The LRT plan has left the station
$3.6B rail and road package gets stamp of approval from finance committee
City hall’s political brain trust has approved a $3.6-billion Stage 2 rail and road package, with one councillor laying the groundwork for Barrhaven LRT in the next transit plan.
Friday’s 11-0 vote of council’s finance and economic development committee, which includes all the committee chairs, was the first political test of the final blueprint to extend rail east, west and south.
Council will now vote March 8, but it’s clear councillors are already thinking about a future Stage 3.
Barrhaven Coun. Jan Harder wants the city to study the feasibility and priority of converting the southwest Transitway to rail between Algonquin College and Barrhaven, which she notes is the fastest growing area of Ottawa.
A rail conversion there isn’t part of the current plan until after 2031.
Harder put council on notice that she’ll ask for support on a study.
A similar kind of motion is what got Orléans on the LRT map and convinced the city to study Kanata LRT.
At the same time, Kanata North Coun. Marianne Wilkinson urged staff to think about how to bring LRT to Kanata as soon as possible.
The western suburb has a leg up since a Kanata LRT environmental assessment is already in the works and the city wants to extend LRT to Moodie Drive by 2023.
Mayor Jim Watson already knows which part of the city should get priority, in his view: “Phase 3 in my opinion is to Kanata,” he said.
The committee meeting, however, was all about the Stage 2 blueprint and procurement strategy.
The city-funded part of the Stage 2 rail expansion will cost $3 billion, split equally between the city, province and feds, and be fully operational by 2023.
The city expects the bonus extensions to Trim Road ($160 million) and the Ottawa International Airport ($155 million) will be covered by the provincial and federal governments.
Construction would pick up from the ends of the 12.5-kilometre Stage 1 at Tunney’s Pasture and Blair station. To the west, tracks would be extended to Algonquin College and Moodie Drive. To the east, tracks would be built to Trim Road. The Trillium Line would be extended to Bowesville Road, with a four-kilometre spur line between South Keys and the Ottawa International Airport.
Mark Laroche, president and CEO of the Ottawa International Airport Authority, wants the city to include in the construction tender a direct rail option between the airport and the Confederation Line LRT station at Bayview.
Under the current Stage 2 design, visitors to Ottawa would need to take three trains to downtown.
Ian Faris, president and CEO of the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce, echoed Laroche’s comments, asking for a more seamless train link between the airport and the core.
The city will build the tracks to allow a direct airport-to-Bayview service, but that direct link would only operate on special occasions.
Residents of Queensway Terrace North still aren’t happy with the proposed LRT infrastructure cutting through the Pinecrest Creek corridor and Connaught Park in the west end.
“We don’t want to see the LRT travelling next to our homes,” Wayne Shimoon said, threatening legal action against the city.
On the other hand, the city might have avoided controversy closer to the core by indicating it will use Preston Street for a replacement bus route during a 16-month Trillium Line shutdown, instead of an alternative route down Bayswater Avenue.
The complete transit package bundles a provincially funded widening of Highway 417 west of the downtown and a $100-million city fund for additional infrastructure work.
The city also wants to study widening Highway 174 sooner than planned.
The city is holding a Stage 2 information session at City Hall on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. jwilling@postmedia.com twitter.com/JonathanWilling