ION Fix-It List - Google Drive


1	Nearest ION Station	Short Description	Long Description
2
3	Grand River Hospital	Grand River Hospital Station Mt. Hope access	The station platform should have level access to the Mt Hope St crosswalk.
4	Waterloo Town Square	Pole in the middle of crosswalk apron	On the corner King and William, on the south east corner, the crosswalk apron for the crosswalk crossing King has a traffic signal pole about 1/3 of the way into the width of the crosswalk.
5	Northfield	Northfield Station south egress	There is no exit out of the south end of Northfield station, and this represents a personal security issue, if one was trying to escape a dangerous situation.
6	Mill	Mill Station south egress	There is no exit out of the south end of Mill station, and this represents a personal security issue, if one was trying to escape a dangerous situation.
7	Conestoga	Conestoga south bus mall access staircase	A staircase for accessing the Conestoga Mall bus terminal directly from the King St road entrance.
8	R+T Park	Research & Technology pathway goes through station platform	To bike from one side of the rail corridor to the other requires biking down the length of the platform, which is a significant obstacle and will mean conflict.
9	Fairway	Fairway Hydro Corridor crossing(s)	There is no connection from Traynor/Vanier to Fairway Rd businesses!
10	Waterloo Town Square	King/William bus stop	The project deleted the King/William bus stop without consultation, and is possibly going to require all northbound #7 buses to detour to make an awkward stop on William St, causing massive inconvenience for all through riders.
11	Laurier - Waterloo Park	The Berlin Wall (the fence in waterloo park)	It could be nicer. Ugh, why is it necessary at all?
12	Waterloo Town Square	pedestrian button on the wrong side of the railway control arm	if you are pressing the button and then standing, waiting to walk, with headphones, in, you could get beaned by a crossing arm.
13	All	Not enough green	The median strip, in particular on King and Charles, is oppressively bare concrete. If it's too late to jackhammer up portions of it and plant grass or small trees, perhaps we can get seasonal planter boxes installed?
14	Fairway	No pedestrian crossing along Traynor-Fairway	After a public consultation and survey showing the need for a pedestrian crossing between Traynor Ave and Fairway Road, the residents are still waiting for a solution.
15	Frederick	pavement at Frederick and Duke	The space where the tracks meet the pavement on the road at Frederick and Duke is brutal to go over in any sort of vehicle.
16	All	Lack of Greenery	Lack of green fill along and between tracks. Replace center concrete median in areas where we have two tracks running (E.g. Charles St) with shrubs and grass.
17	Mill	Incorrect Barrier Arm Placement at Mill	The railway crossing arm on the Southeast side of the tracks sandwiches pedestrians between the tracks and the sidewalk running parallel to the tracks.
18	Laurier - Waterloo Park	Fence in Waterloo Park	Fence through Waterloo Park is ugly and too large. Other cities get away with much smaller fences. Locally, see Guelph as an example on how a newly-built trail dealt with this: https://twitter.com/Canardiain/status/871033907432615936
19	Market	Cycling difficult on King/Charles (Narrow)	Not much can be done now, but should be noted: It's a bit challenging to cycle along Charles or King, parallel to the rapidway. The road is so narrow now, that at the very least, Sharrows should be painted once the final pavement goes down to remind motorists to be careful and share the road. (I know, everybody hates sharrows, but this might be a good spot for them if nothing else can be done.)
20	Willis Way	No access to north end of Willis Way platform from east side of Caroline.	Currently there is no legal or accessible way to access the north end of the Willis Way platform from the east side of Caroline other than walking south to the curb cut at far end of the south end of the platform or going north to Erb (there are no curb cuts to cross Caroline at Willis Way or Father David Bauer or the new safety island).
21	Grand River Hospital	Utility box in middle of sidewalk	There is a utility box in the middle of the sidewalk just north of the Central Fresh Market driveway on the east side of King when there is plenty of space to either side where it could have been put.
22	Grand River Hospital	Utility box in middle of sidewalk	There is a utility box in the middle of the sidewalk just north of the GRH parking lot exit driveway on the west side of King when there is plenty of space to either side where it could have been put.
