News roundup: October 23, 2026

By Tri-Cities Transport Action Group

Monday, October 26 is election day! Here's your Waterloo Region walking, biking, and transit updates for the week, plus election info. Our municipal governments shape our transportation and land-use options, so — if you are eligible — please make sure to vote.

Municipal Elections

• Info
  • Election information per local municipality: City of Cambridge, City of Kitchener, City of Waterloo, Township of North Dumfries, Township of Wellesley, Township of Wilmot, Township of Woolwich
  • Resources: Waterloo Region Votes, Vote Compass
  • Candidate surveys: TriTAG, CycleWR, Strong Towns WR
• Candidates
  • CBC: Need help deciding who to vote for? Candidates in Waterloo region and Guelph share their top issues. CBC K-W asked candidates in Waterloo region and Guelph for their top issues in their municipal election campaigns.
  • The Record: Five candidates seek two Waterloo Region council seats in Cambridge. Controlling taxes while maintaining essential services is a priority for all five candidates, although they differ on how the region should manage its spending.
• Issues
  • The Record: Sidewalk snow clearing ranks among Kitchener election’s hottest issues, survey finds. A survey finds 58 per cent in support and 31 per cent opposed to municipal snow clearing, with little middle ground and age at the heart of the divide.
  • CBC: Why climate and the environment will be top of mind when voters make their decision next week. Climate is tied to housing, transit and water capacity issues, voters say
  • The Record: Opinion | There's a long, dark shadow hanging over the municipal election. By creating “strong-mayor powers” and removing the right to vote for a regional chair, Premier Doug Ford has changed the municipal elections dramatically, Luisa D'Amato writes
  • The Record: Opinion | Wilmot mega-site is a done deal, and the township can't stop it. An e-mail being sent to Wilmot residents says that if they vote a certain way, the industrial mega-site can be stopped. But that's not so, Luisa D'Amato writes

Walking, biking, and streets

• CTVNews: ‘They have devastated a family’: CTV News cameraman hit by vehicle driven around road closed barricade
• CBC: Kitchener man dies after being struck on northbound lanes of Highway 85
• The Record: Waterloo Regional Police target community-reported roads in stunt driving crackdown

Transit

• The currently underway reconstruction of King Street East from Sportsworld Drive to Deer Ridge Drive includes a wide concrete median to facilitate the future construction of ION Stage 2 along this section. (Region of Waterloo)

The shape of our cities

• Cambridge Today: Developer challenges Hespeler Road secondary plan restrictions for proposed 1,300-unit project

Elsewhere

• Sean Marshall: The bikelash comes to Bloor Street West. If pedestrians or cyclists are injured or killed by aggressive, distracted, or speeding motorists, that’s just the cost of living in Doug Ford’s Toronto.
  • Streetsblog: ‘Premeditated Road Violence’: Toronto Protestors Block Bike Lane Removal
  • The Breach (YouTube): Doug Ford’s attack on Toronto’s bike lanes is part of a global right-wing playbook
• The Transit Brief: Waymo is coming, and we must act. How to use the future of mobility to fix the present.