GO Transit

[rapid_business]

...lol...we'll for the few who can make it. Please post pictures/info. Thanks in advance.

[Duke-Of-Waterloo]

Why does it seem that I'm the one on here who always goes to these open houses? (Pics to come from my cell phone by the way) I got a cool GO bookmark, post-it notes and pens for going! And they fed me too.

GO proposed to use a yard near Ira Needles as a "layover" for trains. If volumes permit, they plan on making this a station as well. If they cannot use this as their "layover", they will look further west in Wilmot Township at Petersburg and Baden.


Proximity to the City.


The downtown station. They propose to close Ahrens Street, as the GO trains are too long to permit it to remain open. GO had this as their preferred downtown "urban" station. It would have limited/no parking. GO will use the existing VIA train station building to sell tickets.


Highway 7 & Greenhouse Road, Woolwich Township (Breslau) station concept. This will be the station that will be complete with park & ride facilities as well as a kiss & ride.


This is good to hear!

[rapid_business]

So from what I see, they'd just use VIA's platform for GO, and leave it unaltered?

EDIT: Thanks Duke, I'll go next event when it doesn't conflict with class or work. We still need to do beers soon and catch up.

[Duke-Of-Waterloo]

For sure onishenko. I had to go for work anyways, so it wasn't a big deal.

I'm kind of surprised that they chose Highway 7 & Greenhouse road rather than somewhere in Breslau. That's right beside Grobe Nursery and some large church, which is right out there in the boonies. Greenhouse Road (Twp. Road 72 on Google Maps) is just a dinky dirt road...

The Draft ROP does designate this land as "urban reserve" and "designated greenfield" though, so who knows what will be there in 20-30 years...I get Mr. Grobe is just sitting on a goldmine!

[dunkalunk]

on GO stop location
While the proposed site for the GO station is a bit far from King, I would have to say the location makes sense for now. I would hate to see GO service and improved VIA being kept away from downtown Kitchener due to lack of a facility.

My only real concern for the GO stop would be the relatively short lifespan of the platform (due to Victoria Terminal, explained later). My suggestion is that instead of pouring a concrete slab, that a temporary modular platform be built to allow for easy deconstruction (Think semi-permanent temporary stage).

I also have no real problems with the closure of Ahrens in order to accommodate extended GO trains. In the event of high speed rail, Ahrens would require closure regardless. And in the case that HSR doesn't happen, grade separation just makes sense for safety reasons.

In the interim, GRT should be running shuttles between the train station and Charles terminal. They should have been doing this a long time ago.

EDIT: What I had to say about the stop at Breslau has already been covered by Duke of Waterloo. A stop in Breslau between Fountain and Woolwich seems like a no-brainer.


more on Victoria Terminal
At this rate, we would likely be getting GO service about 4-5 years before LRT. A new intermodal rail/bus/LRT facility would likely be built between King and Weber to allow interconnectivit of all transit modes. Grade separations at King and Weber would definitely be requirements. While this facility and grade separations are being constructed it would be best to keep this area free of commuter passenger traffic.

Once the station is finished being built, rail traffic could be moved inside the new building. There is room for a 500m long platform, enough room for even a TGV style service. The area between Weber and Margaret could then be gentrified.

With the closure of so many crossroads, Breithaupt would need to be upgraded to an improved 2 lane road and Weber would need to be expanded to 4 lanes at least between Victoria and Breithaupt to accommodate turning lanes for the new traffic funnelled onto it.

Expect a new diagram of Victoria Terminal coming soon...

[notmyfriends]

So who bought the rumpel felt building then?

[0sprey]

Originally Posted by notmyfriends

So who bought the rumpel felt building then?

somebody that has dunkalunk's future in mind also!

Imagine owning the property between a new GO/VIA station and the LRT?

Make ground level and below commercial with shops for people to go to as the transfer from LRT to GO/VIA (think PATH in Toronto). And then either office building or condo above and make that a destination for people taking both forms of transit.

[mpd618]

In GO's overview of Kitchener-area station locations, they recommended the above-mentioned downtown location (i.e. the current Via platform) for initial operation, but also recommended a King Street location as the ultimate goal (mentioning LRT connections).

[waterloowarrior]

GO KW PIC #2 display boards

[dunkalunk]

Awesome sauce!

Now to actually criticize...

I wholly agree with the preferred options for Downtown Kitchener, Guelph, Acton, and Ira Needles. I noticed something weird on one of the boards:


Now i'm probably just being nitpicky, but I really think the station in Breslau needs to be directly connected to Fountain Street. Assuming the 7 bypass goes through, a parclo will be built directly connecting a realigned Fountain Street to the north of highway 7. The other proposed facility off Greenhouse road may have direct connectivity now, but will be overpassed with the new 7, creating an unnecessary bottleneck at Fountain and 7 for those wishing to park and ride from the north.

What also struck me as odd, is that they chose a site which would have guaranteed direct impacts on watercourse and a potential archaeological site over the another with less impact.

I also don't buy the argument that the original site would only be accessible from Fountain Street. Its only the major north-south route east of the Grand River. Not to mention Woolwich street borders the other side; its not like they couldn't put an entrance there.


Here's the table in question


And the original proposed site


And the future alignment of Highway 7 through Breslau

Originally Posted by Duke-Of-Waterloo

What do the red dots represent?

[DHLawrence]

I believe they're the locations that weren't on the shortlist.

Originally Posted by DHLawrence

I believe they're the locations that weren't on the shortlist.

No, not THOSE red dots. I mean the smaller ones on the city streets.

[notmyfriends]

Losing the Ira Needles stop at the west end doesn't seem ideal.

[mackeast]

this is good news. hopefully with ontario/canada increasing infrastructure spending, this thing will get fastracked for the proposed 2011 start.

a new station should be built though, once the LRT is a go. that vacant building near king and victoria, i beleive it is still available. GO and VIA shou;d purchase that, as well as the adjacent lands of the udnerused beer store and asian food store. they could remain, but in the new building as ground floor retail fronting victoria and king. the lrt would enter the builing at grade, and exit kitty-corner into the victoria/king intersection, with a transit-only light, stopping traffic on the four sides when the LRT exits/enters. the go/via platforms would either be underground or above ground, depending on which is easier (overpass/underpass)

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UT...,0.027466&z=15

[dunkalunk]

Discussion about a new train station at Victoria and King is located here.

Personally, I think the LRT should be brought below grade from King and Wellington and come above ground at Charles to avoid having to interact with traffic.

[notmyfriends]

The crossing gate on Waterloo Street is stuck in the down position again today, as was the norm many days the last couple of years. Wonder if finally fixing that is in the budget along with these plans.

[mackeast]

dunkalunk, thanks for the link. saw your graphic on a proposed train station, haha had no clue my idea was so common. i suppose that is a good thing - a common idea of what we would like to see for our city. maybe we could get a petition out to kitchener/regional council, showing them our interest. enough people want this thing, council will take notice, and maybe get some funding from the feds and province while they are in infrastructure-handout mode?

[urbanfan89]

Given that the station on King Street will be serving GO/Via/high speed rail in the long term, it will be better to grade separate the GEX tracks and allow a more dignifying station to be built.

[dunkalunk]

Well, they'll be closing waterloo street in 4 years regardless. Seems kind of like a waste om money. If it were stuck in the up position that would be an entirely different story...