Finance body approves $3B LRT extension plans

Ottawa’s international airport authority is prepared to pay for and build a light-rail stop inside its passenger terminal, the organization’s head said Monday, as the finance committee approved the $3-billion plan to extend LRT further east, west and south.

“We are willing to put some skin in the game,” said chief executive Mark Laroche.

The preliminary cost for the station — which would be included in the proposed extension of the Trillium O -Train line from Greenboro station to Riverside South — is about $35 million. But that figure might include costs for laying the track for which the authority is not prepared to pay, Laroche said.

The plan is in its preliminary stage, but Laroche said he pictures the new rail stop being integrated into a future terminal expansion designed to provide airline passengers with a seamless transition from train to terminal. The airport improvement fee, now $23 per departing flight, can be used to fund airport infrastructure projects, he said.

Mayor Jim Watson, who chairs the finance committee, said he was “pleasantly surprised” with Laroche’s offer.

“I think that’s a great piece of news for people that want to see rail service go out to the airport,” he told reporters.

Laroche said the city’s proposed route, as outlined in an environmental assessment, confirms that the rail link to the airport is technically possible. But the challenge is to secure the funding needed to make it happen.

“If we don’t get it done at the same time as the Trillium line extension, it’s unlikely that it will get done,” he said.

In addition to extending the Trillium line further south and adding five new stations, the committee also endorsed the plan to extend the Confederation line, currently under construction, from Blair station to Place d’Orléans. A further extension to Trim Road, at an added cost of $160 million, was not included in the initial plan but will continue to be explored.

In the west, the Confederation line would be extended by 13 kilometres from Tunney’s Pasture station to Baseline and Bayshore stations, with 10 new stations.

More than two dozen delegations appeared before the committee, including several connected to the First Unitarian Congregation.

The church has come out against the city’s preferred option for the western LRT extension, saying the current routing through its Cleary Avenue property is unacceptable. In addition to the church, the 2.4-hectare property contains a seniors’ residence and daycare, both of which are also opposed to the city’s plan.

Specifically, the congregation’s concerns range from the increased noise and vibration associated with construction and underground trains to the loss of mature trees and enjoyment of its outdoor spaces.

“We’re not a bunch of old NIMBYs,” said Tom Dent of the Unitarian House residents association.

But Watson and several councillors questioned the concerns related to construction given the congregation’s own plans for development on the site, which include a new affordable housing building.

“Construction is construction,” the mayor said.

Several speakers associated with First Unitarian seem to prefer an alternate route for the western extension, which would see the line cross beneath Rochester Field and underneath the Byron Linear Park.

Others who spoke to the committee urged it to consider moving the western terminus to Moodie Drive, instead of the current plan for it to stop at a redesigned station at Bayshore Shopping Centre.

The light-rail expansion plans were, however, lauded by several high-profile organizations, including Algonquin College, Ottawa Tourism, the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce and Ecology Ottawa.

If council approves the plan at its July 8 meeting, the city will submit a trio of environmental assessments — one each for the three extensions — to the province for approval and begin work on securing federal and provincial contributions.