Critical Reflection #5:

            From the beginning of September right until now, the Waterloo LRT debate has been going on and not it seems that a resolution has been met.  On October 27, a regional election was held in Waterloo Region. The winner of the mayoral race for The City of Waterloo was Dave Jaworsky. Dave stated after he heard that he had won the mayoral election he promised as mayor he would “ensure the project comes in on-time and on-budget” (Jackson, 2014). This is a major development, an actual guarantee that the LRT will be built in Waterloo Region. Not only is this a guarantee, but earlier in the term construction has begun on Caroline Street in Waterloo to begin installing the LRT station near the Uptown Shops in Waterloo (Record Staff, 2014). This is a very exciting time to live in Waterloo Region. The creation of the LRT will change how residence moves around the city. The projected completion date for the LRT is projected to be in 2017. That will be my final year of University, and I can’t wait to ride the LRT to school.

References:

Jackson, J. (2014, October 28). Jaworsky elected mayor of Waterloo. Retrieved 2-14, from Waterloo Chronicle : http://www.waterloochronicle.ca/news/jaworsky-elected-mayor-of-waterloo/

Record Staff. (2014, October 1). LRT construction results in Caroline Street closure in Waterloo. Retrieved 2014, from http://www.therecord.com/news-story/4888797-lrt-construction-results-in-caroline-street-closure-in-waterloo/

LRT construction results in Caroline Street closure in Waterloo

WATERLOO REGION — Construction for the Ion light rail transit project has created its first road closure.

Workers started digging up Caroline Street, between Allen and William streets, at 6 a.m. Tuesday, said Kim Moser, spokesperson for the Ion transit system.

(McCarthy, 2014)

"This is the first part of the project that is going to impact pedestrians and traffic," she said.

A groundbreaking was held a month ago in Waterloo at the Dutton Drive maintenance site for the train cars. There's been other preliminary work along the 19 km rail route between Conestoga and Fairview Park malls, but no road closures.

Underground work, the most disruptive part of the project, has started and will be done first, Moser said.

Water and sewer pipes are being upgraded and moved out of the route for trains along Caroline, she said.

After Thanksgiving, similar road closures are expected in Kitchener, along Borden Avenue and adjacent Charles Street.

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References: 

Record Staff. (2014, October 1). LRT construction results in Caroline Street closure in Waterloo. Retrieved 2014, from http://www.therecord.com/news-story/4888797-lrt-construction-results-in-caroline-street-closure-in-waterloo/

McCarthy, M. (2014, January 1). LRT road construction0104.

Ontario election results bode well for LRT

(RailwayAge, 2014)

The province's Waterloo Region, including the municipalities of Waterloo, Kitchener, and Cambridge, underwent a heated campaign where the ION LRT system, under construction since last August, was the pivotal political issue.

Ken Seiling, a pro-LRT candidate, was re-elected as Regional Municipality of Waterloo chairman, while Dave Jaworsky, another pro-LRT candidate, was elected mayor of Waterloo.

Cambridge, currently set to receive Bus Rapid Transit but eventually slated to be served by LRT, saw two regional council candidates opposed to rail defeated. Cambridge Mayor Doug Craig, who has protested his city's paying for LRT before it is served by same, was re-elected.

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Reference: 

Bowen, D. (2014, October 29). Ontario election results bode well for LRT. Retrieved ,2014, from http://www.railwayage.com/index.php/passenger/light-rail/ontario-election-results-bode-well-for-lrt.html?channel=61

Road Ahead: LRT promoters have persuaded enough people to embrace their vision

Election results show that rail transit promoters have persuaded enough people to embrace a bold vision that's unsupported by evidence.

The transportation evidence shows that street-level electric trains are an overreach. Look to low ridership, a central route that lacks jobs, residents, and congestion, high costs, and commuters who stay in their cars even as transit expands.

Cost-benefit studies in 2005 and 2009 and further evidence in 2011 found that better buses would move people more efficiently.

But the trains that launch in 2017 in Kitchener and Waterloo are not about achieving value for money, or responding to growth management plans, or even about moving people. Promoters understood this in 2002 when they unveiled rail transit, without pretending that it's about new ways to get around.

"We're not trying to fix the transportation system," former regional chief administrator Gerry Thompson explained. "What we're trying to do is build an urban form. That's the visionary nature of it."

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Reference:

Outhit, J. (2014, November 15). Road Ahead: LRT promoters have persuaded enough people to embrace their vision. Retrieved November 15, 2014, from http://www.therecord.com/opinion-story/5030409-lrt-promoters-have-persuaded-enough-people-to-embrace-their-vision/

Jaworsky elected mayor of Waterloo

(Jackson, 2014)

If Monday’s election was indeed a referendum on the light rail transit project, voters in the City of Waterloo have spoken loud and clear.

