News roundup: June 14, 2026

By Tri-Cities Transport Action Group

Here’s the latest in walking, biking, and transit news for Waterloo Region from the last week or so.

What's happening

• RIGHT ON RED: At Wednesday evening’s meeting, Regional Council will need to ratify its approval of a right-on-red pilot. With pushback against even this small start, supporters of the pilot program should consider sending a formal or informal message of support to Council.
  • A recent CBC / The Greater Discussions video called Right Turn of Death explores the topic
• SAFE TENTING: Region of Waterloo is holding a special council meeting on Tuesday, June 16th at 9am to discuss the 100 Victoria St N encampment on a staging site for the Kitchener Central Transit hub. Community groups are pushing for a safe tenting by-law to avoid the province using the notwithstanding clause to clear the encampment (Region of Waterloo council, FightBackKW)
• MCLENNAN PARK: The City of Kitchener is updating long-term plans for McLennan Park and Lions Park, with a brief survey about park experience and map-based feedback open until June 30 (EngageWR)
• KITCHENER 2051: The City of Kitchener is holding pop-up sessions for its new Transportation and Mobility Plan (EngageWR)
  • Wednesday, June 17, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Country Hills Community Centre
  • Thursday, June 18, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Stanley Park Community Centre
  • Saturday, June 20, 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Victoria Park (Bike Check Tent)

Walking, biking, and streets

• CTV News: Waterloo Region app Cycling Guide expands across Canada as demand for safer bike routes grows
• The Record: Waterloo 90-year-old braves mishaps ‘biking to eternity’
• The Region’s new street design guidelines are up for Council approval this week, after revisions to address worries from township mayors about parking on rural main streets (Region of Waterloo agenda)
• Five children from Waterloo Region were killed and six more people were injured in a two-vehicle collision at a two-way stop intersection northwest of Elmira (CTV News)
• CTV News: Kitchener man charged in April fatal collision involving e-bike
• Cambridge Today: 'Staggering number' of speeding charges in May top concern for police. Waterloo Regional Police Service chief said the force will launch a dedicated road safety team this fall to try and replicate enforcement lost when automated speed cameras were banned

Transit

• Kitchener Central Station
  • A presentation to a Regional advisory committee includes updated drawings and renderings of Kitchener Central Station (Region of Waterloo agenda)
  • PressProgress: What Doug Ford should know about encampment residents
  • CityNews: Encampment lawyers dispel myths about Victoria St. ruling
  • Melissa Bowman pulls together context and background on the 100 Victoria encampment ruling (Citified)
  • The Record: Number 25: The long road through Waterloo Region’s homeless encampment. A longtime resident shares what life inside the Kitchener encampment is like and why he still returns
• GRT is seeking to replace 19 end-of-life buses with new hybrid buses in a $29.5m order through a Metrolinx procurement initiative, with a cost of over $1.5m per bus (CityNews, Region of Waterloo council)
• The Trillium: Engineers warned Metrolinx of ‘fall hazard’ months before GO train passenger fell and died. Cracked, uneven platform contributed to woman falling, being hit by train: leaked report

The shape of our cities

• The Record: ‘Fresh look’ at water capacity required in Waterloo Region, province says. Land and development facilitator wants closed educational session with region
• CityNews: Waterloo council approves plans for 12-tower development near University District
• To advance a Housing Accelerator Fund initiative, the City of Waterloo will have an informal public meeting on June 22 for a city-initiated rezoning of 14 churches for residential mixed use to enable addition of housing and community uses. (EngageWR, City of Waterloo council p.205)
• CityNews: Kitchener receives $8M for hitting provincial housing targets
• The City of Kitchener’s updated economic development strategy would include investments to make downtown Kitchener a major entertainment destination and a hub for a larger variety of business incubators (City of Kitchener council)
• Wellesley Township will have the formal public meeting for its new Official Plan on Thursday, June 18. The plan envisions substantial development on greenfields surrounding existing township settlement areas (EngageWR, Wellesley Township) 

Elsewhere

• Streetsblog: In New Jersey, mayors show how quickly we can slow down drivers. In Jersey City, Mayor James Solomon will install 100 quick-build safety measures, giving a new meaning to the term, "Safety first."