Appendix A_Pages266to338_9MB.pdf - Ottawa Confederation Line

©2009 Microsoft Corporation 


TRANSPORTATIO N IN FORMATIO N TE WATER 

TRANSPORTATION INFORMATION TE WATER 





Downtown West Station / Station centre-ville ouest 

Downtown East Station / Station centre-ville est 

Station 

Overview 

Aperçu de 

la station 

Kent 

Place de Ville 

Station 

Overview 

Aperçu de 

la station 

Tunnel alignment / 

Tracé du tunnel 

Potential alternate entry / 

Entrée alternative potentielle 

Sparks 

Metcalfe 

Lyon 

Queen 

Hôtel Crowne Plaza Hotel 

Station entry / 

Entrée de la station 

Constitution Square 

Potential connection to 

Constitution Square / 

Connection potentielle 

au Constitution Square 



Queen 

Potential aternate entry / 






Albert 

Slater 

Potential alternate 

entry at Constitution 

Square / 

Entrée alternative 

potentielle au 


Platform level / 

Niveau de la plate-forme 

Concourse level / 

Niveau de la zone de confluence 

Bank 

Albert 

Slater 

O’Connor 

World Exchange Plaza 



Potential alternate entry / 

Entrée alternative 

potentielle 

Potential below grade 

pedestrian connection / 

Connection piétonnière potentielle 

sous le niveau du sol 





• Located under Albert Street, 

east of Bay Street 

• Allows integration with future 

Central Public Library building 

• Serves existing development in 

west end of downtown 

• Située sous la rue Albert, à l'est 

de la rue Bay 

•· Permet une intégration à la future 

Bibliothèque publique centrale 

• Dessert les secteurs situés à 

l'extrémité ouest du centre-ville 




Place de Ville 

Potential alternate entry (by others) / 

Entrée alternative potentièlle (par d’autres) 



Albert 


• Located north of Albert Street, 

between Bank Street and O'Connor 

Street 

• Connects with local bus services 

on Bank Street 

• Serves existing development in 

central and east parts of 

downtown 

• Située au nord de la rue Albert, 

entre les rues Bank et O'Connor 

• Correspondances avec les services 

d'autobus locaux sur la rue Bank 

• Dessert les secteurs des parties 

centrale et est du centre-ville 

Sun Life Centre 





Minto Place 

Potential below grade pedestrian 

connection (by others) / 

Connection piétonnière potentielle 

sous le niveau du sol (par d’autres) 




Niveau de la zone 

de confluence 







Future Site for the 

Ottawa Public Library / 

Futur site de la Bibliothèque 

publique d’Ottawa 

Recommended Design 

The recommended design for the Downtown West Station follows the approved “Centre Platform” design alternative, and 

incorporates the following major elements: 

• 180 m long LRT platforms, in a centre platform configuration, to accommodate 4-car trains initially and 6-car trains in 

the future 

• 2 access points from ground level: 

• On the south side of Albert between Bay and Lyon (Central Public Library site) 

• On the north side of Albert between Lyon and Kent (Place de Ville) 

• Elevators, escalators and stairs will be provided at each access point 

• An underground connection to the Constitution Square office complex could be constructed in the future, by others 

• Underground connections to other adjacent development sites could also be provided by others 

• Depth of platform is approximately 30 m below ground due to foundation depths of adjacent buildings 

Conception recommandée 

La conception recommandée pour la station centre-ville ouest est la conception approuvée “plate-forme centrale” et 

comprend les éléments principaux suivants : 

• Des plate-formes centrales TLR, d'une longueur de 180 m, pouvant initialement accueillir des trains de quatre voitures et 

éventuellement de six voitures 

• Deux points d'accès au niveau du sol : 

• Du côté sud d'Albert, entre Bay et Lyon (emplacement de la Bibliothèque publique centrale) 

• Du côté nord d'Albert, entre Lyon et Kent (Place de Ville) 

• Des ascenseurs, des escaliers roulants et des escaliers aux points d'accès 

• Une connection souterraine aux tours à bureaux de Constitution Square pourrait éventuellement être construite par 

d'autres intervenants 

• Des connections souterraines à des immeubles voisins pourraient aussi être réalisés par d’autres intervenants 

• La profondeur de la plate-forme est d'environ 30 m sous le niveau du sol à cause de la profondeur des fondations des 

immeubles voisins 


The recommended design for the Downtown East Station follows the approved “Centre Platform” design alternative, and 


• 180 m long LRT platforms, in a centre platform configuration, to accommodate 4-car trains initially and 6-car trains in 

the future 


• On the north side of Albert Street, east of Bank Street 

• On the south side of Queen Street at O'Connor Street 


• An underground connection to the World Exchange office complex could be constructed in the future, by others 

• An underground connection to Sparks Street could be constructed in the future, by others 

• Underground connections to other adjacent development sites could also be provided 


La conception recommandée pour la station centre-ville est est la conception « plate-forme centrale» approuvée et 

comprend les éléments principaux suivants : 

• Des plate-formes centrales TLR d'une longueur de 180 m, pouvant initialement accueillir des trains de quatre voitures et 


• Deux points d'accès au niveau du sol : 

• du côté nord de la rue Albert, à l'est de la rue Bank 

• du côté sud de la rue Queen sur la rue O'Connor 

• Des ascenseurs, des escaliers roulants et des escaliers aux points d'accès 

• Une connection souterraine au World Exchange Plaza pourrait éventuellement être construit par d'autres intervenants 

• Un connection souterraine à la rue Sparks pourrait éventuellement être construit par d’autres intervenants 

• Des connections souterraines à des immeubles voisins pourraient aussi être réalisés par d’autres intervenants 

www.ottawa.ca/tunnel 


Rideau Station / Station Rideau 

Campus Station / Station Campus 

Station 

Overview 

Aperçu de 

la station 

Westin 

Hotel 

National Arts Centre / 

Centre national des Art 

Station 

Overview 

Aperçu de 

la station 

Wellington 

Sussex 

George 

Rideau 

Welington 

Fairmont Château Laurier 

Parliament East Block / 

Édifice de l’Est 

George 

Centre Rideau Centre 

Ridau e 

East concourse - 

potential access to 

Rideau Centre 

and The Bay / 

Zone de confluence 

est-accès potentiel 

au Centre Rideau et 

à The Bay 

Potential 

concourse level / 

niveau de la zone 

potentielle de confluence 

Canal 

Rideau 

Canal 

Government of Canada 

Conference Centre / 

Centre des conférence du 

gouvernement du Canada 

Pont Plaza Bridge 

Colonel By 

Nicholas 

Potential station entry / 

Entrée potentielle de la station 



University of Ottawa / 

Université d'Ottawa 

Colonel By 

Existing Transitway to be removed / 

Transitway existant à être enlever 

Nicolas 



Queen 

Albert 

Elgin 

• Located south of Wellington Street, 

between Confederation Square and 

Sussex Drive 

• Provides connections to both west and 

east sides of Rideau Canal 

• Potential integration with the 

Government Conference Centre 

• Potential integration with National 

Capital Commission commemorative 

design initiative for the Rideau/Sussex 

intersection 

• Provides for connections to local and 

regional (STO) buses 

• Située au sud de la rue Wellington, 

entre la place de la Confédération et 

la promenade Sussex 

• Carrefour entre les côtés est et ouest 

du canal Rideau 

• Intégration potentielle avec le Centre 

des conférences du gouvernement 

• Intégration potentielle au projet de 

design urbain à vocation 

commémorative de l'intersection 

Rideau et Sussex de la Commission 

de la capitale nationale 

• Point de correspondance pour les 

autobus locaux et régionaux (STO) 

Sparks 

Queen 

Albert 



National War Memorial / 

Mémorial national de 

geurre du Canada 

Elgin 


Entrée de la 

station 


Centre national des Arts 




Centre des conférence 

du gouvernement 

du Canada 

Canal Rideau Canal 

Potential station entry / 

Entrée potentielle de 

la station 

Colonel By 

Station entry 

(within Rideau 

Centre) / 

Entrée de la 

station (à partir 

du Centre 

Rideau) 

Westin Hotel 

The Bay 

Centre 

Rideau 

Centre 

Ottawa Convention Centre / 

Centre des congrès d’Ottawa 

Rideau 



Centre des conférence du 

gouvernement du Canada 

Centre Rideau Centre 

West concourse - access 

to National Arts Centre 

and Confederation Square / 

Zone de confluence ouest-accès au Centre 

national des Art et à la place de la Confederation 

Canal 

Rideau 

Canal 


West concourse - access to 

Confederation Square and potential 

access to National Arts Centre (by others) / 

Zone de confluence ouest-accès à la place 

de la Confédération et accès potential au 

Centre national des Art (hors contrat) 

Rdeau i 


Centre national des Art 

Elgin 

Canl Rideau Canal 

• Located approximately where the • Située environ au même endroit que 

existing Campus Station sits today la station Campus existante 

• Provides connections to the University • Permet d'accéder à l'Université 

of Ottawa, Sandy Hill and Golden d'Ottawa, à Côte-de-Sable et au 

Triangle (via the Corktown Footbridge) Golden Triangle (par la passerelle 

• Further investigation required to 

piétonnière Corktown) 

determine if station should be east or • Il faudra réaliser une étude 

west of Nicholas Street for approfondie pour déterminer si la 

constructability 

station devrait être aménagée à l'est 

ou à l'ouest de la rue Nicholas pour 

des raisons de constructibilité 

Corktown Footbridge / 

Passerelle piétonnière 

Corktown 

Potential skylight / 

Puits de lumière potentiel 

Existing pedestrian 

underpass / 

Passage piétonnier 

souterrian existant 

Queen Elizabeth 



Canal Rideau Canal 

Existing Transitway to be removed / 

Transitway existant à être enlever 

Nicholas 










underpass / 


inférieur existant 

Underground connection / 

Connection souterraine 


underpass / 


inférieur existant 


Paits de lumière potentiel 





Colonel By 




The recommended design for the Rideau Station follows the approved “Centre Platform” design alternative, and 


• 180 m long LRT platforms, in a centre platform configuration, to accommodate 4-car trains initially and 6-car 

trains in the future 

• Two access points from ground level 

• On the east side of the Plaza Bridge (west of the canal and north of the National Arts Centre) 

• East of Sussex Drive (via the Rideau Centre and The Bay) 


• A potential access point along the east side of the Government Conference Centre (former Union Station) 

building could be constructed in the future, by others 


La conception recommandée pour la station Rideau est la conception 

« plate-forme centrale » approuvée et comprend les éléments principaux suivants : 

• des plate-formes TLR à configuration centrale, d'une longueur de 180 m, pouvant 

initialement accueillir des trains à quatre voitures et éventuellement à six voitures 

• deux points d'accès au niveau du sol 

• du côté est du pont Plaza (à l'ouest du canal et au nord du Centre national 

des Arts) 

• à l'est de la promenade Sussex (par le Centre Rideau et The Bay). 

• des ascenseurs, des escaliers roulants et des escaliers aux points d'accès 

• un point d'accès potentiel pourrait éventuellement être construit sur le côté est du 

Centre de conférences du gouvernement, par d'autres intervenants 

East concourse - potential 

access to Rideau Centre 

and/or The Bay / Zone de 

confluence est-accès 

potentiel au Centre Rideau 

et/on à The Bay 

National Capital Commission Confederation Boulevard: Sussex/Rideau/Colonel By Landmark Node Concept / 

Boulevard de la Conféderation de la Commission de la capitale nationale : Sussex / Rideau / Colonel By ébauche d’un pôle d’attraction 


The recommended design for the Campus Station follows the approved “South Portal, Underground 

Station” design alternative, and incorporates the following major elements: 

• 180 m long LRT platforms, in a centre platform configuration, to accommodate 4-car trains initially and 

6-car trains in the future 


• At the north end of the station, adjacent to Vanier Hall 

• At the existing pedestrian underpass of Nicholas Street 


• A potential underground connection into the new Vanier Hall building could be constructed in the future, 

by others 


La conception recommandée pour la station Campus est la conception « Portail sud, station souterraine » 

approuvée et intègre les principaux éléments suivants : 

• Plate-formes centrales de 180m pouvant initialement accueillir des trains de quatre voitures et 


• Deux points d'accès en surface : 

• À l'extrémité nord de la station, à côté du pavillon Vanier du campus de l'Université d'Ottawa 

• Au passage piétonnier inférieur existant de la rue Nicholas 

• Des ascenseurs, des escaliers roulants et des escaliers seront aménagés à chaque point d'accès 

• Construction éventuelle d'un tunnel pour relier la station au nouveau pavillon Vanier, par d'autres 

intervenants 


www.ottawa.ca/tunnel



417 

417 



Lees Station / Station Lees 

Station 

Overview 

Aperçu de 

la station 

417 

417 

Lees 

Lees 

LRT platform / 

Plate-forme pour le TLR 


Entrée de 

la station Station entry / 

Entrée de 

la station 

• Will remain in its current location and 

general configuration 

• Potential integration with 

redevelopment of University lands 

south of the station 

• Important pedestrian link between 

Lees Avenue and the University of 

Ottawa to be maintained 

• Upgrades to existing station facilities 

will be incorporated as part of 

conversion to Light Rail Transit 

• Maintien de l'emplacement et de la 

configuration générale existants 

• Intégration potentielle avec le 

redéveloppement des terrains de 

l'Université d'Ottawa situés au sud de 

la station 

• Important lien piétonnier à maintenir 

entre l'avenue Lees et l'Université 

d'Ottawa 

• Améliorations à apporter aux 

installations existantes dans l'optique 

de la conversion au train léger sur rail 

New 60m platform enclosure / 

Nouvelle plate-forme de 60m 

avec abri fermé 



Lees 

Local bus plateform / 

Plate-forme pour autobus locaux 

Lees 

Station entry / Entrée de la station 


The recommended design for Lees Station incorporates the following major elements: 

• Conversion of the existing lower level BRT platforms to wider 120 m LRT platforms, with allowance for 

future platform extension (to the north) to accommodate 180 m platforms 

• Removal of the existing platform canopies on the lower level and the construction of a new, fully 

enclosed canopy spanning over the LRT tracks and platforms through the station 

• Rehabilitation and re-use of existing station facilities located on the upper level 

• Retention of existing station access points from Lees Avenue 


La conception recommandée pour la station Lees comprend les éléments principaux suivants : 

• Conversion des plate-formes de TRA existantes en plate-formes d'une longueur de 120 m pouvant être 

prolongées (vers le nord) jusqu’à 180 m 

• L’élimination des abribus existants de la plate-forme du niveau inférieur et la construction d’un nouvel abri 

fermé recouvrant toutes les plate-formes et les rails du TLR de la station 

• Réhabilitation et réutilisation des installations existantes situées au niveau supérieur 

