08-28-2014, 12:15 AM
Caroline, Borden first sites for LRT work
Augest 7, 2014 | Paige Desmond | Waterloo Region Record | Link
Augest 7, 2014 | Paige Desmond | Waterloo Region Record | Link
Quote:WATERLOO REGION — Uptown Waterloo and the Borden Avenue area in Kitchener are expected to see the first shovels in the ground for Waterloo Region's light rail transit system.
Final designs are in the works now.
"We anticipate that the first construction will probably be along Caroline Street and Borden area, but the exact start times aren't finalized," said Thomas Schmidt, commissioner of transportation and environmental services.
Schmidt said work will begin before year's end.
Construction of the system is expected to be complete in 2017 and that means a few years of road disruptions for residents and businesses.
The region is creating a website to detail the first six months of construction plans to give residents a bit of a heads up. It will be updated throughout construction.
A less detailed, long-term plan may also be provided.
"While we target that and we have that level of detail, you can't guarantee that something is going to happen Sept. 15 two years from now. But we can guarantee what's going to happen for the next six months and give general overviews of what we expect over the whole construction period," Schmidt said.
Waterloo Coun. Scott Witmer likes the website idea, but said that won't be enough.
"I think the website is a good start, but what happens on the ground can sometimes be a bit different," Witmer said. "We'll need to make sure there's good signage and things like that."
Though the plan is to start on Caroline Street in uptown Waterloo, Witmer said he expects traffic impacts will be felt throughout the city.
"Our plan to ease the impact during construction — the net needs to be thrown quite broadly," he said.
He expects impacts will stretch to Westmount Road and Weber Street.
"When you think of the layout of uptown and its connections into the Kitchener core and then back out toward the other end of the city, there aren't too many roads that connect you," Witmer said. "There's limited options already so I think when you start reducing traffic flow … I think we need to be prepared to expect the impact."
What might help ease some traffic issues is the anticipated completion of the Weber Street widening to four lanes.
The target date for completion is Nov. 13, but Schmidt said the lanes will all likely be open before that.
He anticipates a mid-August opening for the Victoria Street and Weber Street intersection and mid-September opening for the new four-lane street.
"It should be pretty close to normal," he said. "There will still be work going on."
A layer of base asphalt should be in place and project work off the roadway won't yet be finished.
Right now utilities along the corridor are being relocated ahead of the rail transit system that will travel 19 kilometres from Conestoga Mall in Waterloo to Fairview Park mall in Kitchener.
Construction is also expected to start soon on the express bus route from Fairview Park mall to the Ainslie Street transit terminal in Cambridge.
A $5.7-million contract was awarded to a construction company in June to complete the needed road work for the bus route. It includes six stops on Hespeler Road, queue jumps so the buses don't get trapped in traffic, and work at the transit terminal.
Schmidt said that system is expected to be up and running next spring.
The region hired construction consortium GrandLinq to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the light rail system. It will cost almost $2 billion over 30 years for light rail, including about $818 million to build it.