23	Allen	Utility box in middle of sidewalk	There is a utility box in the middle of the sidewalk just north of Allen on the east side of King when there is plenty of space to either side where it could have been put. I think in my last entry I said north of GRH driveway when I meant south.
24	Central (King/Victoria)	Utility poles in middle of sidewalk make it impassable	There are multiple utility poles in the middle of the sidewalk/pedestrian refuge at the northwest corner of Victoria and King that make it impassable.
25	Block Line	No pedestrian island on Courtland at Hillmount	Courtland at Hillmount is now 6-7 lanes wide to cross at Hillmount; too wide for many to make in one cycle of the traffic signals and unnecessarily unsafe.
26	Waterloo Town Square	Utility box in middle of sidewalk	There is a utility box in the middle of the sidewalk along Willis Way beside Waterloo Public Square when there is plenty of space to either side where it could have been put.
27	Waterloo Town Square	Utility box in middle of sidewalk	There is a utility box in the middle of the sidewalk just north of Waterloo Public Square next to the pizza place when there is plenty of space to either side where it could have been put.
28	Waterloo University	Pedestrian activation button placed too far from sidewalk	The pedestrian signal activation button (and pole) were placed too far from the sidewalk on the north side of University at the Ion tracks. Hopefully the button will not be needed as there should be a regular and automated pedestrian cycling of the lights at this busy crossing and not a beg button.
29	Waterloo University	No access to UW station from east side of tracks	Many people, especially those coming out of E5 building or from new transit hub will not want to walk around to access platform from Laurel trail path. They will make unsafe choices and walk up along or between the tracks. There was sufficient room to make the retaining wall extend the necessary 2m to make access possible.
30	Block Line	No sidewalk on west side of courtland between Hayward and Blockline	Could be fixed when new development goes in.
31	Central (King/Victoria)	TPSS placed in critical pedestrian access on Waterloo St	The TPSS was relocated to the end of Waterloo St severely restricting pedestrian connectivity options for the new transit hub. It should have been placed elsewhere or relocated (on west side of King or incorporated into the transit hub).
32	Waterloo Town Square	No access to east end of public square station platform from north side	There is no legal or accessible way to access the east end of the Waterloo Public Square platform from the north side of the tracks. People will cross here it should be made as safe as possible to do so (harm reduction approach) rather than using a simple garden, that will quickly be trampled, to try and deter crossings here).
33	Frederick	Frederick Station east egress	You should be able to exit Frederick Station from either end of the platform.
34	Central (King/Victoria)	Unnecessary, obstructing retaining wall at School of Pharmacy	School of Pharmacy has a retaining wall that used to keep up King St, which were much higher than the back parking lot. Now King St is lower, but the retaining wall is retained, and there is even a new retaining wall on the King St side. This should be removed, and replaced with direct access to the rear of Pharmacy.
35	All	Large size of various components	Contractor used very large wide posts and bases for traffic signals, street lights, and overhead catenary poles which provide unnecessarily large obstacles for pedestrians. (Entire right of way)
36	Allen	Street lighting is in the sidewalk	Street lighting was placed in the sidewalk instead of in the utility space along King St. along the Bauer building (and possibly other locations). This pointlessly obstructs the sidewalk.
37	Waterloo University	Undersized and poorly designed crosswalk	The crosswalk at University Ave. and the Laurel trail is terribly undersized and poorly designed for the volume of pedestrians that trail sees.
38	Queen	Ped crossing time at charles and benton	Ten seconds is not enough countdown to cross 4-5 lanes of Benton.
39	Northfield	Northfield (EB@85): Major dip in roadway	On eastbound Northfield, just before the on-ramp to Highway 85, the dip in the road just after the track-bed is way too deep. Cars travelling at or over speed are likely to bottom out after passing the tracks, hitting the roadway. I now travel in the middle lane (of three) and then merge right at the last minute to avoid the dip. This is certainly "less than ideal." Unless they fully resurface/regrade that part of the roadway I don't see how it can be improved.
40	Market	Insufficient pedestrian crossing time at Charles / Cedar	Signal for pedestrians crossing Charles along Cedar does not give enough time to cross comfortably.
