News roundup: August 23, 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

• ION: Public engagement on Stage 2 to Cambridge alternatives continues, with pop-up sessions from 2-4pm at Sportsworld Station on Tuesday and Cambridge Centre Station on Wednesday. Whether or not you can make those, fill out a feedback survey at EngageWR.

Walking, biking, and streets

• Region of Waterloo staff will look into potential restrictions on right turns on red at some intersections for improved safety after a Regional committee supported a motion from Councillor Colleen James. (CityNews, CBC News, The Record)
• CambridgeToday: Speed camera motion calls for enhanced signage, regular reporting. Regional council expected to pass motion next week that calls for bigger signs and asks province to consider standardizing speed camera programs
• CityNews: Construction begins on last locations for roundabout safety pilot
• Highway 7 to Guelph project costs increase with no completion timeline. (The Record, CityNews)
  • The Record: New Highway 7 should be a provincial priority, Kitchener mayor says
  • The Record: Opinion | With latest Highway 7 delay, Ford reminds me of a bad boyfriend
• TheRecord: ‘It’s becoming dangerous walking on sidewalks’: Waterloo Region zoning in on safety concerns
  • The Record: Opinion | It’s time to put the brakes on the e-scooter and e-bike free-for-all
• CBC: Ontario appeals court ruling that blocked Toronto bike lane removals
• Kitchener and Waterloo are ranked as the top two cities in Ontario for biking according to PeopleForBikes
• The Record: City of Kitchener raising parking fines, ranging from $10 to $100. Kitchener parking fines increase to align with neighbouring municipalities after 16-year freeze, following rise in complaints and tickets.
• Spacing: OP-ED: Warning about the danger to kids from pickup trucks. Albert Koehl argues that the federal government needs to mandate safety warnings in pickup truck ads
• CBC: Meet the unicyclist who rides a toilet around K-W

Transit

• ION Stage 2
  • The Region of Waterloo held a kick-off session this Tuesday for the ION stage 2 consultation and answered a number of detailed questions about the project and approach (YouTube)
  • The Record: Regional councillors looking to expedite LRT to Cambridge: Staff say a final business case could take two years or more, but the project could be tendered as early as 2028, with funding in place.
  • CBC: Public consultations on LRT into Cambridge set for coming weeks, no timeline for project yet. ‘My concern is that I’m running out of time to see this happen,’ Coun. Doug Craig says
  • CityNews: Stage 2 ION project could take couple of years to begin: regional staff
  • Citizens for Cambridge makes the case for ION stage 2
  • Cambridge Today: LETTER: Federal $30B transit plan is an opportunity Cambridge can’t afford to miss. “Let’s finish what we started,” says Citizens for Cambridge, who are urging Waterloo Region officials to back a complete Stage 2 expansion of the ION light rail system into downtown
• Barriers being installed for University of Waterloo Station ION platform/tracks (r/uwaterloo Subreddit)
• CTV News: Metrolinx adds new express GO buses in Waterloo and Guelph ahead of post-secondary school year
• CBC: Regional councillor wants better communication around Kitchener transit hub construction project
  • Mike Farwell praises Regional Councillor Matt Rodrigues’ efforts for more communication and urgency around the new Kitchener transit hub (The Record)
  • The Record: Court rules homeless residents can stay at Victoria and Weber tent encampment until at least November

The shape of our cities

• Province
  • Kitchener councillor Debbie Chapman will introduce a motion voicing opposition to the province on Bill 5 where it overrides environmental rules and municipal planning (Kitchener council agenda)
  • A motion to be considered at Woolwich Council expresses concerns about strong mayor powers (Woolwich council agenda)
  • The Record: Does a student bed count as a new home? Ontario says yes as housing starts falter
  • CBC: Ontario signals changes to fund that helps municipalities get housing built.
  • CTVNews: Premier Ford urges Ontario municipalities to bring workers back to the office five days a week
• The Record: Staging plan for Breslau could be faster, more cost-effective, developers say. The plan anticipates the population in Breslau will increase from 7,856 in 2024 to 32,000 by 2051, with 690 more people per year.
  • Waterloo EDC has a letter in support of the Breslau staging plan including a designation of a Provincially Significant Economic Zone for lands near the airport (Woolwich council agenda)
• CambridgeToday: Development stalled: thousands of approved units go unbuilt in Cambridge
• The Record: Modular child care to increase capacity in Waterloo Region. Two prefabricated structures to be located on school properties
• Regional Chair Karen Redman will be bringing a motion to Council next Wednesday asking for a staff report on regional impacts of the new hospital, including on transit. (Regional Council agenda)
• The Record: Kitchener, Waterloo councils move toward renoviction bylaws. City councils want draft bylaws prepared despite cautions from municipal staff that cities have limited authority and tools.
• Regional Council will consider a committee recommendation to support transferring a property and lease an adjacent property to a non-profit for a 31-unit affordable housing redevelopment project in New Hamburg (Regional Council agenda, CityNews for background)
• The Record: Affordable ‘micro-units’ development in Kitchener ‘a real chance at a home’: councillor. Kitchener’s planning committee approves a unique affordable housing project with micro-units, despite objections from residents in Waterloo Region.
• Kitchener Committee of Adjustment approved zoning changes for 667 Victoria Street South to enable construction of a 5-storey apartment building with 27 affordable homes and 4 parking spaces. (Kitchener committee agenda, background at KW Habilitation)
• The Record: Distinctive ‘flatiron’ apartment building to replace Kitchener plaza. The eight-storey building will have 75 units and ground-floor commercial space.
• The Record: Kitchener council approves new King Street development. Kitchener city council approved a new 28-storey mixed-use building at 924-944 King St. W., featuring 341 residential units, parking spaces and commercial amenities.
• The Record: Waterloo developer proposes 54 family apartments after first proposing none. Change to proposed 30-storey highrise follows public feedback.
• The Record: Flair Airlines pledges to stay on at Waterloo Region airport despite throttling back local operations
• Citified: The Council Round-Up (Aug 2025). A snapshot of what’s happening in council chambers around Waterloo Region
• The Record: Joseph Gowing picked as new Kitchener regional councillor

Elsewhere

• Cycling Magazine Toronto cyclists push back against helmet bans at major venues
• Global News: Ford considers widening ‘jammed up’ Hwy. 407 East weeks after tolls were removed
• CBC News: Toronto pursuing sole-sourced deal for new TTC trains in wake of U.S. tariffs
• CBC News: Ontario hasn’t given an opening date for Mississauga LRT since 2019, internal documents say
• TVO: ANALYSIS: Make the 407 free for trucks? What if we charge them to use the 401, instead