Construction of the Ion light rail transit system has brought a lot of changes to the section of King Street in front of Grand River Hospital.

A new set of traffic lights has gone up at the hospital’s main entrance.

The four-lane road has been reduced to two, making room for LRT tracks in the middle of the street.

And for ambulances, there’s an entirely different problem.

Stephen Van Valkenburg, Waterloo Region’s chief of paramedic services, says ambulances won’t be expecting drivers to pull over when they approach on that part of King.

“We don’t have an ability to pass on that (street),” he said in an interview.

He wasn’t referring to all of King, only the section between Union and Pine streets, right in front of the hospital.

Even in that stretch, where the lanes are about 1.5 metres wider than normal, there are some spots that appear wide enough that an ambulance and car might be able to fit side-by-side – but others don’t, and Van Valkenburg says drivers shouldn’t expect to have to.

“If you can’t pull to the right, you keep going so that the vehicle can at least come up behind you and keep going as well,” he said.

One other thing that might make the road easier for ambulances is a lack of vehicles to share it with.

Although the road in front of the hospital is open now, Van Valkenburg says, few drivers are using it.

He also says the LRT construction plans have already been altered to better accommodate ambulances, by creating the ability for ambulance to make left turns out of the hospital entrance.

“They’ve cut the curb down so that we can go around for that. That wasn’t part of the original plan,” he said.

Darshpreet Bhatti, the region’s director of rapid transit, says there are other options available should ambulances experience issues in front of the hospital.

“If in the long run there is a congestion issue that we have to address, then we will make use of other tools that are available,” he said.

“There’s no reason for us to open up every option in the toolbox and say (they’re) available from day one.”

Waterloo Region’s ambulances are also equipped with a system that alters traffic light patterns to minimize their delays during emergency situations.