• Conservation des points d'accès existants de l'avenue Lees 


Train Station / Station Train 

Station 

Overview 

Aperçu de 

la station 

Ottawa Train Station / 

Gare d’Ottawa 

Station entrance / 


417 

Tremblay 

Tremblay 

Connection to 


Connection à la 

gare d’Ottawa 





• Provides connections to intercity (VIA) • Permet des correspondances avec le 

passenger rail service and to potential service ferroviaire voyageurs 

commuter rail service 

interurbain de VIA et avec un service 

• Provides access to adjacent 

éventuel de trains de banlieue 

employment lands to east • Permet l'accès à des terrains destinés 

• Potential integration with planned 

à l'emploi situés à l'est 

Queensway pedestrian overpass to • Intégration possible avec le projet de 

provide access to development on passerelle piétonnière de Queensway 

north side of the Queensway pour permettre l'accès au secteur du 

(Baseball Stadium, Overbrook area) côté nord de Queensway (stade de 

baseball, secteur Overbrook) 


Plate-forme pour le TLR 




Nouvelle plate-forme de 60 m 

avec abri fermé 

Connection to Ottawa Train Station / 

Connection à la gare d’Ottawa 

417 

Tremblay 

Entrance / Entrée 

Potential future pedestrian 

connection (by others) / 

Future connection piétonnière 

potentielle (hors contrat) 

Connection to Ottawa Train Station / 

Connection à la gare d’Ottawa 


La gare d’Ottawa 

Via Rail access road / 

Chemin d’accès de Via Rail 


Gare d’Ottawa 


The recommended design for Train Station follows the approved “Diagonal” design alternative, and incorporates the 

following major elements: 

• 120 m LRT platforms in a side-platform configuration, expandable to 180 m long LRT platforms to accommodate 6- 

car trains in the future 

• One access point located approximately at the mid-point of the LRT platforms 

• Relocation and re-use of the existing pedestrian bridge to span the LRT tracks at the access point 

• Elevators, escalators and stairs to be provided between ground level and the LRT platforms 

• A future connection from the east end of the LRT platforms could be constructed, by others 

• Pedestrian and cycling connections between Tremblay Road and the Ottawa Train Station 

• Demolition of the existing BRT platforms 


La conception recommandée pour la Station Train suit l’option de configuration 

« station diagonale » approuvé et comprend les éléments principaux suivants : 

• des plate-formes patérales de 120 m; possibilité de les prolonger jusqu’à 180 m 

pour accueillir eventuellement des trains à six voitures 

• un point d'accès situé environ au milieu des plate-formes du TLR 

• le déménagement et la réutilisation du pont piétonnier existant pour passer au-dessus des rails du TLR au point 

d'accès 

• des ascenseurs, des escaliers roulants et des escaliers entre la surface et les plate-formes du TLR 

• à l'extrémité est des plate-formes TLR, un lien pourrait être aménagé par d'autres intervenants 

• des connections piétonnières et cyclables entre le chemin Tremblay et la gare d’Ottawa 

• la démolition des plate-formes de TRA existantes 



Future development / 

Développements futurs 



Tunnel Portal / 

Portail du tunnel 



Local bus platforms / 

Plate-formes pour 

autobus municipale 





Cyrville Station / Station Cyrville 

Blair Station / Station Blair 

Station 

Overview 

Aperçu de 

la station 



Station 

Overview 

Aperçu de 

la station 

Existing pedestrian bridge 

to remain / Passerelle 

piétonnière existante 

à conserver 

Gloucester Centre / 

Centre Gloucester 

Cyrville 


Développement futur 



Existing station entrance to remain / 

Entrée de la station à conserver 

Access to LRT platform / 

Accès à la plate-forme du TLR 

Bus platform / Plate-forme 

pour autobus 

Bus lay-by area / 

Aire d’arrêt pour autobus 

Albert 

417 


Plate-forme de la TLR 

Albert 

Slater 

Bus platform / 

Plate-forme pour autobus 

New access to pedestrian bridge / 

Nouvel accès à la passerelle piétonnière 

Gloucester Centre / 

Centre Gloucester 



• Will remain in its current location and 

general configuration 

• Potential integration with development 

lands north of the station 

• Upgrades to existing station facilities 

will be incorporated as part of 

conversion to Light Rail Transit 

• Maintien de l’emplacement et de la 

configuration générale existants 

• Intégration potentielle avec les terrains 

à développer au nord de la station 

• Améliorations à apporter aux 

installations existantes dans l'optique 

de la conversion au train léger sur 

railr 



Cyrville 


Nouvelle plate-forme de 60 m avec abri fermé 

Aquaduct / Aquaduc 

Entry / Entreé 

Booth 

Albert 

• Eastern terminus of project • Terminus est du projet 

• Need to accommodate large volume of • Besoin d'accueillir un grand volume de 

transfers from East Transitway, future correspondances en provenance du 

Cumberland Transitway extension and Transitway Est, du prolongement futur 

local bus services 

du Transitway Cumberland et des 

• Serves major retail development 

services d'autobus locaux 

• Dessert une zone commerciale 

importante 

Access to LRT 

platform / Accès à 

la plate-forme du TLR 

Access to LRT platform / 

Accès à la plate-forme du TLR 

Existing access to remain / 

Accès existant à conserver 



Existing access to be closed / 

Accès existant à être fermé 

LRT platform / Plate-forme 

pour le TLR 

Connection to train station / 

Correspondance à la gare 

Bus lay-by area / 

Aire d’arrêt pour 

autobus 

Existing pedestrian bridge 

to remain / Passerelle piétonnière 

existante à conserver 

Existing pedestrian bridge to remain / 

Passerelle piétonnière existante à conserver 

Existing Transitway / 

Transitway existant 

417 

174 



174 

LRT platform / Plate-forme 

pour le TLR Bus platform / 


Bus lay-by / 

Aire d’arrêt 

pour autobus 


The recommended design for Cyrville Station incorporates the following major elements: 

• Conversion of the existing lower level BRT platforms to 120 m LRT platforms, with allowance for future platform 

extension (to the north) to accommodate 180 m platforms 

• Removal of the existing platform canopies on the lower level and the construction of a new, fully enclosed canopy 

spanning over a section of the LRT tracks through the station 

• Rehabilitation and re-use of existing station facilities located on the upper level 

• Retention of existing station access points from Cyrville Road and future development west of the station 


La conception recommandée pour la station Cyrville comprend les éléments 

principaux suivants : 

• La conversion des plate-formes de TRA existantes en plate-formes d'une longueur 

de 120 m pouvant être éventuellement prolongée (vers le nord) à 180 m 

• L'élimination des abribus existants de la plate-forme de la station niveau inférieur et la construction d'un nouvel abri fermé 

recouvrant toutes les plate-formes et les rails du TLR de la station 

• La réhabilitation et la réutilisation des installations existantes situées au niveau supérieur 

• La conservation des points d'accès existants depuis le chemin Cyrville et des terrains à développer à l’ouest de la station 


The recommended design for Blair Station follows the approved “LRT on Lower Level” design alternative and 


• Conversion of the existing lower level local bus platforms to 180 m long LRT platforms, in a centre platform 

configuration, to accommodate 4-car trains initially and 6-car trains in the future 

• Construction of an expanded upper level bus platform in a centre-island configuration to accommodate BRT and local 

bus service 

• Rehabilitation and re-use of the existing pedestrian overpass structure 

• Retention of existing station access points 

• A crossover and pocket track to the west of the LRT platforms 


La conception recommandée pour la station Blair est la conception « Train léger sur 

rail au niveau inférieur » approuvée et comprend les éléments principaux suivants : 

• la conversion des plate-formes existantes pour autobus locaux situées au niveau 

inférieur en plate-formes centrales pour TLR, d'une longueur de 180 m, pour accueillir initialement des trains à 

quatre voitures et éventuellement des trains à six voitures 

• au niveau supérieur, la construction d'une plate-forme centrale agrandie pour autobus TRA et les autobus locaux 

• la réhabilitation et la réutilisation des passerelles piétonnières existantes 

• la conservation des points d'accès existants 

• une liaison et une voie d'évitement situées à l'ouest des plate-formes du TLR 



Construction of the Tunnel and 

Downtown Stations 

• The twin tunnels will be constructed using a Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) 

• The depth of the tunnel (approximately 30-35m below grade) has been planned to 

avoid impacts to building foundations, utilities and the Rideau Canal 

• Cut and cover construction will be limited to the areas around the west and east 

tunnel portals 

• Downtown stations will be mined out from within the tunnels 

• Campus Station will be constructed using the traditional open excavation method 

• The bulk of the visible activity will be at the TBM launch site, which will be at the 

east end of the LeBreton Flats 

• There will be some visible work at each station to construct the entrances and 

vent shafts (which could be open excavation or cut and cover depending on the 

local conditions) 

• Refinement of construction methods and phasing of the works will be made during 

subsequent stages of design 

Construction du tunnel et des 

stations du centre-ville 

• Le tunnel double sera construit en utilisant un tunnelier 

• La profondeur du tunnel (environ 30-35m sous le niveau du sol) a été établie en 

vue d’éviter les fondations des immeubles voisins, les utilités publiques et le canal 

Rideau 

• Les travaux de tranchée couverte seront seulement effectués dans les zones 

voisines des portails ouest et est du tunnel 

• Les stations au centre-ville seront excavées à partir des tunnels 

• La station Campus sera construite en utilisant la méthode traditionnelle 

d'excavation à ciel ouvert 

• La majorité des travaux visibles auront lieu à l'emplacement du lancement du 

tunnelier, c'est-à-dire à l'extrémité est des plaines LeBreton 

• On prévoit quelques travaux visibles à chaque station pour construire les entrées 

et les tours de ventilation (ces travaux pourraient prendre la forme d'excavation à 

ciel ouvert ou en tranchée couverte selon les conditions locales) 

• Les méthodes de construction seront précisées au cours des étapes de 

conception subséquentes 





Conversion of the Transitway 

from Bus Rapid Transit to 

Light Rail Transit 

• Conversion of Transitway Stations 

• Platforms will be widened with the tracks being placed in centre by-pass 

lanes 

• Existing canopies and shelters will be removed 

Elevators will be upgraded 

• New canopies will be installed over the platforms and track for the full 

length of the station (except at a few low-use stations) 

• Stations at Bayview, LeBreton, Hurdman, Train and Blair require extensive 

modifications to accommodate conversion and must be largely rebuilt 

• Conversion of the Transitway 

• In open areas, ballast and track will be installed on top of the existing 

roadway 

• Track through the stations will be directly fixed to a concrete slab for ease 

of maintenance 

Minor changes to drainage will be required 

• Some structures will require modifications to increase vertical clearances 

• Once a section is converted it will not be possible to operate buses or other 

vehicles along that section 

Conversion du Transitway d'un système de 

transport en commun rapide par autobus à un 

système de train léger sur rail 

• Conversion des stations du Transitway 

• Les plate-formes seront élargies et les rails seront situés dans les voies 

d'évitement centrales 

• Les auvents et les abris existants seront enlevés 

• Les ascenseurs seront mis à niveau 

• De nouveaux auvents seront installés sur les plate-formes et les rails sur toute 

la longueur des stations (à l'exception de quelques stations peu achalandées) 

• Il faut effectuer des modifications importantes aux stations Bayview, LeBreton, 

Hurdman, Train et Blair dans le cadre de la conversion et celles-ci doivent 

être essentiellement reconstruites 

• Conversion du Transitway 

• Dans les zones ouvertes, le ballast et les rails seront installés sur la chaussée 

existante 

• Les rails qui traversent les stations seront directement fixées à une plaque de 

béton pour faciliter l'entretien 

Il faudra apporter des changements mineurs aux ouvrages de drainage 

• Certains ouvrages devront être modifiés pour augmenter la hauteur libre 

• Après qu'un tronçon est converti, il sera impossible aux autobus et aux autres 

véhicules de l'emprunter 


Construction Staging 

• The project will be staged to: 

Minimize construction cost 

Minimize traffic and bus service disruption 

Optimize cash flow 

• Maximize contractor efficiency 

• Staging will be determined by the successful contractors, but will follow these 

principles: 

• The tunnel and underground stations will likely start first, as these elements 

will take the longest to construct 

• The Maintenance and Storage Facility must be completed midway through the 

construction of the project to allow for delivery of vehicles and vehicle testing 

• Major work at Bayview, Hurdman and Blair is off the existing Transitway and 

can be done with minimal disruption to bus service 

• Conversion of the Transitway will be done in logical segments to maintain bus 

service on the Transitway for as long as possible 

• Once construction starts in an area, bus service will be rerouted 

• After construction is complete there will be a 6-8 month period for station fit-out, 

testing and commissioning before revenue service starts 

Étapes de la construction 

• Le projet sera échelonné pour : 

Minimiser les coûts de construction 

Minimiser la perturbation de la circulation routière et du service autobus 

Maximiser les liquidités 

• Maximiser l'efficacité des entrepreneurs 

• Les entrepreneurs retenus détermineront l'échelonnement, mais ils doivent 

respecter les principes suivants : 

• Les travaux pour le tunnel et les stations souterraines devraient commencer 

en premier, car ils dureront plus longtemps 

• L'installation d'entretien et de remise devra être terminée à mi-parcours du 

projet de construction pour permettre la livraison des véhicules et leur mise à 

l'essai 

• Les travaux majeurs aux stations Bayview, Hurdman et Blair seront effectués 

hors du Transitway existant et entraîneront des perturbations minimes du 

service autobus 

• La conversion du Transitway se fera en étapes logiques afin de maintenir le 

plus longtemps possible le service autobus 

• Lorsque les travaux de construction commencent dans un secteur, le service 

autobus sera réorienté 

• Une fois la construction terminée, on prévoit une période de six à huit mois pour 

l'aménagement, la mise à l'essai et la mise en service des stations avant le début 

du service payant 



Minimize construction cost 

Minimize traffic and bus service disruption 

Optimize cash flow 

• Maximize contractor efficiency 

• Staging will be determined by the successful contractors, but will follow these 

principles: 

• The tunnel and underground stations will likely start first, as these elements 

will take the longest to construct 

• The Maintenance and Storage Facility must be completed midway through the 

construction of the project to allow for delivery of vehicles and vehicle testing 

• Major work at Bayview, Hurdman and Blair is off the existing Transitway and 

can be done with minimal disruption to bus service 

• Conversion of the Transitway will be done in logical segments to maintain bus 

service on the Transitway for as long as possible 

• Once construction starts in an area, bus service will be rerouted 

• After construction is complete there will be a 6-8 month period for station fit-out, 

testing and commissioning before revenue service starts 

Étapes de la construction 

• Le projet sera échelonné pour : 

Minimiser les coûts de construction 

Minimiser la perturbation de la circulation routière et du service autobus 

Maximiser les liquidités 

• Maximiser l'efficacité des entrepreneurs 

• Les entrepreneurs retenus détermineront l'échelonnement, mais ils doivent 

respecter les principes suivants : 