41	Waterloo Town Square	no provision for bikes in Uptown	Three north-south roads in parallel with no bike-friendly provisions -- King from William to Erb, Caroline from Allen to Erb and Regina from William to University. It makes a mockery of the new facilities being built on King north of Erb as there will be no where to go from there to the south.
42	Allen	Painted edge lines in some places are dangerous for cyclists	Edge lines around the station at Allen so far are of a design which encourages dangerous driving towards cyclists, and dangerous behaviour by cyclists, by having the appearance of a bike lane, but then squeezing down towards nothing, and being too narrow to be a safe bike lane, but still appearing to be a bike lane.
43	Frederick	Water pools at Fredrick and King	The corner next to market square is completely flooded out every time it rains. I was assured via Twitter that a top coat is still coming, but not sure that'll be enough to fix the drainage.
44	Frederick	Terrible puddles at King/Frederick	When the ION tracks were laid through King & Frederick, the new road surface was laid without good drainage, and forms large puddles through the cross walk with small rainfalls.
45	Willis Way	Bike route along Caroline Street	Long Answer: The shared bike/pedestrian pathway -- and looks like a wide sidewalk -- that runs along Caroline street has no signage stating it is a shared pathway. I dont think some pedestrians realize it is shared. Not to blame them as it looks like a glorified sidewalk. Its inset (which is quite far) from Caroline street is dangerous too, as it cars do not look that far ahead when they are turning on Alexandra and Father Bauer. I wish we had our old bike lanes back as I would usually take a bike lane to a bad bike path! Short Answer: They need signage on all the concrete shared pathways stating they are shared and they need some signage to deal with the cars turning and crossing these pathways.
46	Allen	poles in middle of sidewalk	There are light standards in the middle of the sidewalk on the west side of King between Allen and John.
47	Willis Way	poles in middle of sidewalk	There are hydro poles in the middle of the sidewalk on the east side of Caroline between Willis and William. I thought the poles and wire were supposed to have been buried as per the Waterloo city council decision in April of 2016. Agenda: http://calendar.waterloo.ca/Module/Calendar/Document/Download/3ab7750a-f8b5-4d59-a084-435650a78906 (page 38) Minutes: http://calendar.waterloo.ca/Module/Calendar/Document/Download/188eabb4-83b4-45de-a56e-6c6e79705f4b "the City will enter an agreement with Waterloo North Hydro to install the electrical works to energize the buried system and remove the existing overhead system and poles. The City also intends to issue an RFP to retain a consultant to design the decorative street lighting system on Caroline from Allen to Erb Street." "the work must be carried out in conjunction with the LRT construction"
48	Grand River Hospital	Equipment box blocking sidewalk	A large equipment box is blocking over half of the sidewalk at the southernmost entrance to GRH, right before green street, on the south west side, when there is plenty of room beside.
49	Mill	Sidewalk and bus stop missing	I think a short stretch of sidewalk and a bus stop are missing on the north east side of the newly redirected part of Mill St (between Mill and the Ion tracks to the south east of Ottawa). I think there is just grass and fence unless it has been added since I was last down that way. https://rapidtransit.regionofwaterloo.ca/en/multimedialibrary/resources/E-14-009RecommendedIntersectionModificationsatMillStreetandOttawaStreetReport.pdf#page=8
50	Northfield	Intersection Northfield/Parkside and entrance to Expressway
51	Borden	Iron Horse Trail ends at curb	The end of the Iron Horse Trail at Ottawa doesn't have any curb cuts. There is no clear way to get onto Ottawa St or transfer to Nyberg, where a contraflow bike lane continues for travel to south Kitchener. Additionally, there are big concrete 'posts' in the middle of the trail - they don't seem to have any purpose yet but divide the trail and create a hazard.
52	Grand River Hospital	bus stop in sidewalk path	On west side of King at Pine the new bus stop blocks the sidewalk; there is not enough room for a wheelchair to pass and it is not a good passenger environment to move out of the way to allow sidewalk users to pass by.
