The iON Has Come To Caroline Street by KatesFriend
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Description
This is Caroline Street in Waterloo, Ontario looking 'south'.
Waterloo is still a small city in Southern Ontario about ninety (90) minutes to the west of Toronto by automobile - via the still infamous Hwy. 401. Every now and again my job causes me to visit Waterloo and its conjoined sister city Kitchener - formerly Berlin prior to WWI, I can't imagine why they changed the name. The two are buttressed so closely that they are often named collectively Kitchener-Waterloo - or just 'KW'. But they are two distinct cities and you better remember that if you ever visit there.
Oh yeah, I think that they still make Blackberries.
It took a little longer than I predicted, but I'm back!
Five years ago today I stood on this spot and took 'The iON Is Coming To Caroline Street'. Back then this scene was that of a sightly neglected urban side street. A street known for being at everyone's backdoor. A street who's purpose had been to service now abandoned factories and warehouses. Once a mainstay on this side of town. Seagram's Distilleries had their smelly flagship operations on Caroline Street and the building still stands to this day - as lofts. Labatt's had an even smellier brewery further done the road. There was a time in Waterloo when it was safer to drink the alcohol.
Waterloo: Technically, alcohol is a solution.
Caroline also boasted a big municipal parking lot. Waterloo had a lot of municipal parking lots - still does.
Waterloo: A paved paradise.
As you can see, the municipal parking lot is still there. Five years ago it was hidden behind a billboard. A sign of a better and brighter future for the street and for the city. A marker for where an iON tram stop would be built. A station now named 'Willis Way'. A place now greeting GRT LFLRV 514 as it glides in to let off and pick up passengers. Northbound trains stop at 'Waterloo Public Square' station a block to the 'northeast'. Historically, tracks are nothing new to Caroline Street. Though not a part of the old KWSR streetcar system, an interurban electric railway did run up the centre of Caroline (single tracked) until 1955 - the Grand River Railway. It ferried passengers and freight through the Grand River Valley from Port Dover on Lake Erie to as far north as Waterloo and all points in between. Even after the end of passenger service, the tracks continued to be used for freight up to the mid 1980's - when they were removed. In a pleasing symmetry, the old KWSR tracks on King Street (to the east) were also single tracked in the Waterloo core. Thus the modern LRT alignment in Waterloo's downtown - a hysteretic loop between King and Caroline streets - has a remarkable historical resonance. And speaking of circles or loops, this one is complete. I have to admit I still have to pinch myself when it comes to the iON LRT. I am still amazed that Waterloo Region had the vision to build it and got it built. So many events both political and technical might have permanently derailed it. Don't forget, there are four levels of government that had to all cooperate on this project and cough up the money for it. And Ontario has a bad reputation for starting big transit projects like iON and cancelling them abruptly due to the outcome of an election at just one level. Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton, Brampton, I'm talking to you. I am hoping that other similar sized cities and regions in North America will look closely at the iON's example. Small cities can think big, can have ambition. If you would like to flip through all of my post iON images leading to this day, here they are.
Waterloo: Technically, alcohol is a solution.
Caroline also boasted a big municipal parking lot. Waterloo had a lot of municipal parking lots - still does.
Waterloo: A paved paradise.
As you can see, the municipal parking lot is still there. Five years ago it was hidden behind a billboard. A sign of a better and brighter future for the street and for the city. A marker for where an iON tram stop would be built. A station now named 'Willis Way'. A place now greeting GRT LFLRV 514 as it glides in to let off and pick up passengers. Northbound trains stop at 'Waterloo Public Square' station a block to the 'northeast'. Historically, tracks are nothing new to Caroline Street. Though not a part of the old KWSR streetcar system, an interurban electric railway did run up the centre of Caroline (single tracked) until 1955 - the Grand River Railway. It ferried passengers and freight through the Grand River Valley from Port Dover on Lake Erie to as far north as Waterloo and all points in between. Even after the end of passenger service, the tracks continued to be used for freight up to the mid 1980's - when they were removed. In a pleasing symmetry, the old KWSR tracks on King Street (to the east) were also single tracked in the Waterloo core. Thus the modern LRT alignment in Waterloo's downtown - a hysteretic loop between King and Caroline streets - has a remarkable historical resonance. And speaking of circles or loops, this one is complete. I have to admit I still have to pinch myself when it comes to the iON LRT. I am still amazed that Waterloo Region had the vision to build it and got it built. So many events both political and technical might have permanently derailed it. Don't forget, there are four levels of government that had to all cooperate on this project and cough up the money for it. And Ontario has a bad reputation for starting big transit projects like iON and cancelling them abruptly due to the outcome of an election at just one level. Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton, Brampton, I'm talking to you. I am hoping that other similar sized cities and regions in North America will look closely at the iON's example. Small cities can think big, can have ambition. If you would like to flip through all of my post iON images leading to this day, here they are.
- 'The iON Is Coming To Caroline Street'
- 'Bombarier LFLRV At Waterloo Town Square'
- 'The iON Is Still Coming To Caroline Street'
- 'The iON Is Coming To Charles Street'
- 'GRT LFLRV Number 1 At The Lancaster Yard'
- 'GRT LFLRV Number 2 On The Waterloo Spur'
- 'GRT LFLRV 507 On King Street'
- 'GRT LFLRV 507 On Duke Street'
- 'GRT LFLRV 510 On Francis Street'
- 'The iON Has Come To Charles Street'
Comments (4)
goldie
Nice candid capture...The project seems to have cleaned up neighborhoods...how much is the fare?
bucyjoe
good shooting
RodS
Very good capture of the LR car. Seems like a nice clean area now.
anitalee
Excellent