Regional councillors push for answers on Stage 2 ION to Cambridge

Regional councillors for Cambridge want to know if their city is ever going to get ION service.

Both Pam Wolf and Doug Craig shared frustrations during a regional committee meeting this week when staff outlined a 10-year plan for Grand River Transit.

Craig was on The Mike Farwell Show on Friday and was asked whether he thinks Cambridge is being shortchanged on transit.

“Of course we are,” he said. “We don’t have a LRT, we don’t have a GO Train, and we’re paying for the LRT in K-W… and we’re wondering when is ours going to come to the City of Cambridge?”

Craig said the people of Cambridge want a “reasonable” timeline on Stage 2 ION.

“And they also want to know for sure that it’s going to come, not a hybrid system that is now being put out there by regional staff.”

That comment refers to multiple Stage 2 ION options that were presented earlier this year, which included a Bus Rapid Transit proposal to connect Cambridge residents to the Fairway ION station in Kitchener.

If the project goes ahead as a full light rail extension, the cost is estimated at $4.5 billion.

“I want to know how the $4.5 billion is going to be provided: whether it’s coming from federal and regional, or provincial, or what’s going to happen. But we need to know these things, and we’re not hearing it.”

Craig said he’s grown more and more “despondent” that it’s ever going to happen for Cambridge, given how long it has already taken.

“When you look at the first stage and how all the politicians in the region, at the federal-provincial level, at the city levels, all supported it and were on track…and within a few years, had the monies in place and the LRT proposed and designed. It’s just not happening in Cambridge at all.”

The councillor acknowledged the $4.5 billion price tag might be contributing to the uncertainty, but said if that’s the case, the people of Cambridge deserve to know sooner rather than later.

“I know it’s pretty significant, but if that is an issue that’s going to unravel the whole thing, then tell people — and tell them now,” he said. “Let them know what’s going on.”

In addition to access to the LRT, Craig highlighted that Cambridge is also lacking GO Train service to Toronto. He said he thinks it should be the number one transit priority for the Region of Waterloo.