Up at Columbia, the OCS is connected to the thick, high amperage supply wire now. The control box at R&T Park is getting wired as I type this.

[tomh009]

Lots of work along Charles! Bit by bit, more concrete is showing up. The grounding wires have been encased in a couple of areas. Still just rails roughed in at Cameron Heights. Wonder what the deal is there.

Yes ... I hadn't posted this morning's photos yet, sorry!

The poured median at Cedar:
   

Welding rails near Cedar:
   

Ready to pour near Madison:
   

Freshly poured concrete on the WB rails at Stirling (some work still remaining on this curve):
   

EB rails pretty much done between Kent and Borden:
   

[Pheidippides]

   
   
   
   

[Canard]

How did you get access to where that 2nd photo was taken, Pheidippides?

[GtwoK]

There's a fenced path there! It's the only way across king between Victoria and Wellington at the moment. It's meant for people getting to the King's Crossing plaza / train conductors getting to the Go trains in the layover

[Canard]

That's great - thanks!  I'll have to check that out.  Right in the eye of the storm, so to speak!

Here's a slightly different vantage point of construction.  Take a trip along Charles, from Queen to Borden, including the newly-opened intersection at Queen!



...also out today, an actually not-too-terrible article from the Record:

At 60 per cent constructed, LRT project hit bumps along the way

[KevinL]

Great video!

As for the article, I don't like that it conflates the Ion/Eglinton LRVs with the streetcar contract. Yes, both are Bombardier vehicles to be used in Toronto, but they were ordered at different times by different organizations on different specs.

[danbrotherston]

Great video!

As for the article, I don't like that it conflates the Ion/Eglinton LRVs with the streetcar contract. Yes, both are Bombardier vehicles to be used in Toronto, but they were ordered at different times by different organizations on different specs.

This is not a new "conflation" in the Record unfortunately.  

Definitely great video, although I can't help but notice the rather uncomfortable angle cyclists will have to cross the LRT rails, far too close an opportunity to get a wheel stuck in the middle of an intersection.

[TMKM94]

I wonder why the plaza signs for 607 King St. Were taken out for? are they going ahead with preparing for Kings Crossing already? 

[Canard]

YouTube Video: ion Construction, July 2016 (Charles, Queen to Borden)

Definitely great video, although I can't help but notice the rather uncomfortable angle cyclists will have to cross the LRT rails, far too close an opportunity to get a wheel stuck in the middle of an intersection.

I was hoping someone would bring this up.  I'm actually quite shocked that we haven't discussed this yet!  As a long-time car driver and novice cyclist, I'm hyper-aware of my surroundings and, while timid, I'm learning to firmly take my place in traffic and follow the rules of the road.  So when a hazard like the tracks show up, I'm super careful to understand the risks and physics of it and make sure I'm crossing the tracks properly (at least ~30 degrees or so, and most importantly, keeping a firm grip on my handlebars and giving a quick and careful turn to get a sharper angle at the wheel-to-rail interface moment).  But I fully expect that in these "crossover" sections (Benton/Charles, just north of King/Victoria), there are going to be problems with people taking a header if they cross at too shallow of an angle.  It will be far worse if the tracks are wet.



This has been a big problem in Sheffield, UK - of course now I can't find the news article, but a quick search on YouTube brings up a ton of videos of people running into issues crossing the tracks at shallow angles, due to the design of the suggested path that cyclists should take when crossing.  It's probably not helped at all by the UK's seemingly persistently-moist climate.  In some places, as a result of the accidents, they've painted ~0.5m wide solid green "Safe Path" stripes, with suggested paths that cyclists should take when attempting to cross the tracks.  I think this is a great idea!

Again... safety campaign?  I really feel like the time is right to start bringing some of these issues up.  4 months to first train movements.  Waiting until then is too late.  I'd be happy to host.  Do I have to make my own "ion Safety Channel" on YouTube?  

[danbrotherston]

This has been a big problem in Sheffield, UK - of course now I can't find the news article, but a quick search on YouTube brings up a ton of videos of people running into issues crossing the tracks at shallow angles, due to the design of the suggested path that cyclists should take when crossing.  It's probably not helped at all by the UK's seemingly persistently-moist climate.  In some places, as a result of the accidents, they've painted ~0.5m wide solid green "Safe Path" stripes, with suggested paths that cyclists should take when attempting to cross the tracks.  I think this is a great idea!

Again... safety campaign?  I really feel like the time is right to start bringing some of these issues up.  4 months to first train movements.  Waiting until then is too late.  I'd be happy to host.  Do I have to make my own "ion Safety Channel" on YouTube?  

You don't even have to go across the pond to see that problem, up the err...street...in Toronto, you have the same issue:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yz1wnLhguhU

But this is a problem faced by numerous cities across the globe.  The frustrating thing about it is there seems to be a technological solution, a rubber flange can be placed within the flange gap in the track, that can support the weight of a bike allowing one to ride along the track with no issue, but will be depressed by the weight of an LRT vehicle.  I seem to recall this being discussed, and the suggestion was that it wasn't preferred at intersections like this because it would apparently lead people to believe the tracks are not dangerous for cyclists, which I find to be a really poor excuse.  Although I suspect there might be other maintenance implications as well.

There are a number of other options as well, from sharrows to...well properly designing our cycling infrastructure, that would ensure  there aren't crashes:

http://www.streetfilms.org/cyclists-vs-rails-in-zurich/

I think the most important intersection to get right is Caroline and Erb, on account of it will have the greatest cyclist volume.