ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[KevinL]

The main point is, all this was already underground three years ago. To go from buried to ultimately aboveground, I doubt would be well-accepted.

[megabytephreak]

Curbs were going in on King between Allen and William today. Just waiting on the ones between the tracks and the road at this point. I wonder when they will "close" (not that you can actually get anywhere through it) the King/Allen intersection again to do the trackwork.

[panamaniac]

I can see the LRT construction on King Street in the distance.

That's the photo to show from aways when describing how close the start of Uptown is from the end of Downtown!

[tomh009]

Curbs were going in on King between Allen and William today. Just waiting on the ones between the tracks and the road at this point. I wonder when they will "close" (not that you can actually get anywhere through it) the King/Allen intersection again to do the trackwork.

I suspect that Granlinq has rented the concrete curbing machine (probably including the operator) so they are doing as many curbs as they can right now, to get the best use out of it.  Unlike last year, they are now laying down curbs before the track is in place.

[Smore]

how susceptible are the catenary wires to ice in the way that hydro lines would snap in ice storms?

[dunkalunk]

how susceptible are the catenary wires to ice in the way that hydro lines would snap in ice storms?

If you keep trains running to keep them clear of ice, I imagine not very susceptible.

[jamincan]

I recall hearing that that was what the ttc had to do at one point this winter.

[GtwoK]

A few photos from yesterday/ I hope you guys don't mind photos of minor day-to-day changes (it'd be a lot of effort to walk the entire Ion route every day), but if it starts to be an unwelcome barrage of photos, let me know and I'll lessen up a bit!

North side of Duke getting prepped for sidewalks between Water and Victoria. More sidwalks had also been added on the South side, along Francis and up to Bell Lane. I tried to take some photos of that, but the Grandlinq worker who was hanging around (waiting for it to dry?) told me I wasn't allowed to. Didn't feel like questioning why, so I moved on.



Duke / Francis may not be opening up so soon after all; a line has been cut through the pavement to mark the route tracks will fit into. So I guess that'll be happening soon.



A finished Charles St ( from Water to the tannery entrance, at least)!



What I assume to be traffic pole foundations being excavated at Charles / Gaukel. That may be what the cylindrical rebar was for at that intersection!



Charles at Queen, mid-paving

[isUsername]

I recall hearing that that was what the ttc had to do at one point this winter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_lF_cqx7vk

(From 2014)

[Markster]

A few photos from yesterday/ I hope you guys don't mind photos of minor day-to-day changes (it'd be a lot of effort to walk the entire Ion route every day), but if it starts to be an unwelcome barrage of photos, let me know and I'll lessen up a bit!

There is no such thing as "too many photos"!
All photos are welcome!

[Markster]

Also, it's nice to see curbs and paving happening at Queen/Charles.
I imagine they'll be paving the intersection itself today.

Now how do we get GrandLink to open Charles enough for GRT to finally start using it again? When Queen gets closed for road work, as it did yesterday and again today, it's made the bus detour absolutely ridiculous.

Think, Charles/Benton took about 12 weeks.
Queen/Charles has been closed since November!
25ish weeks!

[Viewfromthe42]

When I checked out Queen/Charles this morning, with that island to prevent left turns into the Queen entrance of the parking lot, all I could think was that buses and transport trucks would have a heck of a time turning there. :-S

[Markster]

When I checked out Queen/Charles this morning, with that island to prevent left turns into the Queen entrance of the parking lot, all I could think was that buses and transport trucks would have a heck of a time turning there. :-S

Buses don't.  GRT has internal maps of roads and intersections and turns that are cleared for regular and detour bus operation.  That's why some detours are very different from what you might do in a car.

Transport trucks, on the other hand... seem to make it up as they go along, and are surprised when they can't make a turn.

[Canard]

I tried to take some photos of that, but the Grandlinq worker who was hanging around (waiting for it to dry?) told me I wasn't allowed to.

Provided you weren't entering a fenced or otherwise demarcated construction zone, you can take as many photos as you like (including ones that happen to have workers in them), despite GrandLinq's claim that they can control what we shoot.

[chutten]

Interestingly, I think you're actually allowed to take pictures while in a fenced or demarcated construction zone, so long as you're not taking pictures of a person who has a reasonable expectation of privacy.

You are, however, prohibited from _entering_ such a zone without authorization. So don't do it. But if you're already there, I guess you can take pictures and self-document your unlawful presence?