• Les travaux pour le tunnel et les stations souterraines devraient commencer 

en premier, car ils dureront plus longtemps 

• L'installation d'entretien et de remise devra être terminée à mi-parcours du 

projet de construction pour permettre la livraison des véhicules et leur mise à 

l'essai 

• Les travaux majeurs aux stations Bayview, Hurdman et Blair seront effectués 

hors du Transitway existant et entraîneront des perturbations minimes du 

service autobus 

• La conversion du Transitway se fera en étapes logiques afin de maintenir le 

plus longtemps possible le service autobus 

• Lorsque les travaux de construction commencent dans un secteur, le service 

autobus sera réorienté 

• Une fois la construction terminée, on prévoit une période de six à huit mois pour 

l'aménagement, la mise à l'essai et la mise en service des stations avant le début 

du service payant 






Rail Operations 

• Track, power and systems installation at the Maintenance and Storage Facility will 

be completed before the vehicles arrive 

• Testing in the yard and sections of the line close to the Maintenance and Storage 

Facility will begin as soon as possible 

• Each section of track that is completed will require a testing and commissioning 

period 

• Crossovers will be provided at the terminus stations and at key points along the 

line to allow trains to reverse direction 

• Pocket tracks will be provided at Hurdman and Blair Stations 

• 2 storage tracks will be provided at Tunney's Pasture to accommodate out of 

service or disabled trains 

• The connection to the Maintenance and Storage facility will allow trains to 

enter/leave the line from both directions 

Service de train 

• L'installation des rails, de l'alimentation en énergie et des systèmes dans 

l'installation d'entretien et de remisage sera terminée avant l'arrivée des véhicules 

• La mise à l'essai dans la cour de triage et des tronçons de la ligne à proximité de 

l'installation d'entretien et de remisage commencera le plus tôt possible 

• Il faut prévoir une période d'essai et de mise en service pour chaque tronçon de 

rail terminé 

• Des passages pour piétons seront aménagés aux terminus et à des points clés le 

long de la ligne pour que les trains puissent être réorientés 

• Des voies de service seront aménagées aux stations Hurdman et Blair 

• Deux voies de remisage seront aménagées au parc Tunney pour accueillir les 

trains hors service ou défectueux 

• Le raccordement à l'installation d'entretien et de remisage permettra aux trains de 

s'engager sur la ligne et d'en sortir dans les deux sens 


Project Costs 

• Project cost is broken down by project element and includes engineering, 

management and contingency 

• Each of the underground stations will cost approximately $90 million 

• Costs for modifications to the existing Transitway stations average $40 

million each: 

Approximately $15 million for simple station conversion 

• Approximately $55 million for a complex station 

• The Maintenance and Storage Facility will cost approximately $565 million 

including rail vehicles, start-up costs and the control and supervision 

systems for the line (except for local equipment such as cameras and ticket 

vending machines, which are included in station costs) 

• Property costs are estimated based on historical and current market 

valuations and are subject to negotiation 

• All costs are in 2009 dollars and are not escalated to reflect the construction 

schedule 

Property, Public art, Insurance: $160 million / 

Propriété, art civique, assurance : 160$ millions 

Maintenance Facility and 

Vehicles: $515 million / 

Installation d’entretien 

et véhicules : 515$ millions 

Project Directors Contingency: $100 million / 

Imprévus reliés à la direction du project : 100 $ millions 

Project Office: $50 million / 

Bureau du project : 50$ millions 

Coûts du projet 

• Les coûts du projet sont ventilés selon les éléments et comprennent la conception 

technique, la gestion et les contingences 

• Chaque station souterraine coûtera environ 90 millions de dollars 

• Les modifications des stations existantes du Transitway coûteront environ 

40 millions de dollars chacune 

Environ 15$ millions de dollars pour une station simple 

• Environ 55$ millions de dollars pour une station complexe 

• L'installation d'entretien et de remisage coûtera environ 565 millions de dollars, 

comprenant les trains ainsi que les systèmes de régulation et de supervision de la 

ligne (à l'exception du matériel local, p. ex., les caméras et les distributrices 

automatiques de billets, qui est compris dans les coûts des stations) 

• Les coûts fonciers ont été estimés en se fondant sur les évaluations historiques et 

actuelles feront l'objet de négociation 

• Tous les coûts sont en dollars courants et ne sont pas actualisés en fonction de la 

durée des travaux de construction 

Transit Tunnel and Underground 

Stations: $735 million / 

Tunnel de transport en commun et 

stations souterraines : 735$ millions 

Transit Technology Choice Overview 

The selection of the appropriate rail transit technology for the City of Ottawa is a 

major component of the 2008 Transportation Master Plan process. The vehicle, or 

vehicles, will have a major impact on the look and feel of the system, the design of 

the stations and track, and the capacity and operations of the system. 

A study has been undertaken to finalize the work which began with the Technology 

Forum Workshop held in June 2009. Based on input received at the Technology 

Forum, additional work has been undertaken to develop a clearer set of technology 

parameters and provide information on how the proposed rapid transit network, 

projected ridership levels and the technology characteristics of different rail modes 

interact. 


Train léger sur rail 

Metro 

Métro 

Light Metro 

Métro léger 

Choix de la technologie pour le transport en 

commun - Aperçu 

La sélection de la technologie de transport en commun sur rail la mieux adaptée 

pour la Ville d'Ottawa est un élément important du processus lié au Plan directeur 

des transports de 2008. Le ou les véhicules choisis auront une grande incidence 

sur l'image et l'atmosphère du réseau, la conception des stations et des rails, ainsi 

que la capacité et le fonctionnement du réseau. 

Une étude a été entreprise afin de peaufiner les travaux qui ont été commencés au 

Forum sur la technologie tenu en juin 2009. À la suite des commentaires reçus au 

Forum, la Ville a réalisé des travaux supplémentaires pour élaborer un ensemble 

plus clair de paramètres technologiques et fournir des données sur l'incidence des 

caractéristiques technologiques des différents modes de transport sur rail sur le 

réseau de transport en commun rapide proposé et les taux d'achalandage prévus. 

Automated Guideway Transit 

Navette automatisée 

Heavy Rail 

Train lourd 

Monorail 

Transitway to LRT Conversion Tunney’s 

to Blair: $540 million / 

Conversion Transitway-TLR de Tunney 

à Blair : 540 $ millions 

Total Cost: $2.1 Billion / Coût total : 2.1 $ milliards 






Selection Process 

TMP 

Modelling 

data 

Manufacturers comments 

Operator comments 

Citizens comments 

Collation of data 

Selection committees 

Technology 

choice report 

The City held a Technology Forum on 19-20 June 2009 to initiate the Transit 

Technology Choice process. As a part of this exercise: 

• Background papers were prepared on issues affecting technology selection, 

including: 

Climate Considerations 

Regulatory Framework 

Degree of Corridor Segregation 

Power Collection Systems 

Signalling Systems 

Automatic versus Driver-operated Vehicles 

Single versus Multiple Vehicle-type Fleets 

• High Floor versus Low Floor Vehicles 

• City staff, system operators and manufacturers gave presentations and participated 

in discussions to exchange information and ideas with each other, key stakeholders 

and the public 

• Feedback was obtained from the public through roundtable discussions 

• Following the Technology Forum, additional work was undertaken to evaluate 

technology choices available against the requirements of the City's future rapid 

transit network and the comments received during the Forum 

• The key findings indicate that the selected rail transit technology must: 

Accommodate the predicted passenger volumes 

• Fit into Ottawa's urban environment 

Minimize capital costs 

• Minimize the lifetime operating and maintenance costs: To ensure lower 

fares and encourage ridership 

• Be able to respond to future land use changes within the City and the 

demand for travel 

• Take advantage of the most current technologies 

• Be proven in service 

• Be suitable for the climate in Ottawa: Ensuring that the vehicle can withstand the 

extremes of temperature, humidity and precipitation 

Processus de sélection 

PDT 

Modélisation 

des données 

Commentaires des 

manufacturiers, 

opérateurs et citoyens 

Comités de sélection 

Rapport sur le choix 

de la technologie 

La Ville a tenu un Forum sur la technologie les 19 et 20 juin 2009 en vue d'amorcer le 

processus de sélection de la technologie pour le transport en commun. Dans le cadre de 

cet exercice : 

• Des documents de référence ont été rédigés sur des questions touchant la sélection de 

la technologie, y compris : 

• les facteurs liés au climat 

• le cadre réglementaire 

• le degré de séparation des couloirs 

• les systèmes de captation d'énergie 

• les systèmes de signalisation 

• les véhicules automatisés par rapport à ceux avec chauffeur 

• un parc de véhicules d'un seul ou de plusieurs types 

• les véhicules à plancher surbaissé ou élevé 

• Le personnel de la Ville, des exploitants de réseaux et des fabricants ont donné des 

présentations et ont échangé des renseignements et des idées entre eux et avec les 

autres principaux intervenants et le public 

• Les commentaires du public ont été recueillis au moyen de tables rondes 

• À la suite du Forum sur la technologie, des travaux supplémentaires ont été réalisés 

pour évaluer les choix technologiques possibles en fonction des exigences du futur 

réseau de transport en commun rapide de la Ville et des commentaires reçus au Forum. 

• Les principales conclusions indiquent que la technologie de transport sur rail 

choisie doit : 

• permettre de transporter le nombre de passagers prévu 

• s'intégrer à l'environnement urbain d'Ottawa 

• réduire au minimum les dépenses en immobilisations 

• réduire au minimum les coûts de fonctionnement et d'entretien sur l'ensemble du cycle 

de vie pour que les tarifs restent bas et pour stimuler l'achalandage 

• pouvoir s'adapter aux futurs changements d'aménagement du territoire dans la ville et 

à la demande en transport 

• tirer avantage des plus récentes technologies; 

• faire ses preuves une fois mise en service 

• être adaptée au climat d'Ottawa pour que le véhicule puisse résister aux températures 

extrêmes, à l'humidité et aux précipitations 

Recommended Technology 

The choice of technology should be focussed on: 

• Maximizing the potential of fully segregated transit corridors on the core network 

while providing the flexibility to operate on partially-segregated transit corridors 

elsewhere 

• Providing the capacity to efficiently meet ridership demand on all transit 

corridors 

Minimizing or allowing flexibility in construction costs 

Minimizing visual, aesthetic and environmental impacts 

• Eliminating fragmentation of the rail rapid transit network by reducing the need 

for multiple transfers between different technologies 

• Allowing potential bulk purchase of vehicles in collaboration with other system 

operators 

• Maximizing the number of potential suppliers to stimulate competitive bids 

Based on the work undertaken, the recommended technology is Light Rail Transit 

(LRT), with the following operating characteristics: 

• Fully or semi-automated operations along fully segregated transit corridors on 

the core network 

• Driver operation on partially-segregated transit corridors on other parts of the 

network 

A staff report recommending a preferred rail transit technology was tabled to the 

City's Transit Committee on 21 October 2009 and will be considered further at the 

next meeting of this Committee on 18 November 2009 

Technologie recommandée 

La technologie choisie doit viser l'atteinte des objectifs suivants : 

• maximiser le potentiel des couloirs de transport en commun totalement séparés 

au sein du réseau central tout en offrant la souplesse nécessaire pour exploiter 

des couloirs de transport en commun partiellement séparés ailleurs 

• procurer la capacité de répondre efficacement à la demande des usagers dans 

tous les corridors de transport en commun 

• réduire au minimum les coûts de construction ou permettre une certaine 

souplesse à cet égard 

• réduire au minimum les incidences sur les plans visuel, esthétique et 

environnemental 

• éliminer la fragmentation du réseau de transport en commun rapide sur rail en 

réduisant la nécessité d'effectuer des transferts multiples entre les différentes 

technologies 

• permettre l'achat en gros de véhicules en collaboration avec d'autres exploitants 

de réseaux 

• maximiser le nombre de fournisseurs éventuels afin d'encourager la présentation 

de soumissions concurrentielles 

À la suite des travaux réalisés, la technologie recommandée est le train léger sur 

rail (TLR), qui possède les caractéristiques suivantes : 

• fonctionnement entièrement ou partiellement automatisé le long de corridors de 

transport en commun totalement séparés au sein du réseau central 

• véhicules conduits par des chauffeurs le long de corridors de transport en 

commun partiellement séparés sur d'autres sections du réseau 

Un rapport du personnel contenant une recommandation sur la technologie de 

transport en commun sur rail privilégiée a été déposé le 21 octobre 2009 auprès 

du Comité du transport en commun de la Ville et sera étudié plus en profondeur 

à la prochaine réunion du Comité prévue le 18 novembre 2009 

60 

Average Travel Speed (MPH) / 

Vitesse moyenne de déplacement (MPH) 

50 

40 

30 

20 

10 

Bus on HOV lane / 

Autobus sur voie VMO 

Busway / Autobus sur 

voies dédiées 

LRT(exclusive ROW) / 

TLR (voie dédiée) 

Commuter Rail / Train de banlieue 

Shuttle / navette 

Light Rail (on street) / Train léger (sur rue) 

Heavy Rail / Train lourd 

Light Metro / Métro léger 

Subway/Metro / Métro 

CBD Bus Lane / Voie pour autobus allant au QAC 

0 

Bus in Mixed Traffic / Autobus en circulation mixte 

0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 60,000 

Person Capacity (Peak Direction Passengers/Hour) / Personnes-rendement (direction heure de pointe / heure) 



Next Steps 

Following this Public Open House: 

• Your comments on the information presented will be reviewed along with 

input received from the Consultation Groups 

• The design team will review all of the comments and prepare a 

submission to a Transit Committee meeting to be held on 16 December 

2009, which will include the Recommended Functional Design Report 

• The Recommended Functional Design Report will be presented to Ottawa 

City Council on 23 January 2010 for final approval 

• The Consultation Groups will continue to provide review and feedback on 

the functional design 

• Information about the project will continue to be posted on the City's 

website as it becomes available 

• The Environmental Assessment stage of the project will be launched in 

January, 2010 

• Additional opportunities for public input, including another Public Open 

House, will be part of the Environmental Assessment for the project 

Prochaine étapes 

À la suite de cette séance portes ouvertes : 

• Vos commentaires seront considérés, au même titre que l'apport des 

groupes de consultation 

• L'équipe de conception prendra connaissance de tous les commentaires, 

puis présentera au Comité du transport en commun, dans le cadre de sa 

réunion du 16 décembre 2009, un mémoire comprenant le rapport sur la 

conception fonctionnelle recommandée 

• Le rapport sur la conception fonctionnelle recommandée sera présenté au 

Conseil municipal d'Ottawa le 23 janvier 2010 pour approbation finale 

• Les groupes de consultation continueront de donner leur avis et de fournir 

des suggestions au sujet de la conception fonctionnelle 

• Les renseignements au sujet du projet continueront d'être affichés sur le 

site Web de la Ville à mesure qu'ils seront disponibles 

• La phase d'évaluation environnementale du projet sera entamée en 

janvier 2010 

• D'autres occasions de participation du public, dont une nouvelle séance 

portes ouvertes, sont prévues dans le cadre de la phase d'évaluation 

environnementale du projet 


Downtown Ottawa Transit Tunnel: 

