** Edit: Ms. Scian has clarified that the City reacted to not being consulted on this proposal. Read her comment below.
Well, what a difference a few months make. Region staff engaged the citizenry and the city and proposed some fairly significant alterations (link note: see page 12 onward).
- Move the Northbound connection to the existing rail spur that crosses the parking lot north of Waterloo Town(e) Square (by sharing track, an option we believed was impossible in 2009)
- Move the Northbound station off King and onto the spur, next to the public square
- Create a new station at King and Allen
- Move the Southbound tracks from east side of Caroline to west.
 |
| New Uptown Route Alignment |
This proposal has been conditionally endorsed by the city, and passed unanimously by the Region. Which is good, because it is a definite improvement. But some think it just didn't go far enough. And while I don't want to take away from the accomplishment that has been made, I would be inclined to agree. Here's where the new plan falls short:
Usability
The new station positions mean Southbound and Northbound uptown stations are hidden from each other, and fairly distant. This is one of the biggest problems the loops present: they make the system more confusing, and are an obstacle to these stations attracting riders. Virtually every rider who visits uptown will do so as part of a return journey.
Connectivity
I also see a problem for route connections. As it stands, the King St. face of the public square is a minor transit node, with the various 7's and the 5/35 all stopping here. And yet, the split LRT route makes it impossible to do anything but partially serve these connections.
(I should note that downtown Kitchener's loop also presents this problem in spades.)
Spacing
The new Allen St. station position means there is a scant 500m separation between the two southbound stations.
So how can we address this?
In the link above, TriTAG proposes moving the southbound station up Caroline to be near the Erb St. intersection. I've urged the Region to consider this proposal carefully, as it would provide some partial solutions to each of the problems I mentioned above.
But an Erb/Caroline position is its own tradeoff. The Erb intersection is much busier than Willis Way, and it is already complicated. (Cyclists in particular regard it as one of the blights in this city.) The C.I.G.I. building (originally built as part of the Seagram's complex, I believe) crowds the intersection and limits the space available for a station. And, this corner is less of a destination than Caroline/Willis is.
It may be that in the balance, there is no better loop alignment than the current plan.
But the reality is, there are so many constraints in play that prevent a unified alignment through the area. We can't infringe on the square. We can't eliminate two-way traffic on any street. We don't want to rip out any existing buildings (like, say, the bridal shop at Caroline and William) and we can't steal space from parking lots (e.g. Rec Centre.)
Where does that leave us?
As a region, we have a choice: we can settle, having come up with a decent compromise that seems to be generally acceptable. (Though don't ask the folks in the Catalina townhomes, because they're spitting nails about the Caroline side switch.) Or, we could recognize that LRT is the backbone of our whole plan to provide alternatives to driving in Waterloo Region, and make the hard decisions needed to fix its routing properly.
These decisions would result in much screaming and gnashing of teeth, but... in ten years, nobody will remember the fallout that will inevitably come from giving LRT the priority it deserves. Not if the system works. And it needs to work. The compromises that keep it from offending various interests are deficiencies we will have to live with forever, and each of them takes away from the viability of the whole.