53	Allen	missing bus stop	The bus stop at king and william, north bound, was not put back and inconveniently moved. The original plans showed a bus bay, but even if that was not possible, there is space to do it as an island like at Charles and Water, King and Victoria, etc. The new parking (7 spots) along the west side of king at south of william was not needed (lots of parking in lot off of Kuntz lane (west side), or on Kuntz lane itself (east side) or nearby streets and lots (public and private) and the space could have been used to allow for such an accommodation of the bus stop island instead (could still be done). Detour is highly inconvenient for GRT riders and will add a lot of time; it will be faster to get off at Allen and walk uptown. The bus still ends up crossing the ion track twice as it would have with the original bus bay design.
54	Frederick	Track/pavement interface damaging for bikes @duke/frederick	Where the tracks meet the pavement passing through duke/Frederick is very rough and poorly done, forcing cyclists to slow or risk damage to their rims.
55	Waterloo Town Square	rail safety crossing arm blocking laurel trail	On the south side of rail crossing for vehicles in the waterloo town square shops parking lot (near caroline) the crossing arm is angled such that when it comes down it will block the laurel trail (i.e. it is not coming down parallel to the tracks).
56	Allen	old loading zone sign no longer relevant/accurate	In front of the Allen Square building at Allen and King there is an old street sign that says "Loading Zone 30min" indicating that it is ok to stop on the ion trackfor 30min and contradicting the other no stopping signs near by. On the back in has a regional sticker.
57	Willis Way	Hydro poles built into sidewalk along Caroline	Hydro poles built into sidewalk along Caroline south of Erb impede pedestrian movement along what is designated urban node, which is already intensifying and highly likely to further intensify.
58	Laurier - Waterloo Park	Poorly executed Seagram trail crossing	Poorly executed Seagram trail crossing makers out difficult for trail users to realize they need to switch track sides at road. Fencing forces people to backtrack.
59	Allen	left turn stopping line too far forward	West bound on William at King the left turn stop line is too close to the intersection. Buses turning from north bound King to east bound William cannot make the turn and will delay the bus even more on its new permanent detour.
60	Market	no bike lane on Charles E coming up to Benton, going Northwest	There is a car parking lane but no bike lane on Charles E, going Northwest, toward Benton. It seems very tight between driving cars and parked cars to go on a bike. Might lead to frustrated car drivers as they'll likely bunch up behind bikes going up the hill.
61	All	no grass or trees along track	the space between the tracks is filled, in long segments, with bare concrete. This is both ugly and increases heat and dirtiness of the air, when compare to a grass filling. Many other cities in Europe have got this right. Can we?
62	Willis Way	Ped Crossing on Caroline St S	It appears as though there is only 1 marked pedestrian crossing, at the moment without walk lights, to get from the station over the narrow and often busy Caroline St S to the other (East) sidewalk (LCBO side). I think this will really slow traffic down on Caroline street, frustrating drivers and pedestrians alike.
63	Laurier - Waterloo Park	Construction fence or permanent fence?	The fence along Waterloo Park is an eyesore...big and obtrusive... is this the permanent fence? I assumed it was a temporary fence required during construction.
64	Willis Way	exit curb design too right-angled	The narrow, right-angled design of the Caroline St S parking lot exit (by LCBO) requires larger vehicles turning right to swing out into oncoming traffic in order to clear curb corner. This already busy street will get busier with ION pedestrians and this problem will contribute to further congestion and safety issues.
65	Allen	bus stop not level	The bus stop on the east side of King at Allen (northbound) is not level. The sidewalk is at one height and the textured concrete ("buffer") between the sidewalk and the curb is on a considerable slope. This will make if very challenging for many, especially those with mobility issues, and all users in the winter to exit the bus safely.
66	Waterloo Town Square	train warning signs mounted too high	In much of uptown, the black square LED signs that say no right turn/left turn/right or left turn have been mounted too high on the poles or the stop lines have been painted too far forward that drivers cannot see the signs because the angle is too steep.
67	Waterloo Town Square	dead tree	newly planted tree did not survive planting on King St near LCBO
68	Willis Way	bike rack not fully useable	Only about 2/3s of the rack is actually useable for regular bikes because of the proximity to the light standard and I don't think you could park a tandem bike, bike with a trail-a-bike, or bike with trailer (types of bike that don't easily fit on the Ion) here at all because they would block the pedestrian access or hang off the end.