Tunney’s Pasture to Blair Station 

via a Downtown LRT Tunnel 

Planning and 

Functional Design Study 

Presentation 

Public Open House #3 

26 October 2009 

Presentation Agenda 

• Introductions 

• DOTT project update 

• Review of the Functional Design 

• Implementation 

• Technology selection 

• Cost estimate 

• Schedule update/process moving forward 

• Questions 

Overview of Recommended Plan 

Tunney’s Pasture 

Station Overview 

• Western terminus of the project 

• Need to temporarily accommodate large numbers of 

transfers until Light Rail Transit is extended to Baseline 

Station (subject to a future Planning and Environmental 

Assessment) 

• Land used for temporary bus facilities can be repurposed 

for future Federal development once LRT is 

extended d west 

• Potential integration with future Tunney's Pasture 

redevelopment

Bayview 


• Transfer station with existing O-Train/Future North-South 


• Protects for a future Interprovincial transit service via Prince 

of Wales Bridge 

• Adjacent to Bayview and Somerset Area redevelopment 

lands 

• Important bicycle and pedestrian flow routes must be 

accommodated

LeBreton 


• Transfer station for OC Transpo buses to Gatineau 

• Located within NCC LeBreton Flats development lands 

• Supports City Escarpment Area development lands 

• Station to be partially below grade to accommodate 

tunnel portal located east of Booth Street and new Booth 

Street bridge 

• Provides for integration with future development at 

station

Downtown West 


• Located under Albert Street, east of Bay Street 

• Allows integration with future Central Public Library 

building 

• Serves existing development in west end of downtown

Downtown East 


• Located north of Albert Street, between Bank Street and 

O’Connor Street 

• Connects with local bus services on Bank Street 

• Serves existing development in central and east parts of 

downtown

Rideau 


• Located south of Wellington Street, t between 

Confederation Square and Sussex Drive 

• Provides connections to both west and east sides of 

Rideau Canal 

• Potential integration with the Government Conference 

Centre 

• Potential integration with National Capital Commission 

commemorative design initiative for the Rideau/Sussex 

intersection 

• Provides for connections to local and regional (STO) 

buses

Campus 

• Station Overview 

• Located approximately where the existing Campus 

Station sits today 

• Provides connections to the University of Ottawa, Sandy 

Hill and Golden Triangle (via the Corktown Footbridge) 

• Station west of Nicholas Street for constructability

Lees 


• Will remain in its current location and general 

configuration 

• Potential integration with redevelopment of University 

lands south of station 

• Important pedestrian link between Lees Avenue and the 

University of Ottawa to be maintained 

• Upgrades to existing station facilities will be incorporated 

as part of conversion to Light Rail Transit 

Hurdman 


• Major transfer station between Light Rail Transit and the 

Southeast Transitway 

• Provides for integration with potential development lands 

located to north of station 

• Important pedestrian and cycling linkages around station 

• Important pedestrian and cycling linkages around station 

area to be maintained

Train 


• Provides connections to VIA intercity passenger rail 

service and to potential commuter rail service 

• Provides access to adjacent employment lands to east 

• Potential integration with planned Queensway pedestrian 

overpass (Baseball Stadium, Overbrook area)

St. Laurent 



configuration 

• Serves major retail development 

• Provides transfers to local bus services 


as part of conversion to Light Rail Transit

Cyrville 



configuration 

• Potential integration with development lands north of the 

station 



as part of conversion to Light Rail Transit

Blair 


• Eastern terminus of project 

• Need to accommodate large volume of transfers from 

East Transitway, future Cumberland Transitway 

extension and local bus services 

• Serves major retail development

Maintenance and Storage Facility 

• Evaluation of 10 candidate sites was presented the 

second DOTT Public Open House. Three sites were 

short-listed for additional evaluation: 

– Bayview 

– Hurdman North 

– St. Laurent 

• Additional evaluation was undertaken and the St. 

Laurent site is now recommended 

• Work to complete the functional layout underway 

• Functional design elements will be presented as part of a 

Public Open House on the Environmental Assessment of 

the project in January 2010

Construction of the Tunnel 

• The twin tunnels will be constructed using a Tunnel 

Boring Machine (TBM) 

• The depth of the tunnel (approximately 30-35 m below 

grade) has been planned to avoid impacts to building 

foundations, utilities and the Rideau Canal 

• Downtown stations will be mined out from within the 

tunnels 

• The bulk of the visible activity will be at the TBM launch 

site, which h will be at the west end of the LeBreton Flats 

Construction of the Tunnel 

• Cut and cover construction will be limited to the areas 

around the west and east tunnel portals 

• Campus Station will be constructed using the traditional 

open excavation method 

• There will be some visible work at each station to 

construct the entrances and vent shafts (which could be 

open excavation or cut and cover depending on the local 

conditions) 

• Refinement of construction ti methods and phasing of the 

works will be made during subsequent stages of design 

Transitway Conversion 

• Conversion of Transitway Stations 

– Platforms will be widened with the tracks being placed in centre 

by-pass lanes 

– Existing canopies and shelters will be removed 

– Elevators will be upgraded 

– New canopies will be installed over the platforms and track for 

the full length of the station (except at a few low-use stations) 

– Stations at Bayview, LeBreton, Hurdman, Train and Blair require 

extensive modifications to accommodate conversion and must 

be largely rebuilt

Transitway Conversion 

• Conversion of the Transitway 

– In open areas, ballast and track will be installed on top of the 

existing roadway 

– Track through the stations will be directly fixed to a concrete 

slab for ease of maintenance 

– Minor changes to drainage will be required 

– Some structures will require modifications to increase vertical 

clearances 

• Once a section is converted it is unlikely that buses (or 

other vehicles) will operate along that section 


• Staging g will be determined by the successful contractors, 

but will follow these principles: 

– The tunnel and underground stations will likely start first, as 

these elements take the longest to construct 

– The Maintenance and Storage Facility must be completed 

midway through the construction of the project to allow for 

vehicle delivery and testing 

– Major work at Bayview, Hurdman and Blair is off the existing 

Transitway and can be done with minimal disruption to bus 

service 

– Conversion of the Transitway will be done in logical segments to 

maintain bus service on the Transitway for as long as possible 



– Minimize construction cost, 

– Minimize traffic and bus service disruption, 

– Optimize cash flow, and 

– Maximize contractor efficiency 

• Once construction starts in an area, bus service will be 

rerouted 

• After construction is complete there will be a 6-8 month 

period for station fit-out, testing and commissioning 

before revenue service starts 


• Track, ,power and systems installation at the 

Maintenance and Storage Facility will be completed 

before the vehicles arrive 

• Testing in the yard and sections of the line close to the 

Maintenance and Storage Facility will begin as soon as 

possible 

• Each section of track that is completed will require a 

testing and commissioning period 

• Crossovers will be provided d at the terminus stations ti and 

at key points along the line to allow trains to reverse 

direction


• Pocket tracks will be provided at Hurdman and Blair 

Stations 

• 2 storage tracks will be provided at Tunney's Pasture to 

accommodate out of service or disabled d trains 

• The connection to the Maintenance and Storage facility 

will allow trains to enter/leave the line from both 

directions 

Bus Operations 

• Various segments of the Transitway will be out of service 

as construction proceeds, during which alternative 

arrangements will be needed, including: 

– Use of the shoulder or outside lane of the Queensway 

– Dedication of traffic lanes to transit 

– Implementation of traffic signal priority along key routes 

– Minor reconfiguration of intersections and interchanges to give 

buses priority 

Bus Operations 

Bus Operations – West 

• Several alternate routes will be required, likely including: 

– Innes, Industrial, Ogilvie, Coventry, Tremblay, Riverside and the 

Queensway in the east 

– The Queensway, Carling, Scott/Albert and the Ottawa River 

Parkway in the west 

– Bus routes may be segregated into local and express services 

and assigned to different routes to minimize local impacts 

• Temporary station facilities may be required 

• After construction is complete, changes to existing BRT 

and local bus routes will be made to provide connections 

with the new LRT line

Bus Operations – East 

Technology Selection 

• Major component of the 2008 Transportation Master 

Plan process 

• The vehicle, or vehicles, will have a major impact on the 

look and feel of the system, station ti and track design, 

and capacity and operations of the system 

• Technology Forum Workshop held in June 2009 

• Based on input received at the Technology Forum, 

additional work has been undertaken to develop a 

clearer set of technology parameters and provide 

information on how the proposed rapid transit network, 

projected ridership levels and the technology 

characteristics of different rail modes interact 


• The City held a Technology Forum on 19-20 June 2009 

to initiate the Transit Technology Choice process 

• Background papers were prepared on issues affecting 

technology selection 

• City staff, system operators and manufacturers gave 

presentations and participated in discussions to 

exchange information and ideas with each other, key 

stakeholders and the public 

• Feedback was obtained from the public through 

h 

roundtable discussions 


• Following the Technology Forum, additional work was 

undertaken to evaluate technology choices available 

• The key findings indicate that the technology must: 

– Accommodate the predicted d passenger volumes 

– Fit into Ottawa’s urban environment 

– Minimize capital costs 

– Minimize the lifetime operating and maintenance costs 

– Be able to respond to future land use changes within the City 

and the demand for travel 

– Take advantage of the most current technologies 

– Be proven in service 

– Be suitable for the climate in Ottawa


• The choice of technology should be focussed on: 

– Maximizing the potential of fully segregated transit corridors on 

the core network while providing the flexibility to operate on 

partially-segregated a egated transit t corridors elsewhere 

e e 

– Providing the capacity to efficiently meet ridership demand 

– Minimizing or allowing flexibility in construction costs 

– Minimizing visual, aesthetic and environmental impacts 

– Eliminating fragmentation of the rail rapid transit network by 

reducing the need for multiple transfers between different 

technologies 

– Allowing potential bulk purchase of vehicles in collaboration with 

other system operators 

– Maximizing i i potential ti suppliers to stimulate t competitive bids 


• Based on the work undertaken the recommended 

technology is Light Rail Transit (LRT), with the following 

operating characteristics: 

– Fully or semi-automated operations along fully segregated 

transit corridors on the core network 

– Driver operation on partially-segregated transit corridors on 

other parts of the network 

• A report recommending a preferred rail transit 

technology was tabled to the City's Transit Committee on 

21 October 2009 and will be considered further at the 

next meeting of this Committee on 18 November 2009 

Cost Estimate 

Cost Estimate 

• Project cost is broken down by project element and 

includes engineering, management and contingency 

– Underground stations will cost approximately $90 million 

– Modifications to existing stations average $40 million: 

• Approximately $15 million for a simple station 

• Approximately $55 million for a complex station 

– M & S Facility will cost approximately $565 million including rail 

vehicles, start-up costs and the control and supervision systems 

for the line 

– Property costs are estimated based on historical and current 

market valuations and are subject to negotiation 

– All costs are in 2009 dollars and are not escalated to reflect the 

construction schedule

Next Steps 

• Report to Transit Committee on 16 December 2009 

• Report to City Council on 23 January 2010 

• The Consultation Groups will continue to provide review 

and feedback on the functional design 

• Information about the project will continue to be posted 

on the City's website 

• The Environmental Assessment stage of the project will 

be launched in January, 2010 

• Additional opportunities for public input, including 

another Public Open House, will be part of the 

Environmental Assessment for the project 

Thank You 

Please fill out a comment-questionnaire 

Comments by 2 November 2009 

(more info at www.ottawa.ca/tunnel)

Downtown Ottawa Transit Tunnel 

Tunney’s Pasture to Blair Station via a Downtown LRT Tunnel 

Planning and Environmental Assessment Study 

Comment and Questionnaire Summary for Open House #3 

October 27, 2009 

Question 1: Where do you live in the City? 

Question 2: Why are you interested in this study? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Huge expense, lousy service currently 

Travel daily to Bayview transit station for work 

I want to see where my money is spent 

It will cost us in new City, Provincial and Federal taxes 

Because I don’t think it is a “study”. It is a fait accompli that will end up paying 

way too much for when other alternatives could serve as well without so much 

expenses 

Long time interest in good transit supporting a vibrant, sustainable city 

The high cost and effect it will have on my taxes 

Looking forward to having rapid transit (LRT) come to the City 

This project is a very important step in the maturation of Ottawa as a city and as a 

liveable place 

Impact important pour la qualité de la pie au centre-ville 

Too much money 

I lived in Munich for 15 years and go back for two months each year. Because I live 

in Ottawa now, I end up comparing the two systems. At present, Ottawa is 

nowhere close 

I have a long interest in commuter rail. Circa 1990 I worked to create what 

eventually became the O’Train 

It will impact how I get around town 

Taxpayer 

Bus route changes 

Regular transit users, fan of London Tube 

I want to live in city that is modern and uses its available resources properly 

As a taxpayer and user of the transit system we should be interested in the project 

Par curiosité. Et aussi pour m’informer sur mon trajet à prendre en 2020! 

Concerned about public transit 

I use public transit now occasionally, would like to use it more 

It’s a key step in implementing LRT through downtown which I think is essential 

for Ottawa’s development 

I am a public transit user, and I feel that this is a worthwhile project that must be 

created with convenience and functionality as its primary concerns 

J’écris un mémoire de maîtrise sur la croissance intelligente, la planification 

métropolitaine, le développement des transport collectifs et actifs ainsi que la 

réduction de la dépendance automobile dans les régions métropolitaines d’Ottawa- 

Gatineau et de Stockholm, en Suéde 

Interested as a taxpayer and user of transit, both in Ottawa and many other cities 

I’m a long term resident of the city and as a taxpayer, I wish to understand the 

process associated with improving public transit in a City that is a national seat of 

government 

Critical to strategic development of the NCR, and for an efficient federal 

government operation 

I take public transportation daily. No longer own a car. I am a retiree with a bus 

pass 

I use public transit, I am interested in how Ottawa will grow, and I pay municipal 

taxes and this is a very big investment 

I wanted to see everything for myself

La somme de 15 millions par chaque station constitue un prix exorbitant, au dela de 

ce que la ville (surtout lest contribuables) peut s’engager a payer. Le TLR est un 

autout! Le « Tunnel » est une corvée financière. Le TLR bien pense peut devesur un 

réseau de transport, en commun sillounant les arteres principaux – un autout valable 

facile à utiliser et surtour financierement. Pourqoi cette question? Prenez-vous pou 

acquis que ce « Tunnel » va voir jour? 

