On track, but no LRT promises yet

City still doesn’t know whether contractor can meet new deadline

Ottawa and OC Transpo are entering a critical period in the run-up to the launch of the Confederation Line, but the city’s head of transportation is still not making any promises about whether the $2.1-billion LRT line will be handed over to the city by the November deadline.

The city’s LRT line would likely have been opened by now, or at least at some point shortly after Canada Day, if the original schedule contemplated by the city had unfolded as planned. That schedule included a date of May 24 for the city to take possession of the 12.5-kilometre LRT system from contractor Rideau Transit Group.

John Manconi, the general manager of transportation, told council’s finance and economic development committee Tuesday that he has seen positive signs lately that the city will take ownership by Nov. 2, which is the revised handover date.

“It’s day by day, week by week. As we progress through the testing and commissioning of the summer months, we’ll have a better idea,” Manconi said after his presentation to the committee.

“I know everybody would like me to say ‘It’s guaranteed we’re going to hit Nov. 2.’ I can’t do that. We need to carefully monitor all these things, and I remind everybody that everyone on the city side and RTG knows safety trumps everything, so we need to get through all those safety systems testing procedures even if we finish all the other work.”

RTG believes it will deliver the system by the new handover deadline and Manconi seems satisfied by how the contractor is prioritizing the work.

If it doesn’t look like RTG will meet the Nov. 2 handover, council should know by the start of fall.

“I know I’m not going to walk in here Nov. 1 if there is something to announce,” Manconi said outside the committee room at city hall. “Later this summer, we’ll know exactly where we are and we’ll update accordingly.”

The key stations to watch are Rideau and Tunney’s Pasture, but especially Rideau.

Of course, it’s hard for anyone to track the progress of construction in the underground station at Rideau, so councillors will have to count on updates from city staff. Construction delays in the tunnel at Rideau, which is the deepest of the line’s three underground stations, have been chalked up to the June 2016 sinkhole.

The communication-based control system is also on Manconi’s watch list of key infrastructure. It is meant to be the nerve centre of the LRT system, making sure the trains are communicating with the track signals.

Manconi has some reasons to be optimistic, with one train set now fully automated and in testing on the eastern stretch of track.

While one train has been brought through the tunnel and rests near Tunney ’s Pasture, RTG has not yet tested the entire line, end to end.

When the city knows for sure that the LRT line will launch, residents can expect a marketing onslaught from OC Transpo.

Suburban councillors such as Knoxdale-Merivale’s Keith Egli are starting to get questions from constituents about how riders will transfer between trains and buses.

Blair station is poised to be the first with an occupancy permit. When that happens, Transpo plans to shoot a video to show riders how an LRT station will work, particularly at a station that will see huge numbers of transfers between trains and buses.