Grand River Transit

[Spokes]

Thanks for posting this! Very interesting information.

[chutten]

As requested here is a full version of the whole region (10MB). You'll have to zoom in a lot before you can read the labels.
http://wikisend.com/download/164788/untitled.png

Pardon my nerdery, but (for next time, maybe) if you're willing to spend half an hour of hardcore compute time, you can get it down to 7.2MB (23.43% savings!) by running

Code:

optipng -o7

(It is much faster on smaller inputs)

[Pheidippides]

I know this has come up before, but after searching past posts I couldn't find the answer.

Can someone remind me what the future holds for Charles Street Terminal? Or has it been decided yet?

I was thinking the other day that as more and more residents move downtown demand will grow for recreation facilities (indoor pool, track, cardio, weights, courts, gym, etc.) and that parcel would make a great site for such a facility; especially since it is already government owned (although I guess it is a regional facility and recreation is a city responsibility). Perhaps merging/moving the Downtown Community Centre to the site too.

The closest large indoor multi-purpose facility to downtown Kitchener is probably the Waterloo Recreation Complex. Something like a more vertical version of Edmonton's Kinsmen Centre would be awesome, perhaps with a daycare, and or long term care aging facility integrated in to it, and a residential tower on top.

[mpd618]

Can someone remind me what the future holds for Charles Street Terminal? Or has it been decided yet?

The plan is for it to become obsolete through GRT network changes and the King/Victoria hub, neither of which has a firm timeline. At that point it would be up to the City of Kitchener, which owns the site.

[tomh009]

Can someone remind me what the future holds for Charles Street Terminal? Or has it been decided yet?

The plan is for it to become obsolete through GRT network changes and the King/Victoria hub, neither of which has a firm timeline. At that point it would be up to the City of Kitchener, which owns the site.

A premier location for a mixed-use condo/retail location, I think.  A block away from King, next to the LRT stop and across the street from Victoria Park.  I hope the city secures a top-class development for this location.

[BuildingScout]

My suggestion was to extend Victoria park so that it touches Downtown. This plan could accommodate condo+retail along Ontario St.

[tomh009]

My suggestion was to extend Victoria park so that it touches Downtown. This plan could accommodate condo+retail along Ottawa st.

That's attractive, too.  But unless you cut off Joseph Street, the park is no split into three pieces, and the eastern part is quite narrow.  And while a mixed development at the current terminal location would promote business on Charles, I'm not so sure a park would do the same.

Who owns the old post office property on Gaukel?

[BuildingScout]

Charles doesn't have enough activity to attract traffic, even today with the station. Create a line of shops facing the extended park, parallel to Ontario street, redevelop that street mall as well as the parking lot on Charles and Ontario and suddenly you have all the key ingredients, with a corridor connecting to downtown and nonstop flow from one place to another.

[panamaniac]

Charles doesn't have enough activity to attract traffic, even today with the station. Create a line of shops facing the extended park, parallel to Ottawa street, redevelop that street mall as well as the parking lot on Charles and Ottawa and suddenly you have all the key ingredients, with a corridor connecting to downtown and nonstop flow from one place to another.

Do you mean Ontario St rather than Ottawa St? 

[BuildingScout]

Do you mean Ontario St rather than Ottawa St? 

Oops, yes of course

[mpd618]

Charles doesn't have enough activity to attract traffic, even today with the station. Create a line of shops facing the extended park, parallel to Ontario street, redevelop that street mall as well as the parking lot on Charles and Ontario and suddenly you have all the key ingredients, with a corridor connecting to downtown and nonstop flow from one place to another.

I think this is a good idea - Gaukel Street from Charles to Joseph serves zero function for motor vehicles after the Charles Street Terminal is closed. And neither is Joseph is a substantial corridor. So Gaukel Street itself, plus a portion of the terminal property would make for a fine extension of the park to the LRT station at Charles, and it could cross Joseph Street in shared space fashion.

[tomh009]

Charles doesn't have enough activity to attract traffic, even today with the station. Create a line of shops facing the extended park, parallel to Ottawa street, redevelop that street mall as well as the parking lot on Charles and Ottawa and suddenly you have all the key ingredients, with a corridor connecting to downtown and nonstop flow from one place to another.

Do you mean Ontario St rather than Ottawa St? 

Ah, with Ontario St that part now makes sense to me!

That larger parking lot is owned by DREAM Office REIT, the same company that owns the (formerly new) Canada Trust Tower next door.  Original plans called for a second tower in that parking lot (there is still a scale model inside the building) and I suspect that the zoning is for commercial/retail. 

The smaller parking lot on the other side might be owned by the city, but it's not really large enough for a substantial development.

[BuildingScout]

I think this is a good idea - Gaukel Street from Charles to Joseph serves zero function for motor vehicles after the Charles Street Terminal is closed. And neither is Joseph is a substantial corridor. So Gaukel Street itself, plus a portion of the terminal property would make for a fine extension of the park to the LRT station at Charles, and it could cross Joseph Street in shared space fashion.

Exactly. This would also give two dimensionality to Downtown, which up until now hast been mostly a linear zone. Essentially shooting to create an area demarcated by Victoria, Joseph, Benton-Frederick and Weber that should become a downtown core, as opposed to just King St. with Victoria Park adjacent to it for added attraction.

[nms]

Taking a quick look at the Charles Street site, it looks like a building the size of the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex could be squeezed in. This would include a large pool, a decent size indoor skating rink as well as meeting facilities. It could be a nice addition to the public space at Kitchener City Hall and allow things like the Kristkindl Market to expand.

However, parking (and potentially truck deliveries) would be a sticking point. All the water in a swimming pool is very heavy so underground parking could be significantly more expensive to build. However, adding another underground public parking lot to the Downtown core could satisfy the needs of those who would not be coming downtown by some other means.

[chutten]

However, parking (and potentially truck deliveries) would be a sticking point.  All the water in a swimming pool is very heavy so underground parking could be significantly more expensive to build.  However, adding another underground public parking lot to the Downtown core could satisfy the needs of those who would not be coming downtown by some other means.

On the other hand, if you wanted something to force adoption of public transit then you couldn't hope for something more tailor-made than a place people want to visit positioned directly adjacent to transit hubs, plagued with insufficient parking