News roundup: June 11, 2025

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

What’s happening

• SHARE: Share your ideas for the new Waterloo Park Plan, a long-term visioning project for Waterloo Park, focusing on how the park will grow and change through 2050.
• FEEDBACK: The Region of Waterloo is updating its taxi by-law and is seeking input in a survey on taxi services (which includes ride-hailing services like Uber)
• ENGAGE: The City of Cambridge has an open survey and upcoming community drop-in sessions about its residential form-based zoning plan
• PLAN: The City of Kitchener is still seeking input for its Dundee Secondary Plan that will shape development on a greenfield site larger than downtown Kitchener

Walking, biking, and streets

• Bleams Road extension in Kitchener from Manitou Drive to Wilson Avenue to be opened (Region of Waterloo agenda)
• Regional Committee approved the final alignment of a new multi-use path from Block Line Road to Manitou Drive. It would have lighting, connections to other trails, and become part of the Trans Canada Trail (Region of Waterloo agenda)
• A city of Kitchener staff report on automated speed enforcement recommends holding off on implementation on city streets. Factors include Kitchener and the Region conflicting on approach, lack of flexibility with turnkey approaches, and uncertainty with provincial government rhetoric about speed cameras (City of Kitchener agenda)
• CAA claims Ira Needles Blvd as the worst road in Waterloo Region, though the methodology is unclear (CityNews, CTV News, The Record Opinion)

Transit

• GRT fares are changing on July 1 (Region of Waterloo)
• Grand River Transit ridership is down 16.5% year-over-year in Q1 due to decline in international student enrollment. GRT is pulling back on most planned increases this year and removing student-specific extra service (The Record, Cambridge Today, Region of Waterloo agenda and recording)
• Summer service schedules start on June 23, will start year-round 10 minute daytime frequency on the 201 (GRT)
• GRT’s ambitious new business plan was approved by a Regional standing committee after staff presented it to all the lower-tier municipalities who wanted it to come to their councils (Region of Waterloo agenda)
• Bombshell investigation from The Trillium shows the turmoil inside Metrolinx that derailed the GO Expansion project (The Trillium)

The shape of our cities

• “Proposed apartments on ‘dangerous’ hill draw concern at Cambridge Meeting” (The Record)
• “‘Sick of the excuses’: Housing advocates criticize report that says Kitchener shouldn’t pursue anti-renoviction bylaw” (The Record, City of Kitchener agenda)
• 28-storey tower proposed in Galt near Gaslight District, in transit station area for future ION station. The City of Cambridge is seeking public input and will host a public meeting on July 15 (The Record)
• “Opinion: Too many short-term rentals are bad for [Kitchener]” (The Record)

Elsewhere

• “‘Thank God, that is all I can say:’ Doug Ford suggests Eglinton LRT could open in September” (CP24)
• What remains before opening the Eglinton Crosstown? (Youtube - More Transit Southern Ontario)
• “Whatever Happened to Transit City?” (TVO Today)
• “Halifax mayor’s move to pause bike lane construction defeated” (CBC)
• “How Hong Kong built the world’s most valuable subway” using a Rails + Property approach (The Flying Moose)