Former BlackBerry executive Dave Jaworsky was elected mayor with 14,103 votes, or 55 per cent of all ballots cast Monday, defeating lawyer Erika Traub by nearly 8,000 votes. Anti-LRT candidate Dave MacDonald finished third with just over 4,400 votes and newcomer Rami Said finished fourth with 696.

“I think it really has to do with direction and vision,” said Jaworsky Monday night after being declared the winner at the Waterloo Inn, surrounded by hundreds of supporters. “People in Waterloo are really looking for a vision of where we can take the city.

“I truly believe it can be the best small city in North America.”

Regionally, voters opted to go with Ken Seiling for chair — a position he’s held since 1985 — over Jay Aissa, who built his campaign around cancelling the LRT.

“I had a good feeling about it, but you know what? That’s the beauty about democracy,” said Aissa. “The people have spoken and I wish Ken Seiling the best on his vision and we will see what happens.”

Waterloo city council may have a new mayor but it will still have a slate of familiar faces around the horseshoe for the next four years. Five incumbent councillors (Angela Vieth, Diane Freeman, Mark Whaley, Jeff Henry and Melissa Durrell) will all return.

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Reference: 

Jackson, J. (2014, October 28). Jaworsky elected mayor of Waterloo. Retrieved  2014, from http://www.waterloochronicle.ca/news/jaworsky-elected-mayor-of-waterloo/

Critical Reflection #4:

In my last post, I attached a link to an article from the Waterloo Record. The article about how the Waterloo region already had, in a way, its own LRT system a century ago was mine boggling. I had no idea that Cambridge area had one, and then tons of questions came to mind such as where was it, how long was the track, why is it not in commission now?  The Records article explains that the train lost its fight with vehicles such as cars and trucks, but it seems like such as waste to me. If you think about what if, Waterloo Region could be so different than what it is today. Back in the day, the article states that there was about 35 000 people using the rail lines to get to work, and the new LRT is predicted to have about 27 000 riders the first day. What if, instead of discarding the rails in the 1950’s, the region decided to embrace it by adding different lines every decade or so. This would have meant that Waterloo Region could have had an incredibly mature transit system that was in commission for a century. Sadly this is not so, and this makes me personally, as an urban planning student very upset. The idea of what could have been haunts me.

LRT began in Galt and Preston in 1894

(City of Cambridge Archives, 2014)

When it comes to the matter of light rail transit in Waterloo Region, we are justified in saying: been there, done that.

It was more than a century ago that surface passenger transit was launched in the communities that now make up Cambridge, and it is probably not lost on the residents of Cambridge that they will not be among the first to experience the return of such people-movers: the LRT will come first to Kitchener and Waterloo in 2017, with Cambridge getting the so-called "fast buses," for the time being.

But this column is about the past, and what a forward-thinking past it was.

Electric railways: they were the hallmark of the urbane community in the late 19th century. If your town had electricity and a working class, it was necessary that you had a way for people to get to and from work, buy their groceries, go to trade school.

Enter the urban street railway. Cheap fares. Faster than the horse and buggy.

Probably the most extensive online history of the Galt and Preston Street Railway (also known as the G & P) is on trainweb.org. What follows is drawn largely from its pages (information that in large part comes from the City of Cambridge Archives).

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Reference: 

Bean, B. (2014, October 24). LRT began in Galt and Preston in 1894. Retrieved November 10, 2014, from http://www.therecord.com/living-story/4928575-lrt-began-in-galt-and-preston-in-1894/

City of Cambridge Archives. (2014, January 1). River. Retrieved November 10, 2014, from http://www.therecord.com/living-story/4928575-lrt-began-in-galt-and-preston-in-1894/

Critical Reflection #3:

Something that hasn't been mentioned extensively yet in my posts is why there are so many people  disappointed, or upset with the idea of an LRT in Waterloo Region. The entire Region of Waterloo will be unable to use the newly created LRT, even though many of them are paying for it. The Region includes areas such as North Dumfries, Woolwich, Wilmont and Wellesley (Region of Waterloo, 2014). These areas are found outside of the general area where Waterloo, Kitchener, and Cambridge are located. Much of their area consists of workable farmland.  Now these regions will not be able to benefit from the LRT as much as the K-W area. The estimated LRT price tag is a little under 1 billion dollars over a 30-year period (CBC News, 2014).  This is a massive amount to spend on transportation alone, and many of the residence within North Dumfries, Woolwich, Wilmont and Wellesley are having to end up paying a large amount of the LRT bill. I believe that the LRT will have tremendous benefits for the region, but I can sympathize with the residence that are paying for the LRT and not even able to use it fully. 

