News roundup: March 9, 2025

Here’s the latest in walking, biking, and transit news for Waterloo Region for the last two weeks. Subscribe to get updates delivered directly to your inbox! You can also follow us on Bluesky and Instagram.

What’s happening

• MEET: Strong Towns Waterloo Local Conversation. (Eventbrite)
  • Time: Monday, March 10, 7-8:30pm
  • Location: 165 King St W, basement under Libro Credit Union.
• ENGAGE: The Region of Waterloo is planning a new multi-use path along Schneider Creek from Block Line Road to Manitou Drive. More information and a survey is open until March 17. (EngageWR)
• FEEDBACK: A partnership between local municipalities and utilities has released a discussion draft of High-Performance Development Standards on environmental aspects of larger new developments. A survey is open until March 17. (EngageWR)

Election

• All incumbents in Waterloo Region have been re-elected (CityNews)
• Voter turnout was up in Waterloo region and surrounding areas this Ontario election (CBC)
• Regional council appoints runner-up Matt Rodrigues, Senior Planner at the City of Kitchener, to fill vacant seat left by Rob Deutchmann who left to run for Cambridge unsuccessfully in provincial election (CBC)

Walking, biking, and streets

• Drivers have slowed on average by almost five km per hour on Waterloo streets, after city hall reduced speed limits to 40 km/h on more streets. Some roads even saw speed reductions of over 10 km/h (The Record)
• Region of Waterloo council has approved new design recommendations for Westmount Road between Fischer-Hallman and Block Line including new bike lanes and wider sidewalks (CityNews)
• More speed cameras installed in Waterloo Region (CTV News, The Record)
• Woolwich residents create petition, council pushes back against regional speed limits and cameras (CTV News, CityNews, CityNews)
• Second pedestrian struck at strike picket line, both drivers charged (The Record, CityNews)
• “Why bike lanes should remain on Ontario’s roads” (The Conversation)
• Disability advocates call on municipalities to have more ‘empathy’ when it comes to snow removal (CBC)

Transit

• GRT ridership update for 2024 shows an overall dip of 2.5% from record in 2023, but starting in September there’s a larger year-over-year decrease due to the drop in student enrollment. With the new longer transfer windows, fewer boardings are counted as separate rides – ridership after September is down ~20% but boardings are down only ~10% (Region of Waterloo report, GRT)
• “New site tracks ION train collisions in Waterloo Region” (ION Crash Counter, CityNews)
• Transit-only lanes, more roundabouts and more may be coming to Guelph (Guelph Today)

The shape of our cities

• “As housing market falters, Waterloo council pauses bylaw requiring affordable apartments” (The Record)
• Waterloo borrowing $23M to help launch suburbs at the edge of town (The Record)
• High-rise condo development in Kitchener near Highway 401 denied by council (CityNews)
• Federal government unveils designs as part of the Housing Design Catalogue (Government of Canada, Global News)
• “Greenbelt scrubbed from Grade 9 curriculum a troubling trend” (The Record)

Elsewhere

• Contractual secrecy shrouds details of damage claims related to Ottawa Stage 2 LRT (CTV News)
• TTC staff are being re-deployed for potential July opening of Eglinton LRT (BlogTO)
• Quebec greenlights first steps of tramway project in eastern Montreal (CBC)
• Low-speed vehicles not to be confused with enclosed mobility scooters (Brantford Expositor)
• LETTER: Guelph streets not safe for vulnerable road users (Guelph Today)
• Toronto hasn’t ticketed a single driver for idling in the last 5 years. Here’s why (CBC)
• Canada’s Cities Deploying Electric Buses, Toying With Hydrogen (CleanTechnica)
• CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) Launches New Frequent Network for Buses (CTA)
• ‘Complete Streets’ Webpage Falls Prey To Trump Purge (Streetsblog USA)