69	Frederick	Pedestrian Light Timing	The countdown on a pedestrian signals is too short to finish crossing with. I've noticed this a few lights but most commonly at Fredrick and King. If the light switches just as you're starting to cross, you can't make it across in time. And I'm a fast walker without any mobility issues. I end up waiting at the island created by the station.
70	Waterloo University	Crosswalk button distance	The University Ave crosswalk buttons are located a long way from the paved portion of the crossing and will inevitably require a climb over a snowbank come winter.
71	Victoria Park	Pedestrian light post at Charles/Queen has been shifted so it is not visible to pedestrians.
72	Market	left turn signal not working	SB on Charles at Cedar the left turn only signal does not seem to be working. A few times now, after waiting several full cycles of the traffic signals the left turn signal did not seem to activate upon detection of a vehicle/bike.
73	Grand River Hospital	Intersection King/Union	Left turns from King into Union, from both directions, won't be allowed. This will sure be a problem. There are no left turn lanes on King at Union only right turn lanes.
74	All	Time to cross king street too short for me and .my walker.
75	Market	No pedestrian crossing Charles at Eby	There is no way for pedestrians to cross Charles at Eby. No flush curbs or curb cuts or pedestrian signals. I understand the restriction on vehicle movements at this intersection, but it is too far between crossing points for pedestrians. They will cross here it should be made as safe as possible through a harm-reduction approach.
76	Frederick	no pedestrian to east end of Frederick station	There is a ramp down from the platform to track level on the east end of the Frederick station platform but you cannot access the ramp from the north or south side of Frederick. The only access is from the west end of the platform. Users from Duke and west will access the platform using this ramp so make it as safe as possible.
77	Block Line	Walled Sidewalk of DOOOM	Heading south from the Block Line Station, the sidewalk has a fence on both sides. Because social safety isn't a thing.
78	Block Line	Railway gates come down in middle of sidewalk	At the end of the sidewalk of doom, the railway gate guarding the crossing comes down in the middle of the sidewalk, not blocking it, literally directly along the sidewalk.
79	Block Line	Pedestrian crossing is just bad	Problems with the pedestrian crossing at the end of the sidewalk of doom. The pedestrian button is positioned awkwardly, the crossing is not yet filled in, a pedestrian may be trapped on the road if trains come, I'm very confused about how the whole thing should work.
80	Conestoga	Highlight/paint curbs	The curbs that run between the ion train line and King Street (noticeable from Conestoga Mall towards Manulife) blend in too much to street. Will curbs be painted yellow or in some other way highlighted? I worry cars turning from the Mall onto King will find their tires on the wrong side of the curb and become stuck. Thank you.
81	Block Line	Multi-use path on Hayward incomplete	The multi-use path on the north side of Hayward does not extend all the way to Lennox Lewis way.
82	Borden	lane edge lines dangerous for cyclists	Edge lines around the station at Borden near Stirling and Charles, and really all the way up Charles, are a dangerous design. The look like cycling lanes, but then narrow down to nothing. If I cyclist takes the lane they face the wrath of motorists insisting they use the imaginary bike lane, and if they use the bike lane they face the wrath of an actual vehicle hitting them when their "lane" suddenly disappears. The whole stretch should have been made with segregated bike lanes, but failing that at least put the lane edge lines on the inside (left) of the lane.
83	Waterloo University	Bus blocking crosswalk	Buses are required to stop close to the gates being lowered when a train approaches. At the tracks crossing University Ave. at UW are a good example. Hypothetical: eastbound bus stops just ahead of the red blinking lights, bells and the gate behind as required. Just as a bus stops ahead of the lights, the bells start dinging, the red lights start blinking and the gate is being lowered. As I understand it, a bus would not be allowed to cross the tracks as soon as the red lights blink, bells ding. As the gate comes down, the crosswalk signal would change to indicate "walk" but it is now completely blocked. Pedestrians will need to go around the rear of the bus. I don't see a provision to attache a picture. E-mail me if you'd like one.