Region unveils preferred Victoria Street redesign for future transit hub

Victoria Street North in Kitchener will be getting a facelift for the future Kitchener Central Transit Hub and regional staff have unveiled their preferred design.

A public meeting was held in Kitchener on Tuesday evening at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy foyer, across the street from the future location of the transit hub.

The proposed upgrades would see the four lane stretch on Victoria Street North to King Street West and Weber Street West go to two lanes for cars, two priority lanes for transit and then have separated cycle tracks.

The goal of the redesign is to realign Victoria Street North to provide better multi-modal connections to the future transit hub.

In presentation made to the public, staff said the hub will be the “focal point” for higher order transit service in the region by connecting passengers with the GRT bus service, the ION, GO transit and VIA rail.

The hub would be the region’s connection to the Toronto-Waterloo corridor.

Updates on the EngageWR website note a portion of the design for Phase 1 of the transit hub is complete, including passenger pick-up and drop-off area, the bus loop, off-site parking and site circulation.

Regional staff will take the feedback from public meeting and confirm a preferred alternative in the coming weeks. A detailed design of the whole transit hub project is set to be completed by December.