Update of the Light Rail Transit (ION) Construction Progress in Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridgge.

ION construction   ION construction continues on Caroline   In Waterloo, a base layer of asphalt was placed on Caroline, from William to Allen, on Friday, December 5. This means that construction to upgrade and replace the underground services in this area is now nearly complete. In the new year, work crews will tie-in the remaining utilities. This work may require periodic closures of Caroline and the William/Caroline intersection. Construction to upgrade underground services (i.e., water and wastewater) continues on Caroline, from William to just past Father David Bauer. A temporary asphalt base was poured in this section before Christmas. In the new year, crews will return to this section to continue work to upgrade the underground services. When work resumes, local access to businesses (for employees, customers and deliveries) and residents will be maintained, along with access for fire, police and EMS.   Work to remove vegetation along the CN railway tracks and to build the railway embankment, from Northfield to King South, in Waterloo is on-going. GrandLinq Contractors' crews are now working on the section from Columbia to Seagram. Crews are using the Columbia, University and Seagram crossings as temporary access points.   Weather permitting, in early January, crews will continue to build the embankment along the CN railway. During this time, GrandLinq will also build the Cedar Creek Culvert, which will run under the LRT tracks. In the spring, work to complete the remaining ION infrastructure (i.e., LRT trackway, poles, and overhead wires that power the train) will begin.    Work at the ION Operations, Maintenance and Storage Facility at 518 Dutton Drive in Waterloo continues. This facility will be home to the Region's LRT vehicles. Grading at the site is on-going and work required to install underground servicing is scheduled to begin this month. A tower crane is now in place to facilitate the next phase of construction.   In Kitchener, construction to relocate and upgrade underground services on Borden, from Charles to Nyberg continued until late-December, before pausing for a Christmas break. During this time, access to businesses and residences continued to be maintained.   Weather permitting, crews will return to this area early this month to tie-in the remaining services on Borden, from Charles to the CN railway. Later in 2015, work to complete the remaining ION infrastructure (i.e., final curbs and LRT trackway, poles, and overhead wires that power the train) will begin. Work to remove vegetation and build embankments along the CN railway tracks, from Borden to Hayward, in Kitchener continues. Crews are using the Hayward, Hanson, Ottawa South, Borden and Overland crossings as temporary access points.   Weather permitting, in January, GrandLinq Contractors will continue to build the embankment along the CN railway and start work on the new railway bridge over Schneider Creek. The foundation work and placement of the bridge will be performed using a crawler crane. Later in 2015, work to complete the rest of the ION infrastructure will begin (i.e., LRT trackway, poles, and overhead wires that power the train). In Cambridge, ION adapted bus rapid transit (aBRT) construction continues along Hespeler and is almost complete at the Ainslie Street transit terminal.

 

Hydro One construction update   Hydro One's work to relocate and bury a section of existing overhead transmission infrastructure is continuing along the Hydro One right-of-way in Kitchener, between Fairview Park Mall and Courtland East. In recent months, Hydro One completed construction of the duct bank system west of Wilson, which will house the new underground cables and allow them to be accessed for required repairs.   Crews have also installed additional new steel tower structures in the west end around Courtland and at the new junction in the Fairview Park Mall parking lot.   In December, crews began installing the underground cables and will be continuing this work into the new year. Hydro One is still on target to complete construction by December 2015.

 

LRT construction in 2015   All areas along the 19 kilometre ION LRT route will see some construction in 2015. With large projects such as ION, exact schedules evolve according to weather conditions and construction approvals.  Throughout 2015, ION staff will continue to meet with stakeholders, including residents, businesses and community groups, to keep them informed of construction and how road restrictions and/or road closures will impact them. Once construction details are finalized, each resident and business owner within 125 metres of ION construction will receive a written notification before work begins. Road signage, including detour information and way-finding for businesses (how customers can access stores), will go up before construction commences. Advertisements will be also placed in local newspapers and detailed information will continue to be available at www.rideION.ca as well as on the ION social media channels. Residents can also sign-up for on-going construction updates through the construction website.

 

Stay in touch: construction website       Dedicated to ION construction, www.rideION.ca features an interactive ION route map, information on ION stops as well as an opportunity to sign-up for regular construction updates.   A link to Grand River Transit (GRT) is also included in construction updates.     The latest ION Construction Updates are available at: http://bit.ly/1tpNcko   Sign-up to have the latest Construction Updates emailed directly to you at: http://www.rideion.ca/sign-up-for-updates.html