Kitchener-Waterloo LRT making progress

Construction that began in mid-2014 on ION, the premier LRT line for the twin cities of Kitchener and Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, is progressing rapidly, with opening scheduled for fall 2017.

Crews are busy at several locations along the 12-mile route, relocating underground utilities, installing the LRT communications system, building track, completing the Maintenance and Storage Facility (MSF), and constructing a railway underpass. Kitchener-Waterloo, with a population of about 500,000 is about 65 miles northwest of Toronto.

A visit to the project by this writer on March 12, 2016 revealed track laying in progress at four separate locations. Grandlinq (Plenary Group Canada; Meridiam Infrastructure Waterloo; Aecon; Kiewit; Mass Electric Construction Canada; Keolis; STV Canada Construction; AECOM; and CIBC World Markets), the consortium building the LRT, has taken advantage of a relatively mild winter and early spring to get steel in place.

In addition, heated enclosures have been used on Charles Street, in downtown Kitchener, to allow track installation and concrete pouring to continue during the winter. A large fabric-covered shelter was also erected on the south side of Metrolinx’s former CN Toronto-Kitchener line, enabling work on the vital King Street road and LRT underpass to proceed during inclement weather. This job is in the early stages, and will be completed in late 2016 or early 2017.

The contractors are trying to make up time on the underpass work, due to delays in receiving approval to proceed. Another setback occurred for the six-block downtown Duke Street section, when the city re-tendered underground utilities relocation due to high bids.

Three track laying crews are active at present; two have responsibility for embedded (in-pavement) track, while the third group constructs open (ties and ballast) trackage. To date, about a quarter of the total trackage is in place.

The section between downtown Waterloo and Northfield Drive, comprising approximately two miles, is being laid on the right-of-way of the municipally owned, former CN Elmira Spur. This double-track section is scheduled for completion, including catenary, by June 1, 2016. It will be electrified this fall for testing of the first of 14 Bombardier Flexity Freedom LRVs, due to commence arrival by that time.

A substation, the first of 13 for the line, has been installed at the Dutton Street MSF, near the line’s northern terminus. Most of the trackage inside this facility and the yard is complete.

On King Street North and on Charles Street south of downtown, grading and curbing for the center reservation is finished. Track laying will begin as soon as various communications system and traffic signal wiring duct work is complete. Underground utilities relocation is progressing in downtown Waterloo and several other locations. At one location, Borden and Charles, it has been necessary to remove contaminated soil prior to track installation.

Curbing is essentially complete at the northern end of the LRT, along Northfield Drive and King Street, to the terminus at Conestoga Mall. The line leaves the Elmira Spur right at Northfield and follows these streets to the terminal station.

At the line’s southern terminus in south Kitchener, at Fairview Park Mall, work will start later this spring on the terminal station. West of there, the alignment follows a power line right-of-way for almost a mile to Courtland Avenue, and grading has begun along this section.

The tracks will be on side-of-the-road private right-of-way along Courtland to Hayward Avenue, where they move onto the CN Huron Park Spur alignment for approximately one mile. It will be necessary to shift the tracks 50 to 100 feet westward to make way for the LRT. This move also requires regulatory approval that could result in a delay, although hopefully this will be avoided.

The Kitchener-Waterloo LRT is being constructed under a design-build-operate agreement. Funding is provided by the Government of Canada, Province of Ontario (Metrolinx) and Waterloo Region, which embraces Kitchener-Waterloo. The budgeted cost is C$818 million. WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff is general engineering contractor.

When the line opens to the public it will represent the launch of Ontario’s first completely new LRT system, and the return of electric rail transit to an area that relinquished its streetcars in 1946. The Flexity LRVs, when they proceed north on King Street, will be covering territory formerly served by ex-Cleveland Peter Witt cars.