Ottawa considers tunnel option optimal for $3B Gatineau tram system

A Gatineau-based tram system that extends into Ottawa's downtown would cost more than $3 billion, and while City of Ottawa staff support both alternatives for bringing trains into the core, they consider the expensive Sparks Street tunnel project the “optimal” option.

Société de transport de l'Outaouais is planning a Gatineau-Ottawa transit system that would extend over the Portage Bridge and into the parliamentary precinct. It could be an electric tram system or a combination of a tram and bus system, though the tram-only option is the front-runner.

After the tram runs from west Gatineau and crosses into Ottawa, the two options to run trains east involve building tracks on the surface of Wellington Street or digging a tunnel under Sparks Street.

The high-level construction estimates, as revealed in a City of Ottawa report to council published on Friday, illustrate the massive financial requirements for building another train tunnel in Ottawa.

The complete Gatineau-Ottawa tram system under the Wellington Street option would cost $3.032 billion.

The Sparks Street tunnel option would be between $3.532 billion and $3.899 billion.

In other words, it would cost more than $500 million more to build the tunnel, an astronomical figure that the City of Ottawa acknowledges as a significant barrier to seriously pursuing that option.

The City of Ottawa, however, has no skin in the game when it comes to paying for construction — that will be up to STO to figure out and it will likely require total financial support from the Quebec and federal governments. The Quebec government has committed to paying for a portion of the project.

Since the tram would cross into the City of Ottawa and use municipal land, city hall needs to give its blessing to STO.

It will be up to the city's transportation committee on Nov. 16 to make a recommendation to council.

The City of Ottawa's priorities when it comes to the tram project are reducing bus traffic in the core and linking with the Confederation Line LRT.

The Wellington Street option would have stops at Lyon Street, Bank Street and the line's terminus at Elgin Street. A pedestrian tunnel could be built to connect the tram system with Confederation Line's Lyon Station.

The Sparks Street tunnel option would have stations at Lyon Street and O'Connor Street and present opportunities to provide the underground pedestrian connections to the Confederation Line tunnel, which is under Queen Street.

When it comes to the Wellington Street option, there are two methods under review by consultants: one that allows all modes of travel through to Elgin Street and another that would ban car traffic between Bank Street and Elgin Street.

Transportation planners at the City of Ottawa prefer keeping car traffic on Wellington Street, even with the tight space requirements for multiple modes of travel. In the report, the planners warn that the surface tram would knock car traffic down to one lane in each direction and restrict turning access.

A Wellington Street tram would require land from the feds to cram in all the necessary transportation infrastructure, including sidewalks, cycling lanes, car lanes and two sets of tram tracks.

A surface tram system on a busy road like Wellington Street also requires deep thought into how pedestrians will cross the street. There are eight crossing points but the STO study has suggested only four crossings with the addition of a tram.

The City of Ottawa is proposing conditions be placed on STO if Wellington Street is the project's preferred corridor. The conditions would push STO to secure land from the feds, study traffic impacts on other Ottawa streets and create mitigation plans for snow clearing, tour bus operations and protests.