Pourquoi pas? Drôle questions. Je paye des taxes 

Le “set up” des panneaux pour l’information demande que l on passe d’un passeau a 

l’autre-que l’on regarde, que l’on lise les écriteaux – parfais à travers d’autres 

contribuables. A la fin du processus l’on ne se souront pas des photos est écriteaux 

pour des station spécifiques. J’espère que vous m’anez pas payé – pour l’élaboration 

du Questionnaires/Commentaires. Je ne vois pas comments les commotaires vout 

vraisont vous aider et même si vous avez l’intention de mettres des suggestions en 

practique. C’et comme si c’était un fait accompli. Le tunnel avec le prix excessif 

n’est pas un fait accompli. Certainement – ou – mais prenez soins que ce soit 

approprié pas --- de proportion 

Do you have any comments or concerns on the preliminary station design for: 

Station 

Tunney’s Pasture 

Comments 

Extend route 61 Kanata to Bayview or beyond 

The whole concept is stupid and should be killed 

Escalators will substantially increase transit times and have 

reliability and accessibility problems, no information is 

provided on lines with local STO bus service 

L’architecture propose pour toutes ces stations est avoir très 

schématique. Il pervait important a mon avis que l’architecture 

comprenne et intègre des éléments du caractère spécifique 

d’Ottawa afin de faveuse la fierté cisèle et distinguer la system 

du transport d’Ottawa de celui des autres grandes villes de 

l’Amérique du nord. Un exemple d’une intégration au 

character spécifique d’une ville a son architecture des 

transportation et la ville de Moscow 

Why not extend LRT line to Westboro? More room, less 

grumbling from West commuters. Station design okay and can 

be used instead for a Westboro location 

Some problems with design as I’m not sure how the western 

extension will be built. This extension should be built as 

quickly as possible 

All stations must be made for large volumes of people plan for 

Station 

Bayview 

Comments 

the future 

Fine, okay 

It seems okay, but there is little to no use of the existing BRT. 

There does not seem to be any use of “existing infrastructure”. 

It is all new! 

Super, j’adore l’idée des toitures…esthétique étoile! Mais 

d’avoir juste un ascenseur au tunnel? 

Public consultation group should include Statistics Canada 

This terminal should have the possibility of extending to 

Bayshore as well to allow for better accessibility to west end 

residents 

*À toutes les station mais surtout à centre-ville est et ouest, les 

principes du transit-oriented development (*TOD) doivent 

être rigoureusement appliqués pour entraîner une densification 

des activités dans les quartiers centraux et périphériques 

Trains crossing out of the station heading east will need to wait 

for westbound trains to cross-over, this may create 

gridlock...we should try to minimize the use of escalators at all 

stations, especially long ones, they break down frequently (e.g. 

St. Laurent) 

Keep existing O-Train until numbers warrant. Improve Scott 

Street bicycle off-road route separate from sidewalk 

Mobility impaired people will have a horrible time 




Good design provided the bay view area becomes more than 

just a transit hub. A reason to be there would be useful for 

commuters, coming in potentially for directions 

Plans, seriously, should include trains to Gatineau 

Gatineau connection? Looks sensible 

Again, all new design and construction. What is this mention 

of “Transit” to cross the Ottawa River at this point. The POW 

Bridge is a rail bridge, it can only be rail transportation at this 

location otherwise you/we are not using available resources 

properly 

Ne serait il pas mieux, de continue une chargeur du genre 

qu’on voit a Montreal? Surtout si vous considérez aloyer le o-

Station 

LeBreton 

Downtown West 

Comments 

train jusqu’à Gatineau 

La connectivité avec l’O-Train et un éventuel lien ferroviaire 

interprovincial doit s’y faire facilement, rapidement et à des 

fréquences très élevées à favoriser aux dépends des autres 

modes de déplacement 

Complex architecture holds an uncertain potential. How 

quickly can O-Train passengers transfer to east-west LRT 

under this configuration? How easily will we integrate 

passengers coming from Gatineau? 

They will have to travel too far on foot to get to the LRT 

Trains 




There is a real opportunity here to improve traffic situation 

around Chaudiere Bridge/ORP 

Why would future Lower LRT platforms be only 90m long if 

upper LRT is 180m long? Why would line from south not 

have option of heading west 

Good 

All the stations seem to be well designed but can the City 

afford them? 

Again, total rebuild. No cost savings of adding existing 

infrastructure 

J’adore le pont, impressments 

Transit-oriented development (*TOD) 

I like the concept here: bridge on Booth over the LRT. Very 

necessary in the right location 

Provide access from both sides of street 




Wow, that’s deep. Understandable considering 

geological/foundation obstacles. Station amenities, court, 

washrooms, convenience stores are essential. As are 

connections to existing buildings/new library 

This is good, no problem here 

On pouvais pas le renommer? Bibliotechque central par 

Station 

Downtown East 

Comments 

example 

Once the buses are removed, my preferred option – not listed 

on the panels – is to replace the bus lanes with a wider 

sidewalk on one side, and a bicycle lane on one side or the 

other – do not provide extra space for automobiles 

Les principales du transit-oriented development doivent y être 

rigoureusement appliqués pour stimuler l’activité économique 

et socio culturelle aux abords des station afin de Transformer 

radicalement le centre-ville gouvernemental et financier déserté 

le soir venue en un quartier vivant qui attire les résidants et les 

visiteurs et leur permet de sy divertir, de s’y restaurer et de s’y 

rencontrer à toute heure du jour et de la nuit. Plus de gens 

doivent venir s’y installer, seuls ou avec leur famille, pour s’y 

intrestir et en faire un milieu dévie de grande qualité. 

The depth of this station and its particular location will mean 

that passengers will spend more time than I would like riding 

escalators and walking out down a block to work. Why are we 

going down so far? 

My concerns for the tunnel stations relates to the depth at 

which the stations will be situated. My main experience with 

public transit is in Paris where most of the stations are quite 

close to the surface. Similarly with Washington D.C. and my 

recent “sampling” of the Canadian Line in Vancouver, BC. 

What risk is there that potential riders will be put off by 

having to go down so far underground? Can this be mitigated? 


When power goes out, which it will, mobility impaired people 

will be stuck – they cannot walk up from 30 meters down 




Bank Street is a very important pedestrian destination and the 

west station entrance should reflect that. Multiple entrances 

and proper signage would be great 

Downtown stations are too deep to be workable. 100 feet 

down with one set of escalators. It appears that too much 

focus has been put on getting transit off the streets and too 

little eon needs of those in transit. Unless system is 

convenient, people will not use it

Station 

Rideau 

Campus 

Comments 

I don’t like the deep tunnel and the path it takes 

Même commentaire que centre-ville oust. World Exchange 

Plaza peut-être? 

Downtown stations are too deep 

I’m surprised at its location and various entrances that seem to 

go against regular north-south pedestrian traffic flow in that 

part of downtown Ottawa. Again, can w not make this station 

shallower? Why are we going so deep down? 

Why? This causes the tunnel to be much longer than would 

be required to follow roughly this current route 





Do everything you can to include a Chateau Laurier/Union 

Station entrance – connecting Ottawa’s premier hotel to the 

transit system would do us a lot to raise its profile 

NAC/which would give possible underground mall link into 

Albert Street 

Route goes too far north, it should go under Confederation 

Park. Tunnel could be straight and not as deep 

Pouvez vous garder l’intersection Wellington-Sussex comme 

tel? The Underpass et un belle endroit comme il est 

Possibly have moving sidewalks to help make this long station 

more accessible to those with mobility issues 

Le centre de conférences (Union Station) devrait redevenir la 

gare ferroviaire centrale. Des trains de banlieue et interurbain 

(vers Montreal et Toronto) devraient y converger pour que les 

utilisateurs de ces moyens de transport aient un accès direct au 

TTCCVO ainsi qu’à la colline parlementaire 

A good location and accessible from various points; I’m 

perplexed however, as to why the former Train Station, now 

the Conference Centre, was not chosen as the main entrance? 

Why underground? More expensive! 

Connect to Corkstown Bridge 

A surface system would make more sense 



Station 

Lees 

Comments 


Crossing the Somerset Bridge, there should be a straight 

through access to the station instead of having to walk to the 

existing underpass 

An entrance at the Corktown Bridge is absolutely essential in 

alleviating the issues caused by dropping the Laurier station 

which by the way is a horrible idea 

Implement the proposed connection between the north end of 

the station and Corkstown Bridge 

Can we do better with the old transitway lanes here? 

No problem here 

J’adore l’idée des skylights. En past, je voudrais uralment noir 

ça amer 

The entry/exit place on the west side of the canal, close to the 

pedestrian bridge, is listed as « potential ». I think it should be 

part of the original design, to facilitate access from and to 

Elgin Street. This would be much more convenient to more 

people than the currently planned exit/entry area to the north 

which like the other currently planned one, is on the east side 

of the canal. It would make more sense to have one on the west 

and one on the east 

Lieu de correspondance vers un réseau de minibus électriques 

gratuits sillonnant le campus de l’Université, la Côte-de-Sable 

et le Marché by 

The building of this station with projected open cut is going to 

create traffic chaos during construction phase, i.e., Colonel By. 

I like the open nature of the skylight to let in natural light. 

Should it be closer to pedway crossing canal? 

When traffic is light, e.g., at night your stations will be 

dangerous places to be 




No issues here 

Implement the proposed extension so that the former 

Algonquin Campus, now University of Ottawa campus and 

also the large apartment buildings are accessible from the 

station without closing Lees Avenue above ground. I’ve seen

Station 

Hurdman 

St. Laurent 

Comments 

too many dangerous things happen in the past 

This is a good station, i.e., it was what is already built 

Superb, sans commentaries 


It’s bloody cold here on any given winter day, and you want to 

simply cover it…hope there is a plan in the works for heating 

the place. Security is an ongoing problem here. I’ve never felt 

safe here at night 

Why not stop here – do the others later 




I guess you’ve given up on a potential SE LRT connection, oh 

well, bring all of the south Ottawa buses up here (i.e., 14x, 97- 

99) and I won’t complain 

LRT should be on lower floor as buses already at height on 

approach from south, same as Blair really 

No connector to SE Transitway for future rail on that section. 

All of the Transitway was designed to be converted to light 

rail, are you people ever aware of this fact? 

L’espace gain par le déplacement de le--, ce serait brer – faire 

in parc communautaire ou quelque choies ça pourrait être 

quelque chose de touristique 

Connectivité maximale avec les lignes de TRA conservées 

The architecture of this major hub makes sense. Hopefully the 

construction on a former garbage dump proceeds well 

Do it later – Phase II 

You need shops to attract people in order to keep stations safe 





It seems okay 

Décevant en terme de design...j’espère au moins que ce seras 

beine décore. Ingénieuse solution pour la structure 

What will happen to the local bus routes that are currently 

underground? Will you cover above level bus stops more 

adequately? 

Station 

Cyrville 

Blair 

Comments 

Connexion avec un éventuelle ligne de tramway le long du 

boulevard St-Laurent du centre commercial à l’intersection de 

Beechwood/Hemlock 

I have stood in this awful tunnel on many a cold day, not a 

pleasant experience, noisy with a strong draft. Now you plan to 

just continue to use it without much change. Is there any way 

to prevent the cold air from blowing in? 


Need four entry points to relieve mid-block crossing 





No problem with this location 

Est-ce warrant utile de garder cette station. On économie sera 

a juste l’en enlever! 


No comment, because I have never waited for a bus here 


Your plan also assumes people will accept switching from bus 

to train to get downtown 




Be sure the design allows for eventual extensions (same for 

Tunney’s for that matter) 

There should be more escalators than the drawings currently 

indicate as this will be a major transfer station for a number of 

years 

It seems okay 

Cool 

Have the possibility of extending east to both Place d’Orleans 

and Innes. Expanding around Innes would help with currently 

poor transit availability 


I’m wondering how the buses will exit after they drop off 

passengers. Logical to drop passengers off on the top portion.

Station 

Comments 

Good plan for maximum, efficient access to trains 

Are there any specific features (e.g., station art, safety and security, signage, 

stations with unique character) that you feel should be reflected in the design 

character of all and/or specific stations? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For God’s sake, put some automated ticket vending machines in every station! 

When stations exit on opposite side of road requires access on both sides of street to 

avoid mid-block crossings by pedestrians. 

Please show where the bus routes will be kept. The Train is interesting but until 

the entire Transport Routes and alternatives are shown, these public meetings are 

not very informative 

Links with local buses and businesses 

Do we really need the station doors as depicted on diagrams? These open in-line 

with the rain car doors. Most people stand back from the subway 

Tunnel station really needs a lot going for them in terms of art, stores and other 

amenities to distract people from the fact that it takes vie minutes to climb out of 

them. Give people something to look at while they’re waiting for a train (see Red 

Line stops in Cambridge, MA for a great example) 

Having different themes or artwork at each station would be nice 

Dans tous les ces! 

Scrap the whole thing, not worth the money. Employment nodes are being 

decentralized 

It looks as though there will be barriers to prevent people from falling (or being 

pushed) onto the path of incoming trains, great idea! 

I think that station art is nice, but could wait if costs go up significantly 

Signage should be clear for the visiting traveller as well as locals 

Knockouts in case buildings go underground as Montreal has 

Have to be easily identifiable. Montreal system shelters not so good 

Must make more effort to attract businesses to below ground areas 

A Montreal, chacune des stations ont été conçu, par un artiste différent. Je n’en 

demande pas tant ici, mais serait bien d’accorder un caractère unique a chaque 

stations…peintures communautaires peut-être? 

Station names should be prominent (unlike in the present transitway) 

There should be space and bicycle racks for bicycles at all stations. Would it be 

possible to attach bicycle racks to the sides of the train cars to allow bike users to 

bring their bikes along with them? 

 

 

 

 

 

Once rail systems are extended, existing bus stations should remain to allow better 

flexibility of transit systems ex, do not get rid of bus station at Tunney’s Pasture 

once line is extended 

Le design artistique et architectural des stations doit être à la fois assez similaire pour 

se révéler uniforme et cohérent ET assez différent pour que chaque station soit facile 

à identifier et à différencier des autres. Les métros de Montreal et de Stockholm 

sont de bons exemples d’atteinte d’un tel équilibre visuel et fonctionnel 

Questions to Mr. Gratton: My main concern – how can the people of Gatineau 

connect with the LRT? Answer: They should connect to an LRT LOOP from the 

Gatineau side, (not by transfers on the Ottawa side). So you have to design the 

Rideau station for an eventual exit to the North, and you have to design a Western 

Station for an LRT exist to the North 

Montreal Metro (in my view) is the gold standard in subway art. Hopefully we can 

pick up a few ideas from there. Please no more awful RED like the ugly OC Transpo 

transitway stations. Safety is a chronic problem at stations, and supervision is 

essential. I hope that we can find a way to heat stations during winter months 

Simplicity, easy to clean, consideration of off-peak hour users, security – especially 

women 

Question 3: Do you have any comments or concerns regarding the potential 

location of the Maintenance and Storage Facility? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No not really 

Seems like the right choice 

I would suggest that the area south of the VIA station (where VIA has pulled up 

tracks) would be a better location for maintenance 

Nil. It’s out of the way and the most appropriate location along the route 

Fine 

No 

No – location seems fine 

Non 

Cet aspect du projet n’est pas importante à mes yeux. Je vois faire confiance à ce 

chapitre 

Maintenance: How many millions will need to be spent to build a connection 

from either Station or St Laurent Station to the maintenance yard? There is also 

likelihood of an Innes Transitway corridor in the same area. Would the 

LRT/DOTT not be better to run SOUTH of the Station along Terminal Ave, 

serving the Train Yards development, cross Belfast by the maintenance facilities 

on Belfast and then swing over to St Laurent? That way a single line could be

developed, rather than three (3) parallel lies. Like Tunney's, Blair Station will 

cause huge bus and transfer delays 

My own views are that the Ottawa-Gatineau LOOP should include Tunney’s 

Pasture. It is dumb to runt eh Western LRT line up the River. Nobody lives or 

works there. So plan the Western LRT line down Carling (or at least south of the 

river) and connect it at the LeBreton knot. Plan to run the Western LRT up to 

Carling behind Preston (where the O-Train is now) and shut down half the auto 

traffic on Carling to accommodate a “few stop” Western LRT line. Thanks for 

your time 

Hopefully the facility will encourage proper maintenance and inspection of all 

vehicles. Not happening with the present day bus system. I know because I ride 

3 buses a day and wonder why they haven’t fixed the rattles. One central 

building seems logical for LRT 

Il s’agit de convener d’endroits, du l’espace est disponible, éloigne des quartiers 

résidentiels, parcs, etc. 

