News roundup: August 12, 2025

Here’s the latest in walking, biking, and transit news for Waterloo Region for the last several weeks… there’s a lot in this one, pace yourself. Subscribe to get updates delivered directly to your inbox! You can also follow us on Bluesky and Instagram.

What’s happening

• ION: Stage 2 to Cambridge engagement on alternatives begins, with a series of consultations, a virtual kick-off session Tuesday, August 19 7-8:30pm, and a feedback survey (EngageWR).
• WILMOT PLAN: The Township of Wilmot is preparing a new Official Plan and are looking to have 15 minute calls next Monday with interested members of the public. Sign up at EngageWR.
• WELLESLEY PLAN: The Township of Wellesley is also preparing a new Official Plan and looking to engage with the public next Tuesday. Sign up at EngageWR.
• HURON: The City of Kitchener is looking for input from residents on the Huron Natural Area with a short survey (EngageWR).

Walking, biking, and streets

• Regional Councillor Colleen James puts forward a motion at committee to ask staff to investigate restrictions on right turns on red at major intersections (Region of Waterloo agenda, CityNews)
• CTV News: First phase wraps up for major road reconstruction project on Bleams Road
• The Record: Hwy. 24 residents in North Dumfries say solutions come up short: MTO recommends better signage in the near term, with future plans to consider road widening, multi-use trails.
• CambridgeToday: City staff analyzing feasibility of year-round Main Street closure
• The Record: A business owner with a disability says two-hour parking limits near her shop in downtown Cambridge force her to choose between pain and tickets.
• Regional staff evaluated noise mitigation options along Highland Road West, do not recommend a noise wall at a cost of $8m for 2km. (Region of Waterloo)
• Your Region Pod: How can you benefit from a roundabout?
• CBC: Police using registry program for help with bike thefts in Waterloo region. Police say to expect ‘a decline in bike thefts and an increase in bike recoveries’
• CambridgeToday: Cambridge loses another bike shop as Grand River Cycle shutting down
• Toronto Star: Opinion | E-scooters could be a marvel instead of a hazard. We just need to learn how to live with them safely
• Spacing: Fixing the Gap — Why Canada Must Recognize Bicycle Mechanics as a Profession
• Speed Cameras
  • Councillor Colleen James has a motion for the Region to ask the province to improve and standardize various aspects of automated speed enforcement (Region of Waterloo agenda)
  • CityNews: Region’s speed camera program on the right track
  • The Record: Make speed camera signs bigger, brighter, and bolder, driver says after $88 ticket
  • The Record: Opinion | Speed camera secrecy erodes public trust
  • Globe and Mail: Opinion | Sorry, speed cameras aren’t the problem
  • The Township of North Dumfries is adding and publicizing 12 community safety zones and updating two existing ones in preparation for its new automated speed enforcement (ASE) program on road sections where speeding has been identified as a particular problem. (Township of North Dumfries agenda, page 451, Youtube recording, The Record)
• Bike Lane Ruling
  • CBC News: Ontario court strikes down Ford government’s plan to remove Toronto bike lanes; A spokesperson for Ontario’s transportation minister said the government will appeal
  • Narwhal: Ford floats use of notwithstanding clause in Toronto bike lanes case. ’Let’s see what happens at the Court of Appeal,’ Premier Doug Ford told reporters
  • Double Aspect: The Bike Lanes and the Clown Cars: In defence of the controversial decision holding that demolishing bike lanes in Toronto is unconstitutional
  • CityNews Kitchener: Local cycling enthusiasts applaud court decision protecting bike lanes
  • Toronto Star: Opinion | Bike lanes are a local issue. When will the federal government step up and tell the provinces to stay in their lane?
  • TVO: ANALYSIS: What exactly does the court’s bike-lane decision mean?
  • CTV News: Waterloo’s mayor reacts to ruling striking down Ford’s plan to rip up bike lanes
• Highway 401
  • CBC News: Ford government studied, shelved Hwy. 401 tunnel research in 2021
  • Toronto Star: ‘It’s a vision and it works’: Doug Ford offers new details on his plan for a 401 tunnel

