Confederation countdown
The Rideau Transit Group is one year away from handing over the keys to the new $2.1-billion Confederation LRT Line. As the countdown begins, Matthew Pearson examines some of the outstanding questions about the largest infrastructure project in the city’s
In exactly one year — May 24, 2018 — the city’s light-rail contractor, Rideau Transit Group, is expected to hand over the keys to Ottawa’s brand new, $2.1-billion Confederation LRT Line.
Nearly five years in the making, it will be the busiest LRT line in North America on its first day of service, say boastful politicians and senior city officials.
As the countdown to the Confederation Line’s launch begins, there are outstanding questions about the single largest infrastructure project in the city’s history.
When will the Confederation Line actually open?
There is no precise date. It will be sometime after May 24, 2018, the day the city officially takes ownership of it.
As Steve Cripps, director of O-Train Construction wrote in a memo this month: “The city does not expect to receive the trains one day and fill them with passengers the next.”
Once in the city’s possession, there will be testing of the LRT line’s various elements: the vehicles, power supply and distribution, the tracks and switches, the train communication, the control and radio systems, the tunnel ventilation, the fare gates, as well as the elevators, escalators and the fire alarms at all 13 stations.
Meanwhile, transitioning from a public transit network served predominantly by buses to a system comprised of two rail lines and buses requires “meticulous planning,” Cripps wrote. That job falls to OC Transpo, which has already launched a Ready for Rail PR campaign to help riders get the information they need to transition to a new transit routine that, for many, will involve transferring from bus to rail (or vice versa) to complete the trip.
The city expects to announce by the end of 2017 the first day passengers will be able to ride the Confederation Line. Is the project behind schedule? Yes and no. “On any given day, some parts of the project are ahead of schedule, some are on time and some are behind,” Cripps wrote.
But after last June’s sinkhole on Rideau Street threw a wrench into the works, RTG developed a modified construction schedule and has confirmed to the city that it will meet the May 2018 deadline. If that changes, RTG must tell Cripps’ office and he’ll have the unenviable task of advising council.
If the contractor misses the deadline, the agreement imposes “significant financial consequences,” including the deferral of a $202-million payment and a reduction in the 30-year maintenance contract.
What’s been the fallout of the sinkhole?
A report into the cause of the sinkhole, released in April, confirmed that LRT tunnelling work under Rideau Street disturbed the soft soil.
The city has received 32 claims for compensation from property owners and businesses affected by the sinkhole. The city, meanwhile, claimed $1.4 million for emergency remediation work, plus another $780,000 for other costs, such as legal and consultant fees.
It was all sent to the LRT project’s insurance company to sort out. The insurer hadn’t made a decision on the claims as of Friday, the city said.
Then last week, another wrinkle: The company that owns The Westin Ottawa Hotel filed a $100,000 lawsuit that names both the city and RTG. The suit claims several banquets and events had to be cancelled and that the hotel racked up “significant out-of-pocket expenses” to compensate staff and customers because of the inconveniences. The allegations have not been tested in court.
How safe is the tunnel and other Confederation Line construction sites?
The toppling of a crane last month near the LRT tunnel’s entrance on the University of Ottawa campus prompted the question.
No one was injured, but workers on scene were overheard expressing concerns for their safety. “After this, you can be assured there’s a few more of those workers that are reluctant to go into the tunnel for fear they could be injured,” said Sean McKenny, president of the Ottawa and District Labour Council, on April 26.
Ontario’s Ministry of Labour has issued about 150 orders, ranging from site housekeeping to washroom facilities to improved lighting, which RTG says it has addressed. It notes its accident rate is lower than the provincial average for heavy civil construction.
The crane incident and a May 2 gas main break on Queen Street are both under review.
John Manconi, general manager of transportation services, has denied suggestions RTG might be pressuring workers to rush in order to meet that deadline. “We are not going to compromise safety to meet a deadline,” he said last month.
What will Albert, Slater and the Mackenzie King Bridge look like without all the buses?
The city just announced a street planning and design study intended to provide options for reallocating the street space made available by removing the dedicated bus lanes, with an emphasis on cycling and pedestrian use.
The long-term plan is to make Albert and Slater “complete streets”, but the city also wants to implement some interim measures until the roads are reconstructed because that work is many years away.
Those measures could include wider sidewalks, enhanced crosswalks, streetscape improvements and some kind of new cycling infrastructure (though nothing specific is mentioned in the May 15 memo from Manconi).
The study will develop functional road designs, preliminary cost estimates and a plan for implementation along Albert and Slater streets between Bay Street and the Mackenzie King Bridge and for the Mackenzie King Bridge to Waller Street, as well as for the full reconstruction of Albert and Slater streets between Bay and Empress Avenue.
Recommendations for interim measures will be implemented after the Confederation Line opens over subsequent years until 2020, subject to funding, the memo said.
Speaking of downtown streets, what’s happening with Gatineau STO buses?
Talks between politicians and transit planners from both sides of the river have been underway for almost two years, and the plan they’ve hammered out, including details about the presence and volume of STO buses on downtown Ottawa streets, should be made public before summer.
“We’re working on an agreement that will be fair to both sides, and we hope to have that announced in the next couple of months,” Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson said in early March.
The announcement hasn’t happened yet, but it was likely delayed by flooding on both sides of the river that has preoccupied Watson and Gatineau Mayor Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin.
Will all the downtown road closures and construction be done by Canada Day, the marquee event this year’s sesquicentennial celebrations? Sort of. The city’s agreement with RTG stipulated that streets between the east tunnel portal at the University of Ottawa and the west tunnel portal near LeBreton Flats be restored to pre-construction configuration before Canada Day.
These requirements were reconsidered following the sinkhole; and RTG bumped up its crews, equipment and shifts to stay on schedule. But alas, some surface work will continue “beyond July 2017,” the Manconi memo said.
Work on Queen Street between Bank and O’Connor streets will continue through the summer (the section is actually closed to motorists and cyclists until mid-June)
RTG will, however, take a break from construction activities on Rideau Street on Canada Day that could hamper either public mobility or enjoyment of the party. And enhanced street cleaning on both Rideau and Queen is intended to make the construction zones a more welcoming environment for all those revellers.