Choisisez un emplacement dont le prix est raisonable 

Question 4: Do you have any comments or concerns regarding Light Rail 

Transit as the recommended technology? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good choice 

Yes, if you must use LRT, keep it above ground and save money. Buses would be 

cheaper to buy and run 

Extension at the O-Train existing railway lines will provide substantial additional 

transit capacity much quickly, and at a – low cost to the proposed (electric?) LRT 

technologies 

When purchasing the rail cars, will a Canadian built car be considered to create 

more jobs for Canadians, i.e., Bombardier? 

Light metro would have been nice, but I suppose LRT makes more sense for 

expanding further out into the suburbs 

It looks very good – better than buses. I hope that the trains will have the necessary 

speed to make it more attractive to take LRT instead of a car 

No 

No, because the trains can be lengthened as needed. Automate the whole line, its 

being done the world over – be a G8 capital! 

No 

Regular rail would be better, but the City could never afford it! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Light rail on tunnel section and use of simpler light rail technology such as with the 

current O-Train. Use existing tracks and use POW Bridge to Light Rail. Can you 

see the obvious? 

Tant que le design des train est similaire a o-train d’aujourd’hui et de nos 

illustration, je suis bien connecta avec la désire que vous pendez. Je aimerais pas 

voir un train du style monorail 

It must work in winter 

The light rail or light metro whatever that is, would seem to be preferable to the 

Metro, to avoid electrified rails and grading problems 

Le recours à des trains traditionnel (ou lourds) rie devrait pas être complètement 

écarté des plans. Le train léger est un option très intéressante pour les déplacements 

de longueur modérée en raison de sa convivialité de sa facilité d’utilisation mais sur 

de longues distances, l’option perd de son attrait en raison du nombre de stations 

aux quelles le véhicules doivent s’arrêter et, incidemment, de la durée, plus longue 

des trajet. Les gens veulent se déplacer rapidement et sans trop de contraintes. 

L’inter modalité est une des solutions à ce problème. Gardez-la dans vois cartes 

Use of low floor LRT is the way to go as it allows street running, accessibility, 

curved stations, level crossings etc. Will be much less expensive than TTC type 

subway equipment to extend 

I believe that LRT Technology is a good choice, but I’m not sure that a 30m (90 ft 

vehicle) is a requirement. A shorter car can negotiate tighter curvatures that might 

be more desirable as the system develops further away from City centre, especially if 

street running is incorporated into the network 

I am originally from Edmonton where I experienced light rail. It’s a smooth, quick 

ride, although slow compared to some other systems. We can learn a great deal 

from Edmonton’s experience, particularly on tunnel construction in the downtown. 

Edmonton’s stations under Jasper Avenue are reasonably shallow and easily 

accessible 

Le TLR est tout à fait approprié pour l’aprondissement prevu, le nombre de citoyen, 

etc. 

TLR est un technologie pour les besoins d’Ottawa 

Question 5: What specific concerns do you have regarding future construction 

and operation of the DOTT project? 

Construction: 

Expense is too high for this City 

Maintain transit bus access from West Kanata to Bayview, Route 61 

Too expensive and unnecessary

You said it was a study not a project! 

Extension of the O-Train on existing railway lines is a far superior means of meeting 

the community needs for public transit now 

How much will it cost, and how long will it take to construct 

Tell people what you’re doing and when. The amount of information amount of 

information about this project will serve to confuse transit users when the transitway 

becomes inoperable. Also, if you have to chose between inconveniencing motor 

vehicles and transit operations during construction, the choice should be obvious 

I feel that the project is not moving fast enough. OC Transpo and City Council 

Smart construction that allows maximum flow of traffic...open unused lanes on 

weekends/pm 

No concerns 

Tunnel is too deep and goes too far north 

Le plus tôt possible, SVP! 

Expense – distance below grade 

I prefer the Carling route to go west from Tunney’s Pasture 

Make sure that the bus system is functional through the entire construction process. 

You cannot shut down transit to downtown core 

Elle doit se faire avec minutie pour être solide et durable tout en se complétant le 

plus rapidement possible pour que la population commence à utiliser le service et les 

infrastructures aussi tôt que possible. Des matériaux et des respectueux de 

l’environnement doivent être utilisés dans toutes les étapes de processus 

Cost! Cost! Cost! This may end up costing much more. In a time of increasing 

deficits, how far can the Feds and provinces go in helping finance this system? 

Cleary tunneling is the preferred – dare we say the only option. Cut and cover won’t 

work, but how to control costs, and the duration of construction? 

On presume beaucoup 

Operation: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unsafe environment – too much walking – too high a cost 

You said it was a study not a project! 

Again, how many jobs will it create, or will OC Transpo see a reduction. Will OC 

Transpo drivers have first option in operating LRT? 

No concerns 

Has enough money been allocated for operation and maintenance? 

L’esthetique des stations 

Keep a few trains 24 hrs, this system needs to be functional for all users, regardless 

of their working hours 

 

 

 

 

Elle doit commencer avec force es susciter la fierté. Elle ne doit pas se limiter, de 

quelque façon que ce soit, à des objectifs d’achalandage conservateurs ou peu 

ambitieux ainsi que s’astreindre à des critères de simple rentabilité ou, pire, de 

profitabilité à court ou à moyen terme. Elle doit au contraire convaincre et attirer 

sans cesse 

Hopefully automated systems will cut down on costs in the long run. LRT is more 

suited to some automation, I believe 

On croirait que vous aves “carte blanche” 

Je trouve 50 million tres élevée pour géner ce project – je prise déjà à des déponses 

non justifies qui vont surgir 

From Bernie Geiger: 

The whole project appears to be very expensive. The transitway was supposed to easily 

convertible. The costs shown for the conversion of the transitway surface parts are 

stupendously high. Q5. By tunneling from MacKenzie Bridge/Laurier through 

Campus to a portal at the Queensway adds kilometers to expensive tunnel and $100s 

> of millions to costs. (The $200 million Baseline Station disaster looks like a bargain 

in comparison). 

It will take far too many years to plan, design, tender, build, test and break-in. NS 

LRT build and test was about 2 years, this will be 2 to 3 times, once design and 

tendering is complete. 

The City of Ottawa does not have the proven track record to plan and successfully 

manage a project of this scope and complexity, it is very high risk. 

The benefits to users in the core (the primary target audience and problem area) is 

negative. They will need to walk further to the core stations, need to take 4 escalators 

to get to the platforms, will need to wait longer for a the next train to arrive than the 3 

buses per > minute now going along Albert/Slater. Total travel times will be longer 

and user experience will not be enhanced. 

Tourists, visitors and casual users will be disoriented by the many elevators and twists 

and turns they must take to get up and down to/from the stations. On arriving at 

street level, strangers will have no idea where they are. This is unlike surface transit 

and shallow subways. 

There are serious safety and security concerns arising from lost packages/bomb threats, 

noxious/poison gas releases, fire, collisions etc. Few people are accustomed and many 

are simply not capable of climbing 10 flights of stairs (the depth of the core stations) let 

alone in a crowded, stressful emergency environment.

How many escalators will there be at each station? In total in the core? This is a huge 

investment and a huge operating and maintenance cost, especially given the depth, 

people must rely on escalators at all times. 

Will Tunney's station really work? There will be an overload, line-up and delay of 

buses like we see at Hurdman every morning. 

At Bayview, why are we encouraging Gatineau to be using polluting diesel buses when 

there is an existing rail-line that could/should be used to Terraces de la Chaudiere and 

the Lac Leamy office area? 

At LeBreton, why are we encouraging OC Transpo diesel buses when at > Bayview 

there is an existing rail-line that could/should be used to Terraces de la Chaudiere and 

the Lac Leamy office area? 

and Core: The tunnels and stations should be as shallow as possible (Lyon/Kent) and 

Campus to reduce costs and transit user time. 

& Lees to Hurdman: Is it true that the "temporary" busway Campus to Hurdman 

stretch is being used to justify the construction of the Alta Vista Parkway and bridge 

from Nicholas to Riverside Drive? Why close the transitway here for two months one 

summer, lay the rails on the Lees bridge and through Lees station, pave around them 

and then run buses along/over the tracks between Hurdman and the Campus tunnel 

portal for the year or two it will take to complete and test the rest of the line. (The 

MacKenzie Bridge is being re-surface in 6 weeks now). This will be far less expensive 

than the new AVP bridge and ramps over the Rideau. 

Hurdman needs to be designed so that trains on the SE Transitway can be converted to 

rail as intended. This SE conversion from Heron to Hurdman will need to happen 

when the O-Train line is shut for several years to enable the track and tunnel to be 

double tracked in 30 to 50 years from now. Build for the future! 

During Hurdman construction staging, there appears to be no consideration or 

provision for the large number of SE Transitway buses to get to the core. Will this be 

further justification to ram through the AVP? 

Carling Ave at Bronson is already far above capacity. It will be impossible to divert 

additional buses through there during construction. 

Why does VIA Station need to be straight? The advantage of low floor LRT is that 

stations can be on curves. Since the trains are stopping for the station anyways, curves 

here are acceptable. There are $10s of millions in savings here by reusing the 

transitway ditch and bridges rather than rebuilding everything. The transitway was 

supposed to be "easily" convertible, not re-buildable. 

Why do the stations need to be so long? They are planned longer than the longest 

main TTC stations (6 cars) and far longer than the new TTC Shepherd heavy subway 

line stations? Surely our capacities will be nowhere near TTC for 100 years. This adds 

hugely to station costs and users need to walk further within the station. 

Overall the project will prove to be too big, risky and expensive. It will have to be 

trimmed and rationalized and in the short-medium term we will need to go surface rail 

like Calgary, Houston, San Diego and Kitchener-Waterloo. 

Question 6: When the Light Rail Transit (LRT) opens, the transitway lanes on 

Albert and Slater will be removed. The space could be dedicated to pedestrians, 

(by putting in wider sidewalks), used to balance bus traffic across all downtown 

streets, or converted back into general lanes. What preliminary feedback can 

you provide that will help identify how Albert and Slater should be redeveloped? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Currently, Albert and Slater are almost deserts when it comes to anything other 

than office towers. Hopefully widening the sidewalks and getting most buses off 

them will help in their redevelopment. 

Do not convert back to general automobile lanes, we need to discourage auto traffic, 

not encourage it! 

Implement cycle lanes, keep one-way routes over Mackenzie King Bridge 

Downtown Ottawa has ugly streetscapes and unfriendly sidewalks – anything that 

would improve these would be helpful 

Dedicate to transit – of every kind and create it so people want to be there. Ottawa 

downtown has a very unfriendly streetscape. 

I do not see several downtown underground stations with connecting escalators and 

being a viable replacement to the at-grade transit 

Convert back to general lanes 

Buses are still an important part of the system and should have good access into 

downtown. Albert and Slater should still be used for this purpose. Pedestrian 

amenities should also be improved 

Toutes les études surfeuse sur la conversion en rue piétonne du suis commerciales en 

amerri sud du nord ont démontre que cette conversion engendrait en désastre pour

le commerce au détail. Maintenue la circulation automobile sur les rues Albert et 

Slater ce pera jereferible from tout le monde! 

Perhaps wider sidewalks with greenery. It would make downtown much more 

attractive 

I like the idea of wider sidewalks and a friendlier pedestrian environment 

Bike-dedicated (i.e., separated by concrete curb) lanes 

High-speed, safer express service based on quiet double-deckers and coach seating 

say $200 per month 

No. there should be pedestrianized or cars limited 

Make into a pedestrian area, like in many major cities 

More bike racks since NO ONE will bring their bikes down four levels! 

Se crois qu’on devrais élargir les trottoirs Ottawa marquée cruellement de vendure 

dans le centretown 

Yes, plus bicycle lanes 

Help balance local bus traffic, as well as widen sidewalks. Make sure there is a 

functional cycling lane through the entire downtown core 

L’espace accordé à la circulation automobile ne doit absolument pas croître. Les 

voies réservées doivent impérativement être transformées en pistes cyclables 

utilitaires, en trottoirs élargis et en bandes de vendure. On doit accorder moins 

d’espace aux voitures stationnées avec circulation et considérablement plus aux 

commerçants, aux visiteurs, aux piéton et au cyclistes. L’activité doit y augmenter 

mais la pollution sonore y diminuer d’autant 

Albert and Slater and MacKenzie Bridge should have surface LRT to provide an 

alternative for tourists who are afraid of getting lost in the subway catacombs, and 

residents who are terrified of depths. It also provides an alternative for when there is 

an incident in the subway. It will also be faster for short trip in the core (Bank to 

Rideau Centre) than 4 escalators down a long walk in the station, a long wait for a 

long train and then repeating the process at the other end 

Convert the streets back to bi-directional vehicular traffic 

I am a walker (do not own a car) so I like the idea of wider sidewalks and more room 

on the road for bicycles. Let’s minimize the buses downtown please! 

Maintain normal mix of bus and street vehicles. Eliminate bulb-outs and the zig-zag 

traffic lanes 

Dedicate the space to pedestrians 

L”objectif d’apoter le TLR n’est-il pas de rédure la pollution de l’air cause par les ga 

nocifs 

Pourquoi le tunnel – le TLR pourait utilisér albert et Slater – au un cen—plus 

raisennable pour les contribuuables – quels servient le côuts? 

Question 7: Do you have any specific questions or comments on the planning 

work completed/resented to-date? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well done, we really need the LRT for the future health of Downtown. I moved to 

Ottawa in 1973 and there was talk of a tunnel when the transitway was being 

designed and it was rejected. I hope this time it actually gets built. 

What was wrong with the last north-south project that was cancelled? 

If I want to go to Bayshore from my home station of Smyth, I will have to transfer 

twice. Does anyone realize that we have winter and snow for 5 months of the year, 

are you guys nuts making everyone transfer for the downtown section? Do not 

eliminate the direct bus lane vehicle trip that I can make. Thank god I still have a 

car. It’s going to be harder to get around. 

Yes, what a terrible waste of money – no options except expensive tunnels have ever 

been shown, the consultation process appears to be a grand farce 

How much did it cost? What other alternatives have been considered, stop looking 

at Ottawa as a downtown centered city, it isn’t anymore!!! 

Still think the surface options should be discussed. Why are we making room for 

cars? 

