A big-picture overview of the Ion light rail transit project was delivered Friday, with regional transportation officials saying construction work for the system remains on-time and on-budget.

“We continue to be on a schedule of having service start in late 2017, and we continue to be on-budget,” Thomas Schmidt, the region’s commissioner of transportation and environmental services, told CTV News before briefing politicians from across Waterloo Region.

Certain parts of the project are running behind schedule, including construction on Caroline Street in Waterloo and at the intersection of Charles Street and Borden Avenue in Kitchener.

Work to lower King Street beneath the rail tracks near Victoria Street has also fallen behind.

In that case, crews are expected to make up for lost time by working through the winter.

“We’re going to use … essentially a tent that’s heated over the winter, to allow winter work to happen,” Schmidt said.

Officials are also keeping a close eye on vehicle assembly work at Bombardier.

Some components of the light rail vehicles are already being put together at the firm’s plants in Thunder Bay and Mexico.

That work is about two months behind schedule – but regional officials say they were prepared for that, and still hope to have the first vehicle delivered by October 2016.

Councillors asked a number of questions following the report, mainly relating to road closures and how they are communicated.

Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic suggested using social media or videos to provide more immediate updates about changes in construction locations.

“The weekly and the biweekly updates are helpful, but … things are changing on a daily basis,” he said.

Waterloo Coun. Diane Freeman said that she had heard concerns about construction spreading over the city, and wondering if traffic light timing could be changed to make some of the detours easier to use.

“A lot of folks have spoken to me to say that … they’re running out of options to detour the construction areas,” she said.

Once $818 million worth of construction wraps up, the Ion system will run with 17 stops between Conestoga Mall in Waterloo and Fairview Park Mall in Kitchener.