LRT and increased development: What is the future of Preston?

A special event was held to show what the future could hold for a Cambridge community. CTV’s Heather Senoran reports.

The City of Cambridge wants to hear from residents about the future of Preston.

On Thursday afternoon, the city hosted a public input session about development in the area. A second opportunity was planned for 6:30 p.m. at the old RBC building on King Street in Preston.

About 65 residents attended the afternoon meeting that will help shape the Preston Secondary Plan.

Monika Crouse has lived in the community for four decades and worries the small-town feel of Preston will be lost with too much development. She prefers more greenspace.

“There are a lot of plans for high rise buildings. And that’s going to take away from Preston,” Crouse said. “It’s not going to add anything. I don’t think density has anything to do with building community.”

Crouse believes increased development doesn’t necessarily benefit the people who live in the neighbourhood.

“The developers get rich and the city gets more tax money,” Crouse said.

Crouse also said traffic can be a problem in the area and believes intensification could worsen the issue.

“I don’t leave the house between 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. because it’s a nightmare,” Crouse said.

City councillor Corey Kimpson said she was pleased to see such a good turnout. She encourages all residents to speak out if they have concerns.

“It’s up to us as a community to provide that type of input to staff when they’re forming the policies now rather than waiting for things to happen and then say, ‘wait, we should have done it a different way,’” Kimpson said.

The City of Cambridge projects the population will reach 215,000 by 2051.

“Grow, but with a slow and a reasonable pace,” resident Bob Burgg said. “I think there’s a great danger in growing too fast.”

LRT expansion

Expanding Light Rail Transit (LRT) could solve some transportation woes but some residents aren’t confident that plan will actually make it to the streets.

Earlier this month, Mayor Jan Liggett mentioned the Region of Waterloo’s back-up plan of rapid bus transit if the LRT expansion doesn’t go ahead.

Kimpson said she sees the benefits of having the system in Cambridge.

“We’ve seen the economic benefits that come with having light rail transit in the community. The type of building and infrastructure, which also means that’s more development charges that come into the city that we can use to repair infrastructure and help to provide amenities to our residents now and in the future,” Kimpson said.

Staff said ultimately the LRT is a Region of Waterloo project, but the region did flag a possible transit hub at King and Eagle Streets in Preston. The hub could include ION or bus rapid transit.

“Likely the higher density would be focused at the northern end towards that intersection,” Matthew Blevins, the city’s senior planner of reubranization, said.

City representatives said they are being mindful and trying to keep growth as gradual as possible.

“We’ll be looking at sensitive and respectful transitions from the lower density up to the higher density areas,” Blevins said. “You don’t have any sort of jarring switches from one to the other.”

Once feedback for the Preston Secondary Plan has been collected, staff with begin putting together the results and will present the information to council likely by the fall of 2026.