KITCHENER – A fix is in the works for what's become a dangerous problem along the LRT line in Kitchener.
People who live in the Traynor-Vanier neighbourhood have been taking a risky shortcut to get over the tracks.
It began when fences was installed along the rail line, separating Traynor from the retail strip on Fairway Road.
When the fencing went up, so did the time it took people to get from their neighbourhood to the shops and services.
That's when residents began making shortcuts, cutting holes through the fences. Even young children were walking across live tracks, despite the trains coming through regularly.
Construction equipment moved in on Thursday to start building a ramp and pedestrian crossing from one side of the line to the other.
"We thought it was quite urgent," says Regional Coun. Tom Galloway.
"If we didn't think it was urgent, we could have waited until next year so we could do the whole thing all at once but we thought that it was urgent enough."
He says that the crossing now is being done randomly, sometimes taking train operators by surprise.
For now, the ramp will at least keep people crossing at a consistent place. Later, it will become fully signalized with gates to warn when trains are coming.
The crossing should be open by the end of November.