I like the fact that they can use a lot of the existing stations, and only need to make 

modifications to convert it to LRT 

Work with pedestrian/cycling advocacy groups to ensure that they are adequately 

represented in station plans, otherwise good work with such a difficult and scary 

sounding project 

Put light rail on Hazeldean/Robertson/baseline/Heron/Walkley/Innes corridor. 

Rideau/Montreal/St. Joseph corridor 

Build the N/S system 

I think you’re on the right track (pardon the pun). Your plan calls for something 

better than buses and for tunneling through downtown. Those decisions should lead 

to a phenomenal improvement in the transit system once the system is up and 

running 

Progress has been amazingly slow! The current O-Train should be extended to 

Manotick Station, not just to Leitrim Road to intercept potential traffic from the 

south. This just might mean that less money will have to be spent expanding roads 

to the south. Can the city ask the province to pay 2/3 as with other Ontario cities? 

Move fast...2017 is capacity for downtown transitway. Involve STO...Rideau is still 

a mess...automate the whole thing...avoids training drives and strike disruptions! 

Very concerned at alternative bus routes. How do I get to Cyrville from Kanata? 

I am very concerned about the non-use of POW Bridge for use as Light Rail 

expansion across to Gatineau. Wake up and use what we paid for!

What is being done by the city to ensure that the project is properly managed and 

does not end up like E-Health where managers with little experience have 

outrageous salaries and severance packages. Note: those talking the backseat are 

not necessarily the most competent 

Superbe! Promettez-moi juste de ne pas tout canceller à la dernière minute…apairs 

de ça --- superbe travail! 

The western terminus should not be Tunney’s. It should be at best Lincoln Fields 

and the LRT must not follow the Parkway, but Byron/Richmond Road where people 

live! 

Possibly fewer tunnel stations needed, this would reduce the project’s cost. Based on 

my knowledge of metro and LRT (train) systems elsewhere (up in Europe and E. 

Asia), the planned tunnel station seems very close together. On balance, I strongly 

support the LRT Plan and am impressed by the thought and sophistication reflected 

in the proposals presented tonight 

This entire system needs to have continuous meaningful communication with both 

pedestrian and transit users at all points. Cannot ignore bus services during 

construction, as well and once the system is completed. Provide bike lockers in all 

stations. Interior, climate controlled lockers with security features 

Je n’arien contre le fait d’utiliser des tous-terrains mais je serais extrêmement déçu et 

irrité de constater que le fait de faire passer les véhicules de transport en commun 

sous-verre encourage et rende plus facile la circulation automobile dans les quartiers 

centraux. C’est pourquoi je vois enjoins à recourir à une stratégie double : par le biais 

de ce projet, rendez le transport collectif beaucoup plus attrayant et travaillez en 

même temps à rendre la circulation automobile considérablement plus compliquée, 

plus dispendieuse et plus désagréable en instaurant un système de péage aux entrés 

du centre-ville, en fermant complètement des rues à circulation automobile et en 

installant des obstacles pour ralentir les véhicules a quatre roues 

I look upon this bold venture with some trepidation, however if you frame it with 

Ottawa’s rate of growth and future in mind, it is necessary to get on with it. I am 

relieved that the City went with an East-West LRT rather than North-South. The 

North-South Plan was ill-conceived and did not address Ottawa’s real 

transportation needs. Let’s use heavy rail to Barrhaven until the East-West route is 

complete 

Be honest and clear about costs and duration of work. At present, staff credibility is 

very low because the numbers and timeframes are so soft and variable. As well, 

citizens should e told the costs of not investing in LRT 

Quel est l’ensemble des coûts, prévus pour la planification au complet? Quels sont 

les coûts dépinseés jusqu’à maintenant? Quels autres coûts s’ajouteront-ils dans une 

temps futur? 

 

Je trouve difficils de touts assimilé avec le grand nombre de « Poster » lors des 

sessions. Pour suivre le processus – if fait retourner en arrière pour rengis et essayer 

de comprendre ce que l’on dit et vrait 

Do you feel that the information presented at this third Public Open House & 

Presentation has given you a better understanding of the Project? 

Yes - 20 

No - 2 

Somewhat – 8 

30 comment sheets were received to date, November 5, 2009 

If No or Somewhat, please describe what we could do differently or what 

additional information you would like to have. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Property taxes in Ottawa are higher than Toronto or Vancouver, this is one example 

of why. I think I will move to a less costly city with a better council and admin 

group to support them. This is going to cost us a bundle for years – Kill it! 

I would like to see this really taken to the public, not just asking the public to come 

to you and then saying you’ve consulted. I think it is time you took your show on 

the road – to every neighbourhood – after all we’re all going to be paying for it 

A somewhat better understanding, yes, but at a project that has little 

demonstratable value for money 

Explain why this was chosen over other designs in more detail – reasons are lacking 

The moving graphics on the screen for the Campus stop should be adjusted to focus 

more on Corkstown Bridge as a central point showing how people using the bridges 

would access the entry/exit points. Right now, it’s very frustrating the bridge 

appears rarely and only on the sides and corners, very briefly. Thank you for the 

excellent presentation 

Could be improved with better identification of resource persons 

Questionnaire tres biaisé 

J’auvair aimé savoir le prix pour le TLR sur Albert et Slater – pour faire une 

comparaison éclairée 

H:\ISO\TO3041\TOB\DOCS\Open House 3\Summaries\CQ Summary.docx

Downtown Ottawa Transit Tunnel 

Tunney’s Pasture to Blair Station via a Downtown LRT Tunnel 

Planning and Environmental Assessment Study 

Monday, October 26, 2009 

Open House Presentation Question and Answers held in Council Chambers 

Speaker Comment/Question Responded By Response 

Why does the connection tunnel between 

the train station and the light rail station 

why do you have to cross the drop off zone 

to ride into the station? 

David Hopper The problem at the train station is there is only one level in the 

train station and you come right out to the driveway and the 

LRT station is only one level below. So the problem we have is 

“what is the best way to get there?” We could either go down 

inside the train station underneath the driveway, we then have 

to come back up to go across the lawn then back down to the 

train station so we would need to go down and up and then 

down again. So we felt that it was better to just cross the bus 

driveway and there is a stop sign there and a marked 

crosswalk so like you do today, you would just cross the 

driveway at the crosswalk and then carry onto the station, but 

that would be something that we should looking at further on if 

there isn’t a way to better encourage more of that pedestrian 

travel and get rid of cars. 

Thank you for a truly interesting 

presentation. Especially downtown, but 

not necessarily just limited to downtown, 

there is a lot of dependence on private 

property owners to give you access for 

train station entrances. What is generally 

the reaction to these private property 

owners to cooperate with this project? 

David Hopper 

We have had very good response from the business 

community. There is the Downtown Coalition (representing a 

group of the downtown building owners and operators) which 

has gotten together to be part of the process and they have 

been very positive. They see a lot of benefits to the plan, and 

if they have the entry directly into their facility they have an 

advantage over a building across the street in terms of leasing. 

They see a huge advantage of Albert and Slater returning to 

more normal traffic patterns, possibly bike lanes with some 

buses, but at much reduced bus volumes, so that it is easier to 

get goods and services into their buildings. They see the 

connections into the buildings as enhancing the rider 

experience for people who come to their buildings so they have 

been quite willing to talk. Of course they haven’t put their 

money where their mouth is yet. They were a little sceptical to 

begin with, particularly the idea that they should volunteer to 

have a station under their building, but as we move forward 

with more detail at each stage they become more and more 

certain this is the way to go and we are quite confident that a 

number of the large land owners downtown, like Brookfield who 

have done this in Toronto and Montreal and Vancouver, know 


the advantages they just need to convince their Ottawa people 

of it. So we are seeing very good cooperation and as we get 

into the design we’ll be inviting them to be directly involved 

with the development of those entrances. 

David 

Jeannes 

Would the City be paying rent to the 

property owners for the entrances and 

what would be the City’s responsibilities 

here and what would be specifically the 

private property owner’s responsibilities to 

these stations? 

In terms of the coverage, particularly in 

the downtown area would the four tunnel 

stations, Campus, Downtown East, 

Downtown West and Rideau, you have 

diagrams that show the 300m circles and 

the 800m circles which show how faraway 

various buildings are. I have a couple of 

issues, one is that some pretty important 

buildings are outside the 800m circles like 

Place Bell Canada and most of City Hall 

and so on, and some others are in only by 

virtue by the fact that the circles are the 

kind of ignore that the Rideau Canal is in 

the way and that you can’t actually reach 

many of the destinations that are inside 

the circle with 800m of walking and I am 

adding to that the fact that there are 

typically 3 levels of long escalators to get 

to the surface which in my experience in 

the Montreal means about 5 minutes time 

from the platform to the surface. I really 

think that this whole study needs to have a 

significant pedestrian movement 

component throughout the downtown in 

order to determine whether the locations 

that you have selected for your entrances 

are in fact good ones. Some of them are 

also missing some opportunity that the 

City has been setting up and encouraging 

N-S pedestrian mid-block connections. For 

Vivi Chi 

David Hopper 

That would be part of the negotiations when we deal with the 

private property owners. All those things need to be 

considered, we have to make sure that there is an access 

available for users during the hours of operation. So all those 

things we need to work through, they are not new, they are 

things that we do all the time, and we have a similar 

agreement with St. Laurent right now that can be used as a 

model. 

Obviously to connect to one side of the street to another we 

have to not only be underneath the pavement but underneath 

all of the utilities that are underneath the street, so that does 

get us a little further down. It has worked in other cities and 

that does generally correspond with one level below grade or 

one level plus a few steps. We are showing a little bit deeper 

here but that would be the worst case but we would try to 

locate those connections at a level that is conducive to cross 

flow. We have looked at the catchment zone circles that we 

have drawn. The first is a 300m circle, as the crow flows, 

which is a 400m walk which is the City standard for walk, so 

what we did instead of measuring them all exactly is take a 

proxy of a 300m crow flies 400m walking. The second circle is 

at 500m representing a 750-800m walk. It doesn’t work when 

the Canal is in the way but it works generally in the downtown 

area. We have 5 entrances on the west side of the Canal and 

we think we have good coverage across the downtown. There 

is no system in the world that connects to absolutely 

everything. We had to make some decisions that the trade off 

that was taken back earlier in the year was that the cross 

country alignment took us from the more intensive future 

development in the southwest of the downtown with a current 

development in the centre east with a potential of the market 

and Rideau Centre further north, so that cross country 

alignment sort of brought us in and connected it. Yes City Hall 

is a little bit beyond that but we can’t connect everything, but 

we have connected to as much as we can and we believe that 

downtown Ottawa is very walkable, it is only 7 blocks from one 

end to the other, so we are really not that far from anything 

downtown. As for the timing to exit out of the station I would


example, midway between Metcalfe and 

O’Connor but you are one block west of 

that midway between Bay and Bronson but 

you are one block east of that, and things 

like that. The linkages into the buildings in 

many case, because the mezzanine levels 

are quite deep, you are showing a 2 nd or a 

3 rd parking level of buildings whereas most 

of the buildings do have any retail 

potential at sub-basement level and in 

some cases one really doesn’t have much 

happening down at that deep level, so I 

just think that there is a lot more that can 

be done in terms of the pedestrian benefits 

of the whole network downtown. 

Vivi Chi 

the station. 

I have a concern about the Train station. 

Some of the townships around here have 

been talking Ontario and VIA Rail about 

bringing commuter trains into Ottawa. By 

moving the station at the Train station you 

have added approximately 100m onto the 

distance to be walked from the platforms 

from one to another which is an additional 

2 minutes walk in the morning and 2 

minutes walk in the afternoon. I assume 

that you have some sort of contingency 

plan to smile sweetly at the provincial 

people when they sort of say, but it 

doesn’t run in conjunction with, it doesn’t 

help bringing the township people in you 

are sinking that sort of one just by 2 

minutes a day and it doesn’t sound like 

much but it does make a difference. 

I am a little bit surprised to see the cost of 

converting the transitway portions to light 

rail. I think of Calgary where their west 

LRT is being built right now is about 

$700M for 10 or 12 kms. If I’m not 

mistaken, it has fly overs and tunnel 

stations and trenches and that seems to 

include all rail vehicles, so that is only 

slightly more per km if all rail vehicles than 

David Hopper 

Vivi Chi 

suggest that if you were just going to stand on an escalator 

and ride it all the way up, you are better off taking the elevator 

and it won’t take you anywhere near 5 minutes to get out of 

I would also like to add that David you make a really good 

point because the pedestrian connection and what do we do in 

downtown for on the streets once our transit service is moved 

primarily underground. That gives us a great opportunity to 

look at what remains and we do have to have a thorough study 

which is going to overlay the transportation facilities, cycling, 

pedestrians and others onto the downtown system, including a 

local bus network in the downtown core. There will have to be 

some of that still continuing. We want the animation on the 

surface as well rather than everything down below. 

Well we do have a trade off to make and the trade off that was 

made 25 years ago was to bring the buses as close to the train 

station as possible, but not actually consider the future of light 

rail. If they had actually built the original transitway to LRT 

standards, it probably would of been built almost where it is, so 

we do need to consider that but any solution that brought rail 

closer to the train station became exorbitantly expensive. 

Light rail technology does require significant capital to build 

and you would have to have this section completely built before 

you can use it. Whereas the transitway is a step towards 

providing rapid transit more cheaply sooner and that was a 

decision that was taken in the late 1970’s. We are talking 

about a existing condition that, the costs are the conversion 

and we have significant line items of that and you are saying 

should we then stop building any transitways into the suburbs 

and wait for light rail. I think that it is important to provide 


the conversion costs. So my question here 

is have we learned our lesson not to build 

busways and then convert them. No more 

busway building, because if it is going to 

cost this much to convert them, $40M a 

station, $20M per km, that’s a lot of 

money to spend on the conversion when 

we should be building LRT from the outset 

and our TMP is full of new busways. 

David Hopper 

Doug 

I have 2 questions. My first question is 

that I was confused; some person out 

there told me that the project will be done 

by 2018 or something and then you said it 

was 2031. 

Will there be a huge fare jump? Right now 

bus fare is jumping. 

So does possible decrease in bus fare 

exist? 

I haven’t seen any numbers regarding the 

proportion of people using their cars or the 

proposed bus services right now, 

comparing them to the plan for say 2018 

and then 2031, I am hoping that in all 

these plans that you have do you expect to 

have less people driving and more people 

using transit, am I right? 

Hence the 2 nd question, when you say 

expand the system does it mean take if 

further away or make it denser within this 

central neighbourhood? 

So you are not hoping as much as you are 

going to work against urban sprawl, you 

are not going to try and contain it as much 

David Hopper 

David Hopper 

David Hopper 

Vivi Chi 

Vivi Chi 

David Hopper 

rapid transit service as soon as we can and we look at what we 

can do and of course we will after 25 years of experience in 

operating and designing transitways, sure there are some 

lessons learned, but I think we need to provide rapid transit, 

regardless of technology, sooner rather than later. 

