UOttawa transit stop to close during finals

OC Transpo is closing a busy Transitway station at the University of Ottawa in the midst of final exams in April.

The transit service announced Wednesday how and when it will shut down the remaining sections of the dedicated busway for conversion to light rail. The east-end stretch between Hurdman and Lees closed last year. Transitway buses west of downtown have been diverted onto Albert and Scott streets for about a month.

The section between Lees and Laurier stations — which includes the Campus station — closes April 24.

“This is the most important closure we’ve had,” said Pat Scrimgeour, OC Transpo’s head of systems and planning. “This is the busiest section of the entire transit network.”

The closure comes three days before students finish writing finals, but the Rideau Transit Group, the contractor building the Confederation line, has a schedule it must stick to, said Steve Cripps, director of the rail implementation office.

“Any delay of work on that section could affect their ability to meet milestones,” he said, adding subcontractors have already been lined up to start work on that date.

RTG apparently arranged its construction schedule to ensure this vital stretch was one of the last to close.

University officials say they have been working with the city to mitigate the impacts of OC Transpo’s service adjustments due to LRT construction.

“We will make sure our entire community, especially students commuting to and from campus, is fully aware of changes and alternatives,” media relations manager Néomie Duval wrote in a statement.

Transit staff is also pledging to do its part by getting the message out using a variety of methods, including ads and maps at station platforms, leaflets and audio announcements on buses, and personnel on the ground to direct confused riders.

“We’ll be making special efforts to get in touch with students to make sure ... they’re not left behind or inconvenienced too much by the closure of Campus station,” Scrimgeour said. “We know that those people are going to be concentrating a lot on their studies at that moment.”

The majority of eastbound buses will be diverted to Nicholas Street, where they will share lanes with regular traffic or use bus-only lanes to connect to Highway 417.

Westbound buses will exit the highway with regular traffic and eventually enter a bus-only lane, which means vehicle traffic coming from the east and west will have to squeeze into one lane.

Travel times could be affected if the highway gets backed up or cars sneak onto the bus lanes, Scrimgeour said.

Routes 95 and 98, however, will use King Edward and Laurier to serve the east side of the campus and could see delays of up to four minutes.

Putting more buses on King Edward and Laurier, which are already jammed at rush hour, could mean changes to some intersections and a review of on-street parking in some locations, said Rideau-Vanier Coun. Mathieu Fleury.

For example, drivers travelling eastbound on Laurier will no longer be allowed to make left turns onto King Edward, he said.

The changes at Tunney’s Pasture station won’t take effect until June 19.

That’s when a new ramp will open to connect the Transitway and Scott Street. All eastbound buses will leave the trench and service the upper level of the station before continuing downtown via Scott and Albert streets.

This is expected to add another minute to travel times under normal traffic conditions, Scrimgeour said.

The closures and amended route patterns will remain in effect until the $2.1-billion Confederation line opens in 2018.