References: CBC News. (2014, March 4). LRT contract OK'd by regional committee. Retrieved November 6, 2014, from http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/lrt-contract-ok-d-by-regional-committee-1.2559215

Region of Waterloo. (2014, January 1). GIS and Mapping. Retrieved November 6, 2014, from http://www.regionofwaterloo.ca/en/discoveringTheRegion/maps.asp#MapGuides

Here is a great video that describes where the new ION LRT rail will be going, as well as how it will connect Waterloo Region.

References:

Where will ION light rail take you? (2014, February 26). Retrieved November 3, 2014, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wj6NQfe-9do

News Article: How much would it cost to cancel Waterloo Region's LRT?

A handful of candidates running for office in the October 27 municipal elections – including Waterloo mayoral hopeful Dave MacDonald and Jay Aissa, who is running for regional chair – are seeking to cancel the region's light rail transit project.

(McCulloch, 2014)

But if the LRT were cancelled by the end of the year, the region says it would lose hundreds of millions of dollars, both to construction and other work that's already begun and lost government grants.

According to the region's transportation commissioner, Thomas Schmidt, by the end of 2014, the region will have paid between $225-250 million dollars in total costs already. That money, which covers everything from engineering and design consulting work, construction costs, payments for train cars, land appropriation and utility relocation, is lost if the LRT is cancelled. 

Continue Reading ...

Reference: 

Kand,M., & Bellemare, A. (2014, October 21). How much would it cost to cancel Waterloo Region's LRT? Retrieved 2014, from http://www.cbc.ca/news.canada.kitchiner-waterloo/how-much-it-cost-to-cancel-waterloo-region-slrt-1.2790359 

McCulloch, M. (2014, October 22). How much would it cost to cancel Waterloo Region's LRT? Retrieved 2014, from http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/how-much-would-it-cost-to-cancel-waterloo-region-s-lrt-1.2790359

News Article:

Opinion: Waterloo Region's farmers have a vested interest in getting light rail transit built and used to control urban sprawl

Farmers and the agricultural community in Waterloo Region will not be required to pay for and will, in all likelihood, rarely use light rapid transit, yet we have a vested interest in ensuring that it is not only built but also used extensively by our urban neighbours.

  (Davis, 2014) 

Quite simply, without intensification and its key requirement, high-quality public transit, the future of farming in Waterloo Region is threatened..

Waterloo Region is growing at a rate that is higher than nearly any other municipality in Canada and the province of Ontario has clearly stated in the Places to Grow Act that we are to continue that growth. The agricultural views, vistas, farmsteads and indeed our cultural heritage that we all appreciate and admire are in peril if we don't continue to take measures to ensure that the official boundaries of our cities, our countryside lines, are kept in place.

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Reference:                                                                                        

Reusser, M. (2014, October 24). Opinion: Waterloo Region's farmers have a vested interest in getting light rail transit built and used to control urban sprawl. Retrieved October 26, 2014, from http://www.therecord.com/opinion-story/4940167-opinion-waterloo-region-s-farmers-have-a-vested-interest-in-getting-light-rail-transit-built-and-us/

Davis, B. (2014, January 1). Farmers Work. Retrieved October 26, 2014, from http://www.therecord.com/opinion-story/4940167-opinion-waterloo-region-s-farmers-have-a-vested-interest-in-getting-light-rail-transit-built-and-us/

Critical Reflection #2

As the LRT situation within Waterloo Region has progressed, more information has been available about the new LRT system. This includes running times, as well as the proposed routes. With an improved running time of 8 munities, from the current 15 munity running time for the iExpress line, it seems that the LRT will be more frequent and more convenient. I am an Urban Planning student at Waterloo University, so I may be biased in my opinion for the LRT project, but I think it is an amazing idea. Lately I have been taking the bus home from UW at around 5:30, and the busses are packed full of people. I think it is the worst time to take the bus, and it will only get worse with winter slowly coming. The new LRT system will have an increased capacity, from currently 54 passengers per bus to over 200 per LRT train.  This means more room for passengers, as well as a more comfortable ride for the passengers. With more room on the LRT, it may even attract new riders. The new opportunities that are available because of the creation of the LRT include more building intensification along the transit routes, the likely hood of a more walkable Waterloo Region. These are some of the opportunities that the LRT will bring to the Waterloo Region, and I cant wait for it to happen.