28 Jun 2026 2 min read News Roundup

News roundup: June 28, 2026

New weekend trains to Stratford, more speeding, and deadly trucks

GO train in Stratford (Photo: Alex Hunt/StratfordToday)

Here’s the latest in walking, biking, and transit news for Waterloo Region.

What's happening

KITCHENER MOBILITY: The City of Kitchener is putting together a new Transportation and Mobility Plan, and the city’s draft plan questionnaire will close on July 3.
WOOLWICH HOUSING: The Township of Woolwich is putting together an Affordable Housing Policy, and community input is open until July 10.
OFFICIAL PLAN: Kitchener City Council will vote on a new Official Plan on Monday, June 29th at 1PM (Meeting Agenda). Melissa Bowman in Citified summarizes the process and shares concerns about amendments that would add specific growth constraints for the Westmount and Auditorium neighbourhoods.

Global News: Speeding increases in Toronto significantly after province turns off cameras
- The Record: Region of Waterloo issued $12.5 million in fines when speed cameras were allowed
Ontario is increasing speed limits from 100 km/h to 110 km/h on nearly a thousand kilometres of provincial highways, claiming this will reduce trip times while maintaining safety (CBC, Ontario)
The Biking Lawyer: Understanding the Impact of Accident Benefits Changes for Pedestrians and Cyclists
A pedestrian was hit and killed by the driver of a Jeep at the intersection of Victoria & Frederick streets in Kitchener (CityNews)
New York Times Interactive: The Deadly Rise of Giant Trucks and S.U.V.s
A City of Kitchener report has an interesting deep dive on winter maintenance and potholes after a particularly snowy winter season, with recommendations for improvement (Kitchener council agenda)
CityNews: Migratory birds put North Dumfries bridge rehabilitation project on pause

CambridgeToday: GRT to roll out free Older Adult Day Pass pilot program next week. Adults aged 65-plus who sign up with the GRT app on their smart phones can ride transit for free one day a week from July 1 to Jan. 5, 2027
New Stratford train service begins July 6. Weekday service extends an existing train to Toronto (arrives 8:47am) and a train back (departs 4:52pm). Weekend service introduces a new round trip from Toronto to Kitchener and Stratford, with a morning train to Stratford (arrives 11:16am) and an evening train back (departs 6:16pm). The trip is ~50 minutes between Stratford and Kitchener, and 2.5 hours between Stratford and Toronto.
- Schedules aren’t in navigation apps yet but are on GO’s website.
- PRESTO cards won’t work yet - GO has info on payments and schedules.
A public consultation for Kitchener Line expansion indicates there will still only be one GO track through downtown Brampton, which will limit service frequency west of Brampton (Metrolinx, pg.9, event page)
- More Transit Southern Ontario spoke about why this is cause for concern (CityNews)
CBC: Metrolinx writing off $504M spent on now-useless signalling upgrades, GO Expansion is uncertain
CityNews: Metrolinx proposes big penalty hike in effort to combat GO Transit and UP Express fare evasion
CityNews: GO Train from Kitchener applied emergency brakes after 3 people on tracks

CBC: Regional chair appointments 'undemocratic' say civic leaders, calling on Ford to reverse course
Regional Council has approved the Airport Growth Plan, which will guide Waterloo International Airport’s future for the next 20 years (Airport Growth Plan)
CBC: A Better Tent City will now be part of regional shelter system, with some pushing back against new rules
CTV News: Waterloo proposes plan to rezone churches for residential housing
The Record: Kitchener lists priority projects for new water capacity
Kitchener City Council will consider final amendments to the Dundee Secondary Plan after addressing developer requests, for this large greenfield area northeast of Fischer-Hallman & New Dundee roads (Kitchener council agenda, EngageWR)