Transit

• ION
  • CambridgeToday: Region ready to gather public input on plan to bring light rail transit to Cambridge
  • Regional report describes public input plan for ION extension to Cambridge ahead of releasing the initial business case in September. They are considering several partial LRT options and a BRT option. (Region of Waterloo agenda)
  • The Morning Edition - K-W with Craig Norris: The LRT’s future in Cambridge
  • CambridgeToday: LETTER: LRT a bold investment in Cambridge’s future
  • CambridgeToday: LETTER: LRT will be key to sustainable growth in Cambridge
  • CityNews: Preston BIA chair pushing for LRT expansion into Cambridge
  • CBC: Cambridge councillor cites ‘misinformation’ as a reason for LRT opposition
  • The Record: Former Kitchener Tim Hortons owner seeking $275K from region for LRT construction losses
• GO Expansion
  • Regional Councillor Matt Rodrigues brings forward motion to improve communication with the public on the Kitchener central transit hub project. (Instagram, Regional committee agenda, CityNews)
  • The Record: Judge reserves decision about removal of people from encampment
  • The Record: Federal housing watchdog calls out region over plans to evict Victoria Street encampment
  • Metrolinx is doing gas main replacement near the future transit hub as part of GO expansion works (Metrolinx)
  • Toronto Star: Metrolinx laid off customer service workers days before using AI after Coldplay concert
  • Ontario NDP: NDP demands accountability and transparency as Metrolinx faces $8.2 billion in lawsuits
• GRT
  • GRT Introduces 25th anniversary merchandise! Available at GRT customer service locations. (GRT Facebook)
  • The Record: Chicopee ski hill is getting its own bus stop but not for this winter season
• ConstructConnect: Toronto study argues for getting Canadian mass transit costs back on track
• CBC: Flixbus, now in 3 provinces, wants to connect Canada in the wake of Greyhound’s demise. German company says mileage has doubled year-over-year since 2022
• The Logic: Winning Toronto-Quebec City high-speed rail bid was so low officials feared it was impossible, documents reveal

The shape of our cities

• CTV News: New federal entity to prioritize Canadian-made, affordable housing projects
• Region
  • The Record: Retired urban planner watches his work get ‘wiped out’ across Waterloo Region
  • The Record: Opinion | Three ways to end chronic homelessness
  • The Record: Waterloo Region welcomed the world. Now it faces a population decline
  • The Record: International enrolment falls almost two-thirds at Conestoga College in spring semester
• Waterloo
  • The Record: ‘Landmark’ tower proposed at 39 storeys in the heart of Waterloo
  • The Record: Waterloo council rejects proposal to build houses closer together and save buyers $40,000
  • The Record: Waterloo is not hurrying to remember its history. City council is cautiously advancing heritage designations and a potential new museum, amid concerns about rising costs and low buy-in among property owners.
• Kitchener
  • A Kitchener report recommends a “preferred approach to growth” that goes beyond major transit station areas to include nearby areas along with four new urban centres (River/Ottawa; Block Line/Strasburg; Highland/Fischer Hallman; Dundee Secondary Plan), and several corridors (City of Kitchener agenda)
  • Kitchener city staff request direction to develop a parkland acquisition strategy, particularly as parkland becomes more in need in densifying areas in the core (City of Kitchener agenda)
  • Kitchener considering rezoning to enable a project to replace a single detached house on Fairway Road North with a three storey building containing 26 affordable small apartments, 8 car parking spaces, and 28 secure bike parking spaces (City of Kitchener agenda, The Record)
  • Kitchener considering rezoning to complete a subdivision with 111-222 homes in apartment buildings near Trussler Road and Highway 7/8 (City of Kitchener agenda, The Record)
  • The Record: Plan to replace Kitchener home with six units raises concerns over density, compatibility
  • The Record: 9-tower development on brownfield site would enhance Kitchener neighbourhood, residents hear
  • The Record: A vacant 3.93-acre site at 150 Strange St., which poses development challenges — including potential contamination and nearby human remains — is offered at $1
  • The Record: Heritage Kitchener to consider designation for century-old school, church
  • The Record: The City of Kitchener is looking for input from residents on the Huron Natural Area.
  • The Record: Opinion | An oasis of nature in Kitchener might soon be surrounded by industry
• Cambridge:
  • The City of Cambridge and the Township of North Dumfries have together put forward a proposal for the city to annex some lands from the township. The Region of Waterloo considers it at a special council meeting this week (Region of Waterloo, Cambridge Today)
  • The Record: Cambridge mayor votes against housing plan over lack of Indigenous consultation. The development at 387 Green Gate Blvd. will allow for four-storey buildings and an increased density of 87 units per hectare.
  • The Record: Motion to discuss encampment evictions scrubbed from Cambridge agenda
  • CambridgeToday: Another developer has appealed to the Ontario Land Tribunal over a refused land severance by the city’s committee of adjustment which would have seen eight new units created
• Townships:
  • The Record: Residents question whether St. Jacobs’ sewage plant can handle ambitious growth
  • The Record: Quebec company looks at farmland in Wilmot for new $4-billion data centre
  • The Record: Opinion | A data centre in Wilmot is not what we bargained for
  • Woolwich Township considering a staging plan for large expansion of Breslau (Woolwich agenda)
  • Woolwich purchased a property in downtown Elmira with housing accelerator funds, and is declaring it surplus to facilitate a mixed-use redevelopment with 75 homes, including 60 affordable units (Woolwich agenda)

Elsewhere

• CTV News: Councillor calls on Ottawa to consider banning right turns on red lights at downtown intersections
• New York Times: Drivers vs. Cyclists: A Battle for the Streets in Canada’s Largest City
• Ontario Newsroom: Province awards major contract for tunnel design and construction of Line 1 subway extension into York Region
• Cycling Magazine: Halifax council pulls back one-way bike lane amid political pushback