September 18, 2008

Infrastructure

Ottawa’s transit plan runs into roadblock

KORKY KOROLUK

correspondent

A king-sized monkey wrench has been tossed into the city of Ottawa’s transit planning machinery.

The general concept — a sweeping plan involving both light rail and bus-only transitways — was approved by city council last spring. It was estimated to cost about $4 billion over 25 years, and relied on the use of a scenic parkway along the Ottawa River for part of an east-west light rail line.

The road is owned by the National Capital Commission (NCC), not the city, but city councillors and staff gave the impression that, although some negotiation with the NCC was necessary, the eventual outcome was a slam-dunk. The rail line would run along the parkway for a few kilometres.

Now, though, the NCC says it wants other alternatives considered.

“The Ottawa River Parkway line is a concept line,” NCC chief executive Marie Lemay said in reply to a question following a recent speech. “There needs to be other options on the table. There are a number of questions that need to be answered and the NCC has informed the city of its concern.”

The heart of the proposed new system is a light rail tunnel running east and west under the city’s downtown core. The rail line would be extended east and west by converting the existing bus transitway to light rail.

A southbound rail link is also in the plan, along with some suburban expansion of the bus transitways to carry commuters until population densities become great enough to warrant investment in more rail line.

Transitway buses have run along the section of the parkway the city now wants to convert to rail.

Since the NCC had allowed the use of city buses on the road, it had been assumed by many that it would allow a rail line to be built along the same corridor.

But the NCC has now demurred, feeling that trains would be more intrusive than buses.

City officials now say it could take up to three years to find and consider other options in order to sort out the NCC’s objections to the route. While that is happening, staff say, the city should go ahead with rail service to the east and south.

That, though, would necessitate immediate transitway construction to the east on a route south of, but roughly parallel to the existing transitway.

It would carry traffic while the transitway is being converted, and would ultimately form part of a larger transitway system serving the city’s southeastern quadrant.

That new element, plus a new streetcar line in the west end, would add about $700 million to the total project cost, bringing it to about $4.7 billion over the 25 years it is expected to take to have everything up and running.

A group of councillors representing east-end wards has been lobbying for an early start to the easterly transitway conversion to rail regardless of what may happen in negotiations with the NCC.

They justify their demand by citing the explosive growth in the east-end suburb of Orleans.

The city now has suggested four possible scenarios for the first phase of construction of the new system. All involve the tunnel under the core area, along with various combinations of rail and bus transitway.

The scenario favoured by Mayor Larry O’Brien, several influential councillors, and city staff, would convert the present east transitway to light rail, to run from the near east end through the tunnel to a point just west of the core area.

A second rail line would be built southward to and past the airport, and more transitway would be built from the east end of the rail line into Orleans. Total cost of that first phase would be $2.6 billion.

That and three other scenarios will be offered as options during a series of public consultations over the next two months.

A decision is expected in late November in the hope that the first phase can be completed by 2015.

The balance of the over-all project would take another 15 years.

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