Extending the ION into downtown Cambridge ‘essential for future wellbeing and prosperity’: advocacy group
Posted Aug 8, 2023 02:11:09 PM.
Continuing to run light rail transit into Cambridge is ‘critical’ to the ‘vibrant’ rebirth and ‘long-term viability’ of downtown Galt.
That is according to an open letter recently published by the advocacy group Citizens for Cambridge, suggesting Stage Two of the ION LRT as being “essential for future wellbeing and prosperity.”
“A key mass transit artery which will knit our region together has been a tremendous success for [Kitchener-Waterloo] and now is the time to bring it to Cambridge,” said Keith Rivers, a member of Citizens for Cambridge.
The group is arguing the Region of Waterloo should continue to push ahead with extending its light rail network eight stops into downtown Galt saying the design is done, the route finalized, and the timing is ‘perfect’.
“We should just leap at this opportunity,” said Rivers on The Mike Farwell Show on Tuesday. “Now is the time. The money is there, the interest in the region and [from] the federal and provincial governments is there–it’s a step that we really need to move into the future here in Cambridge.”
The money though has become a major sticking point with the initial cost estimates now having nearly tripled to around $4.5 billion dollars.
Rivers suggested however, while that price tag is certainly high, “major infrastructure projects do cost a significant amount and they get built when they’re needed,” adding that time, for this project, is now.
He also said, while there has been additional debate over having the terminus in downtown Galt, that is exactly where it should be.
“A link that terminates close to Doug Craig’s riverwalk bridge [or Craig’s Crossing] would be ideal for bringing folks to the City of Cambridge,” he said, while going on to compare the city to some in Europe.
“Cambridge is so much like a European city and you’ll find light rail transit winding its way through those historic buildings throughout Europe and this would be the finishing touch for bringing more folks to Cambridge [while] also making transit more practical for folks in and around the core.”
Meantime, asked what would happen if the city or the region were to opt not to extend the rails into downtown Cambridge, Rivers said he thinks that decision would ‘stall’ and ‘stunt’ growth.
“Cambridge, for a long time, has been waiting [for] and needing development and this is the kind of modern transit link that will stimulate exactly that,” he said.
“Without it, I think we’ll continue to languish and it would just be a tremendous move backward.”
