ION Construction underway near GRH KW Campus

Transcript for: Grand River Hospital prepares for ION construction

Title: Preparing for ION light rail transit at GRH

Hello, I'm Mark Karjaluoto with Grand River Hospital. In a few years from now, Grand River Hospital's KW Site at 835 King Street West will be a stop on the new ION light rail transit line.

We think this is going to be a huge benefit for patients, families and care providers here at GRH.

But in the meantime, there's a lot to do to get ready. I'd like to tell you what you can expect.

Grand River Hospital is working with the Region of Waterloo and GrandLinq, the company that's building ION. We will make sure access to the hospital's KW Site will be maintained at all times.

But King Street West will undergo construction. Crews will replace water, storm and sanitary sewer lines under the road, rebuild sidewalks and road surfaces, and then build the light rail track.

During the most intensive phase of construction, King Street West between Union and Wellington streets will be open to hospital and local traffic.

We also know that King Street West from Wellington to Victoria will be completely closed until well into 2016. That's to build a bridge for the existing rail line.

All this construction could affect your trip to GRH. There may be crews working or street closures where you may not expect them. So here's what you should do.

First, check before coming to the hospital for any street closures that may affect your trip. You can call the ION construction hotline at 1-844-625-1010 or email GrandLinq at connect@rideion.ca.

There are websites you can visit. These include GrandLinq's site at www.rideion.ca or our site at www.grhosp.on.ca/ion .

We also encourage you to get project updates on Twitter. You can follow @rideIONrt or @GRHospitalKW

Then plan for some extra time coming to the hospital. In addition to the street changes, we may have some temporary entrances and exits. A little more time can help ease stress for you.

Rest assured that we're working closely with our Waterloo Region Emergency Medical Services partners. Their access to the hospital will be maintained at all times.

We'll do our best to keep you informed and updated as construction takes place. Thank you for your time and patience as ION becomes a reality, both for our community and for our hospital.