WATERLOO REGION — Construction of the Region of Waterloo's light rail project is about 90 per cent complete, but it's been a tumultuous year for the biggest public works project in regional history.

Coun. Tom Galloway chairs the committee overseeing light rail.

"After a fairly slow start in 2015, they're pretty well caught up on the construction side and (I'm) generally very pleased with how GrandLinq has been performing … Bombardier, need I say more," he said.

An unexpected corduroy road, delays in completion of the light rail vehicles by manufacturer Bombardier, and relentless road closures and detours have been challenging.

But there were some wins with GrandLinq meeting a deadline to open King Street and construction expected to be about 90 per cent complete going into 2017.

Here's a look back at the project in 2016.

January

• Officials said taxpayers will cover at least some of the cost of a heated dome installed to catch up on delays in light rail transit construction for a bridge for CN Rail tracks across what will be a lowered King Street. Exactly how much will come from taxpayers is uncertain as the region and construction consortium GrandLinq will negotiate that issue and any other disagreements over unplanned costs. Costs were estimated to be anywhere between $1 million and $2 million.

February

• The intersection of King and Erb streets in Waterloo will not be closed while a section of King is shut down for nearly 10 months during light rail construction, after businesses railed against the idea. Work at that intersection was put off until after light rail construction when the region completes a street overhaul of King from Central Street to University Avenue. The streetscape project is planned for 2017.

• A deal was reached to sell a portion of property at Grand River Hospital to the region for light rail. Waterloo councillors declared the land surplus and accepted the agreement, worth $1.6 million. Waterloo and the City of Kitchener co-own the property but leased it to what was known as the Kitchener-Waterloo Hospital in 1993. The region started the expropriation process for the parcel in March 2012.

March

• A summary of public feedback showed Cambridge residents want a light rail stop in Preston and their properties protected from construction impacts. More than 120 people attended two Region of Waterloo public consultation centres in November to review and respond to several route options for the light rail extension.

• The remains of a historical corduroy road were found under King Street by light rail construction crews digging in uptown Waterloo, stopping the work. Construction there was delayed several weeks while an archeologist examined and documented the find as required by provincial law. A corduroy road is made by laying logs side-by-side perpendicular to a roadway passing through soft or boggy soil.

April

• The first Bombardier delay was announced in April after months of officials saying troubles at the company would not impact production of the region's light rail vehicles. At the time officials said the first train would be delayed by two months to October and the final, fourteenth vehicle, would be delayed by four months to May 2017.

May

• Traffic was backed up nearly two kilometres on Erb Street as hopeful residents lined up for a piece of the corduroy road unearthed from King Street in uptown Waterloo. It took just 27 minutes for the Region of Waterloo to dole out the 100 two-foot-long sections available to the public at the landfill.

• Just when residents thought a piece of regional history was out of their grasp, light rail construction consortium GrandLinq uncovered a second corduroy road at King Street and Conestoga Road the night before the first giveaway. Archeologists confirmed the eight-metre long find was another corduroy road.

• Officials announced light rail transit won't launch until early 2018 due to a lengthy delay in train delivery from Bombardier. A staff report said the first train would be delayed longer than officials were told earlier this year. Arrival of the first train was rescheduled to December. That has now been put off to February.

June

• Waterloo council voted to allow three-hour parking at three city lots in the core to help offset the impact of light rail transit construction. The three lots were two-hour stays.

• The province announced it will commit up to $43 million toward the cost of a multimodal transit hub at the corner of King and Victoria streets in Kitchener.

July

• Officials announce light rail construction is about 60 per cent complete.

• The executive director of the Uptown Business Improvement Area tells a meeting of businesses that poor treatment of light rail construction workers would not be tolerated. Some businesses were refusing to serve workers and using abusive language.

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August

• Cambridge Mayor Doug Craig questioned whether the city should be pushing for bus rapid transit until it can drum up enough ridership to justify light rail. At a Region of Waterloo committee meeting, Craig raised the issue in light of the indefinite timeline for light rail expansion to Cambridge.

• The rural mayors spoke against discussions about implementing development charges for transit — buses and light rail — in the townships. Development charges are fees developers pay for infrastructure such as roads and sewers. They're paid once on new development. Right now, development charges for transit are only charged on projects in the cities. Ultimately, the mayors were successful in getting developers in the townships out of paying the fees when politicians voted on the issue in November.

September

• Eight intersections in Kitchener and Waterloo open, bringing some construction relief.

• Regional officials and construction consortium GrandLinq discuss how delayed Bombardier vehicles will impact the planned project launch in early 2018. Bombardier needs to work on each vehicle, then GrandLinq has to work on each vehicle and then each vehicle will be tested on the line. That means co-ordinating everything with operations.

October

• Top Bombardier officials travelled to Kitchener and gave assurances the region's light rail vehicles would be delivered on time. Benoît Brossoit, Bombardier president for the Americas, and other Bombardier staff met with five regional councillors and several staff members at the Region of Waterloo's request. Regional officials received a presentation about the company's plans to get back on track.

November

• The region confirms there is no money in the budget for Phase 2 of light rail transit to Cambridge. Officials said the region didn't start budgeting for light rail from Waterloo to Kitchener until the federal and provincial governments committed to helping with capital costs.

• Delayed Bombardier vehicles cost the region an extra $1.2 million when politicians vote to increase an Infrastructure Ontario contract based on a delayed project launch. The region approved a contract of about $3.8 million for Infrastructure Ontario in 2012 based on the light rail project being on time and launching in late 2017.

• Officials confirm plans are still not finalized on how emergency services will navigate city streets with light rail tracks and how snow clearing will be done.

• Construction consortium GrandLinq meets its Nov. 30 deadline to reopen King Street between Erb Street and William Street. It was closed early February for underground utility and other construction for the Region of Waterloo's light rail project.

December

• The region's rapid transit director took a job closer to home so he can spend more time with his wife and young son. Darshpreet Bhatti worked his final day with the Region of Waterloo on Dec. 21 and said leaving was a difficult but worthwhile decision.

• Tax hikes for light rail and bus expansion won't be reduced in 2017, but thanks to new development charge rules the tax hikes could be trimmed back in 2018 and 2019. The Region of Waterloo will have new development charge cash available to it after Jan. 1, thanks to a change in provincial rules at the end of 2015. The charges are fees developers pay to help cover the costs of growth, such as roads and sewers. Under the new rules, the region can now calculate the charges for future transit including light rail.