ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[plam]

I don’t understand why so many people are so down on pedestrian overpasses and other fully weather- and traffic-protected pedestrian facilities. It seems that many people believe that the biggest problem with enclosed malls is the fact that they have a roof. Maybe in California, but here where I live I think we should be building roofs all over the place.

I think it has to do with diverting pedestrian traffic away from the streets where there are shops and such.  I'm not sure how big an issue they are here, they're hardly used, I don't find them all that oppressive.  I think it's a bigger problem the blank side of the mall.

I think enclosed malls (outside of downtown) could make fantastic public places (as they were in fact intended) if that was a priority for them, and if they were accessible without fighting traffic.

Malls aren't actually public spaces, though, and we visit them at the pleasure of the owners.

So Quebec City tried to enclose a street and it didn't go so well:

https://www.canadianarchitect.com/features/roch-garden/


They gave up on it a few decades later and it's much better now. Also, yes, agree that overpasses make things not happen on the (public) street.

[KevinL]

Frederick is being paved! The entirety of the Duke intersection, plus down towards King up to the current pedestrian crossing.

[GtwoK]

So, are they going to be cutting a hole for the track like with Francis, or are they waiting until the spring, like with Allen?

[Canard]

What do you mean?

[KevinL]

I think GtwoK is asking when the curved rails through the Frederick/Duke intersection will be going in (given that it was paved over today) - will it be short-term, with the track space cut away; or will the asphalt remain over winter and the tracks laid in the spring.

[Canard]

BTW, is anyone else kind of giggling that the media (570/Record/CTVk) haven't picked up yet on the announcement of the King St. Grade Sep. delay? NOBODY TELL THEM! Let's see how long it takes for them to clue in. It took them about 3 months before they finally noticed that something was going on with the platforms. My guess is in March they'll finally realize that something's up - just in time for it to open.

[white_brian]

Got down to the grade separation yesterday on the Zehr side of King, WOW!! Driving by on Victoria was cool and it looked great but the engineering marvel on the North side of the tracks is something else. Seen lots of pic on here but it doesn't quite do it justice when you see it in person. I'm shocked to see how far down it is

[danbrotherston]

Malls aren't actually public spaces, though, and we visit them at the pleasure of the owners.
....

This is of course true now, but the original intention of malls, as per the original designer, so far as I understand, was that they should serve as a town square/downtown area/community area for the new suburbs going in. Of course, this is now how life turned out, but that was the theory.

[KevinL]

Frederick paving from midday today.







Here's the problematic stairway we were discussing the other day. It clearly protrudes over the road just now - even this roller vehicle had to steer around it.

[p2ee]

So, are they going to be cutting a hole for the track like with Francis, or are they waiting until the spring, like with Allen?

Keep in mind that King/Frederick and Duke/Frederick intersection closures have been pushed to late December.  Makes me think it will be the former.

[jamincan]

Perhaps that lane will be reversed for vehicles with 1.5m clearance. A recumbent-bike-only lane?

[Viewfromthe42]

You could probably flip the middle stair segment from one side to the other, with a few changed bolts/welds, depending on what's holding it together. One obviously cheaper and quicker than the other.

[Canard]

As an engineer, I can tell you that while that sounds simple and easy in principle, that won't work here, for a number of reasons.

[timio]

As someone who is not an engineer, I recommend a super fun happy slide as the logical replacement for these stairs: https://youtu.be/NilkQeGsAVY

[Viewfromthe42]

Canard, we are the same type of engineer working in the exact same industry. Does it always work? No. Have I looked in great detail at that structure? No. Have I done exactly what I'm describing in similar situations? Yes. Does that mean it will or will not work here? I can't say for sure. The railing is the only clearly non-reversible element in the structure. The landings are both C-shaped, the stair segments don't have any directionality (to clockwise/counter-clockwise), and you could potentially shift the middle flight to the other side, while shifting the landings to that side as well. It is probably welded, meaning you would need to grind through a lot of weld (painful). The support column would need to be moved. Depending on how standardized a replacement could be, it might sadly be cheaper than repurposing. But please, Canard, be a little slower to whip to such judgements.