Preston residents speak out against Stage 2 ION as Stage 1 wraps up

Stage 1 of ION construction is coming to a close through Waterloo Region, with many roads set to re-open and the rest of our LRT trains scheduled to arrive by the end of this year.

Tom Galloway is Chair of the Planning and Works Committee and says the construction side of Stage 1 is nearing completion, with final asphalt expected to be laid within the next four weeks.

“Construction is wrapping up and our second LRT train is already assembled, but their is a functionality issue. Once that’s done and dealt with and the train ships, it’ll be a somewhat domino effect for the other trains. Every few weeks after that, another vehicle should arrive until the end of December.”

Galloway adds that the Region is rolling out some safety initiatives ahead of the LRT testing, as they’re trying to educate us on what to expect once ION is fully up and running.

That wasn’t the only LRT discussion taking place at Council on Wednesday though, as multiple delegates also spoke out against Stage 2 of the project.

“There’s been a lot of thoughtful, public input regarding Stage 2 of ION through Cambridge. We’ve held public consultations leading up to this, and we wanted to sit down and hear from Preston residents and look at other opportunities,” says Galloway.

It was a sea of red at the meeting, as dozens of members with the ‘Stop the LRT Thru Preston’ campaign packed the room to share their two cents on the proposed route.

Terry Mycyk with the group says the route has caused some serious concerns.

“The proposed route will go out of Kitchener, down Highway 8, over Shantz Hill, into an established neighbourhood, and down Eagle Street. We don’t believe that this is the best route, and that we need to look at some alternates. We want the LRT to be an addition to the City, and not something that takes away from it.”

Mycyk says one of his friends came up with an alternative route, which was presented to Regional Council on Wednesday evening.

“We’re proposing the line go through the industrial areas, along the 401 and into the Smart Centre, then stop at the Cambridge Centre, the Y, the Hospital – and the rest of the route would be non-invasive. We are hoping to go through areas that are non-developed, and end up in downtown Galt by using a walkway that was a train route in the past.”

“It’s not something that we’ll be letting go of, because it’s a part of us. The older neighbourhoods are something we’re very proud of, especially in the Preston area. Those areas are choked with traffic right now, but this is not the way to get the traffic down in those areas– there are other ways,” says Mycyk.

Meantime, Regional Council thanked the Preston residents for offering an alternative route, and for showing enthusiasm towards this project. They say they’ll continue to work with residents of the City of Cambridge as they hammer out the details of Stage 2 of ION construction.