DOWN THE LINE

Trillium line, the proposed north-south LRT track, offers a peek at the not-so-distant future

Airport Station

“I think [the LRT is] going to be an expensive money loser when it goes to the airport,” says former Transit Canada strategist Eric Darwin, whose blog West Side Action analyzes public projects of all kinds. Nonetheless, he thinks it’s important that Stage 2 includes an airport station. Airport trains, it appears, are the hotel fitness centres of the transit world: everyone wants one, even if they never use it. Just the idea of being able to reach the airport by train may spur interest in LRT-accessible neighbourhoods, Darwin says. An airport LRT will also help Ottawa keep up with the Joneses: Toronto launched its airport rail link in 2015, and Montreal has an ambitious plan to build one by 2020.

Gladstone Station

Little Italy is due to get a station near Gladstone Avenue and Preston Street. (Currently, the Trillium line cuts the neighbourhood in half just west of Preston.) Proposals to connect the two halves include building pedestrian and cycling bridges over the line and building a road between the west end of Laurel Street and Oak Street. The big news, however, is that the feds have decided to sell two juicy pieces of property on either side of the line just north of Gladstone. Formerly part of the government’s Oak Street Complex, they will surely attract a starry-eyed developer or two.

Cleary Station

Before construction began on Confederation Line, Cleary station in McKellar Park was the subject of debate. Lots of people wanted the station: they just didn’t want it next to their house, apartment building, store, or church. The plan is to put the station on the north side of Richmond Road on the site of a small strip mall. Densification will likely be an issue too. As Darwin points out, nearby 1940s apartment buildings are ripe for redevelopment but community opposition to high rises could dissuade developers.

Trim Station

Trim Road at Highway 174 in Orleans, at the eastern end of the Stage 2 extension, is among the least developed locations on the agenda. Whether the train will bring housing, retail, or other goodies depends on zoning and local demand. As Darwin notes, the two need to dovetail; in Portland, Oregon, when planners zoned very suburban LRT stations as high-density but nearby residents preferred single-family homes on large lots, the land remained empty for years. Developers didn’t want to put up low-rise structures when there was a chance they could build higher later, Darwin adds. We shall see.