Yes there are some lessons learned from this exercise and this 

first project that will change the way we do future transitways, 

so yes we will be consciously doing that as we move forward. 

No there are 2 things happening, this project will be done 

sometime around the 2018 but extending east of Blair out into 

Orleans will likely not happen until after 2031 so that is a 

future project. 

No, the numbers that we are projecting for future operating 

costs indicate that by having rail, we will actually reduce the 

cost of operating the system. This will give City Council a 

choice to say “we will hold fares and not increase them” or 

reduce the property tax burden and go to a 55% split from a 

cost recovery from the user. So to operate the whole network 

will be cheaper with rail than without rail. 

Possibly, but although I would suggest that what will happen is 

they just won’t increase as quickly rather than actually being 

reduced. 

You are absolutely correct that part of our TMP we are 

developing the rapid transit network at work and we have a 

goal, a target of 30% mode split for transit and the rest is 

primarily, cyclists and pedestrians in there so in order to 

achieve that 30% we have to have this rapid transit system 

including this project that you see here tonight if we don’t do 

this of course we will not get moved from the 23% to 30% and 

those are considerate numbers and if anything we may not 

even be able to keep our 23% if we don’t expand our system 

and provide better facilities. 

All sorts in there, improving the service so that it is attractive 

to transit in what we have in existing areas as well as the 

expansion. 

This is all integrated and I think light rail will actually go 

towards encouraging closer development and more intense 

development around the stations which will be people who are


as possible. Do you think it is someone 

else’s job to do that? 

choosing to live next to a rail station so that they can take rail 

to work rather than driving. So we are working in concert with 

all the land use planning to make sure we are creating stations 

that have good connections to adjacent land use, good 

connections to development sites so that we can work to 

intensify around the stations and to direct growth around and 

into the core and around the stations rather than urban sprawl 

which is all part of the official plan. 

Are you going to work to encouraging 

people to move next to the station but also 

discouraging people to move further away? 

When are we going to see the benefits to 

the taxpayer of this major investment of 

taxpayer dollars? 

I am understanding that we have here a 

private office that is doing the design inhouse 

and when you actually go for bids, 

are you going to be going for bids to 

actually just build it and deliver the train 

and there is going to be no sort of prime 

system contract, you are actually doing 

your design in-house, is that correct? 

Sounds like it, when you are going into 

great detail in the designs so obviously 

when you actually go out and ask for bids 

you are going to be asking for bids of the 

stations that you have already designed 

for providing trains that meet the technical 

criteria that the designs need to meet so it 

is definitely not some kind of turnkey 

proposal that you are asking. 

But you are obviously doing a lot of design 

in-house right now. 

My last question is given the time frames 

that you are talking about what is the link, 

if I understood correctly we are talking 

David Hopper 

David Hopper 

Vivi Chi 

David Hopper 

David Hopper 

There are carrots and sticks in the official plan and we are 

going to use the whole suite of tools as much as possible. 

We are working on that business case that looks at all of those 

and that report will be coming forward with the December 

report on the functional design. 

We have to go beyond what is the functional design here in 

order to put together a package so that we can go out for 

tender and solicit proposals, there are still, we hope that 

someone would go to a 30% preliminary design in order to 

more precisely find the scope of the project and put in the 

requirements of the performance specs that we want to see in 

order for the bids to come through whether it’s a P3 or 

whatever procurement process that we undertake. That is still 

a decision for another day what we are describing here tonight 

is the facility itself and we go from here and how its procured 

and how its contracted out the design, the decision is for 

another day. 

We are doing the functional design, but even going out to a 

design build we still have to have a reference design, we have 

to have something for the contractor to bid against and this is 

not robust enough to get a reasonable bid in without a lot of 

risk so with more design will likely have to be done before we 

hire a design build firm to do the whole project. 

Yes we have to finish this process, we have to finish the 

environmental assessment process, we have to create a 

reference design, we have to do an RFP at a proposal call to 


about something that can be started up as 

2018. 

hire somebody to do all this and then they have to implement 

it, so 2018 is about right. 

So what is happening in Ottawa in 2018 to 

warrant this major investment of taxpayer 

dollars? 

David Hopper What is going to happen is the continuation of the trends that 

we are already seeing, we are nearing the capacity downtown 

and we want to try and get this done as fast as possible to 

make sure that we don’t throttle off downtown with more 

development before we can get this operational. 

But in practice, development is moving 

outside downtown. 

Thanks for the presentation, is there 

thinking in this plan for commuter cyclists, 

for instance I’m thinking that once you get 

buses off of Slater and Albert you are 

going to have 4 lanes of traffic. Is that 

going to be just intended for cars or it can 

be a bit of an expressway really, so I am 

just wondering throughout the whole 

downtown, but not just in the downtown 

do you have plans to increase better 

cycling. 

I guess just for me I’m concerned that you 

are going to have a whole lot of capacity 

for cars I think once the buses are off the 

streets and so there seems to be a bit of 

danger that you might lose the 

opportunity. 

Since we have ended up with the tunnel 

design that takes us very deep 

underground I am really worried that an 

underground, as in 10 stories 

underground, so I am really worried that 

people who are travelling the city system 

David Hopper 

Vivi Chi 

David Hopper 

Vivi Chi 

David Hopper 

Its moving all over the place, they would love to be downtown, 

the problem with some of the downtowns they feel if they can’t 

get parking then they can get people there by transit so we 

need to get this done. How do we need to get this built in 

2018 is not a magic number, 2018 is what we think is a 

realistic time frame to get from where we are today to the draft 

functional plan to an operating system based on experiences in 

other cities in implementing these projects. 

That is part of this study that we are going to undertake after 

this work is done because we did identify in our cycling plan 

that there is this whole downtown area that doesn’t have 

enough cycling facilities defined so that is next outstanding 

item and we hope to take advantage of the right-of-way that 

would be available after transit is moved out down below 

ground. 

We also want to see cycling facilities, storage and lockers and 

racks at all of the stations because somebody may be willing to 

cycle to Blair Station but not cycle all the way down to Bank 

and Albert or they may want to take their bike on the train for 

the weekend, we want to look at local pedestrian and cycling 

connections to all of the stations as well as repurposing Albert 

and Slater. 

If I can just add to that, in April we had a reorganization for 

the City and pedestrian and cycling moved from Pubic Works 

into my branch, into Transportation Planning, so now we look 

at transportation planning for more holistic approach and it 

includes all users not just the cars so it’s in the right branch 

and we look at everything together. 

We are looking at those things and I think if we look at some of 

the psychological disincentives today of trying to get a bus out 

of Albert and Slater they will more than be countered off by 

arriving at an underground station. We are looking at trying to 

create entry shafts that are large and bright, we are looking at 

double escalators, double elevators at both ends so that when


from end to end they have to get off buses 

in hoards at peak times and move over 

onto a train downtown and in hoards and 

get off the train and go up 10 stories, and 

I’m really worried if that becomes a net 

psychological disincentive that we don’t 

have today in our system although there 

are many aspects that this design is better 

aspect that could be really problematic. 

Like David Jeannes, I would like to have 

some assurance that it has really been 

thought through from a pedestrian point of 

view that it is really going to work for 

people. 

you get off a station it is not a matter of OMG I have to get up 

ten stories, you have four elevators to chose from as well as 

escalators. So the experience in other cities is that the depth 

of the stations is really not a deciding factor. If you look at 

Berard Station in downtown Vancouver right in the heart it is a 

very deep station as well, very heavily used and people are 

used to working on the 44 th floor so if its 44 floors to get down 

then why not 10 more to get to my train, so some of that 

incentive of working in tall buildings helps us. People are used 

to that so people will accept the technology of making these 

kinds of transfers and the benefits of simply coming out of your 

office building, but walking through a concourse staying in an 

enclosed environment and then descending down to a single 

platform where you know that every train going west is your 

train. There is a huge benefit there, same thing when you get 

off in the morning at Tunney’s Pasture, every train that is going 

east is your train. There is none of this jocking around trying 

to decide which string of buses approaching is the one that I 

want and is that guy’s bus #4 is he going to stop again or do I 

have to run and catch him because he’s late getting people off 

so he may not stop for me again and if I miss that I can only 

take the 283 or the 187 unless I get the 95 to here and the 

114. So I think there is a whole bunch of psychologic 

disincentives today that disappear more than counter for it but 

you are right we do need to look at it more and the architects 

are looking at creating large pleasant spaces that are well lit, 

that are designed with systems that you can hear 

announcements that are being made, daylight into the shaft to 

create that psychological well being in that is part of a design 

of standards today. 

I would just like to have the assurance 

that it has really been looked at from a 

pedestrian point of view and how long it is 

going to take them and like you said some 

people are coming down 44 stories but a 

lot of people aren’t, their lives are almost 

entirely at street level or 3 stories within 

street level today and for them it’s a really 

big change that is not necessarily positive. 

David Hopper We will look at that. 

Dave 

Armatage 

I was wondering within the confines of 

Blair to Tunney’s Pasture how much 

vehicular traffic do you expect to take off 

David Hopper I think there is a number of things, first of all .... 


the roads. Within that area and I see 

where you are talking about a reduction of 

buses and your big complaint is the 

congestion on Albert Street near 

everything like that. I see you doing it as 

an assist to the bus situation. I don’t see 

it as being very much of a benefit to the 

urban/metro type traffic that is coming in 

that could be alleviated through O-Trains 

or any of the old facilities we had that 

went to the old convention centre idea of a 

central bus station and exiting from there. 

I can’t believe you said 30%. Is that a 

figure that I could relate to the vehicular 

traffic that was used to reduce that Blair to 

Tunney’s Pasture area in Centretown? 

People are already on transit systems, 

these are people that are being looked at 

and will be taking it. 

How are you getting at the vehicular traffic 

with the system in enhancing the bus 

system that you have here 

Vivi Chi 

The 30% is overall across the City. We have different mode 

splits for different sections and it is much higher in the east 

end. I don’t have the figures at my fingertips but did you want 

to say something David? 

David Hopper We are going to see removing 180 buses an hour per direction 

during rush hour, is going to be a major benefit to downtown, 

we are going to see.... 

David Hopper But we are taking that ... 

David Hopper 

Well today the system is basically at capacity carrying just over 

10,000 people per hour each direction into downtown, that’s as 

many as we can get. The new system is going to get to carry 

20-25,000 people per hour per direction so we can make the 

downtown twice as big with no additional cars. We are also 

going to see development happen in LeBreton and around 

Bayview and more development around Tunney’s Pasture that 

can be supported with the same size parking lot so we can see 

new buildings going up there and being filled with people 

arriving on the train rather than driving. So the modal split 

that we are going to see across the city right now is 23% of all 

trends made in the urban area are on public transit. In the 

future that is going to be 30% we are going to be a bigger city 

as well and when you look in the TMP the actual prediction is to 

go from 23% with the growth in the city to 30% we are going 

to triple the number of trips that are made on public transit. 

In one direction... David Hopper No that’s all day in every direction. So it will have a major 

impact in terms of controlling the rate of increase in congestion 

in the city. There are a lot of people out there that say they


are supportive of public transit but people who get on that 

public transit system are the people who are driving in front of 

me. So a lot of the benefit to people who aren’t necessarily 

going exactly downtown is that a lot of their neighbours will be 

taking public transit and freeing up road space for them to use. 

So a 30% mode split for a city the size of Ottawa is a pretty 

good target and that will help everybody through the system.... 

I just don’t think it’s the most economical, 

I have worked, last of the signal station 

maintainers here in Ottawa and I ended up 

back in Montreal working with the signal 

station and with the station in the central 

corridor, the metro trains and the 

extended trains that were going from city 

to city like that and I really thought that 

our station again is in the wrong place to 

accommodate all facets of their achieved 

above ground system. $2.1B is a lot of 

money when you consider the GoTrain 

system and the whole system in Montreal. 

I can debate that one, well you can always 

say that they owned the land before using 

public corridors anyways 

David Hopper 

But you start looking at other city’s investment in urban 

transit, Go Transit and the City of Toronto right now are 

spending half the cost of this project just to fix one station. 

Union Station in Toronto is undergoing $700M worth of work by 

GoTransit and $650M of work by the City of Toronto and 

$165M to fix the subway station, that’s one station and that is 

to fix just one spot, when you start looking at the cost of all of 

this you could put a commuter rail network all through the 

Ottawa Valley but there isn’t the population to support it yet. 

In Toronto we had to have the subway operating first for 40 

years before we put in a commuter rail network. The City has 

to walk before it can run and it has to solve the inner city 

problems and we actually really don’t want Ottawa to start 

mimicking some of the mistakes that we made in Toronto, 

which allows people to live 60km from the downtown core and 

have a cheap and easy way to get to work, that is not the 

future, the future is a denser multi-urban core centred on 

urban rail.. 

That’s your idea.... David Hopper No that’s in the City’s Official Plan... 

You told me that you were looking for David Hopper What is laid out... 

packages of land that would be aided 

through by a LRT system now, whether 

that’s with a dense environment station to 

station everything like that or whether its 

further away is really an environmental 

understanding of what that urban area 

wants.... 

You know that a rapid transit system that’s 

further away, say in Kemptville, and you 

promise them some quick access to level 

crossings right up to the Archives Building 

in half an hour it’s going to work, they will 

develop out there, and that development 

out there maybe a total habitation 

But that’s not in keeping with the Official Plan of the city. The 

Official Plan of the city is to intensify development in places like 

Tunney’s Pasture, LeBreton, around Hurdman, around St. 

Laurent, around urban nodes and that’s the whole basis of the 

plan and that is how we got here..... 


development but it... 

That’s why we’re here and that is why we 

are looking at an urban area, Ottawa- 

Gatineau points in east to west are the 

urban area. If you go to St. Paul or 

Minneapolis both sides of St. Louis, they 

operate as a core and they are in different 

states and in different names, but it is not 

happening here. 

Vivi Chi 

Clearly you disagree with what we have in our Official Plan and 

the TMP. 

I would just like a point of information 

which is kind of connected to what the 

previous speaker was saying, I understand 

that there is an interprovincial 

transportations study underway now, and I 

guess what my question is what point does 

that hook into what you are talking about 

here, because as has been pointed out we 

have a city to the north of Ottawa which is 

large and Gatineau is growing rapidly, I 

think even more rapidly than Ottawa and 

this proposal doesn’t take any STO buses 

across the street is it? 

Yes, but whatever it is, would be an 

adjunct to this. 

Regarding the tunnel itself in downtown, 

I’ve been told, but can’t confirm that there 

used to be a tunnel across the downtown 

by the sawmills before the canal was made 

that was basically locked off. Do you know 

anything about that tunnel? I was told 

you guys would go ask the railroad 

engineers about it because it wouldn’t be 

in the archives, it would be older than the 

archives. 

Vivi Chi 

David Hopper 

David Hopper 

For this project we have not precluded options for what the 

interprovincial study may come up with as a solution. That 

study is looking at near term improvements as well as long 

term. Long term would mean a facility of some sort, they are 

looking at various options and including a loop, where do buses 

transfer people on and off the system. That project I believe 

they are hoping to go to the public with an open house and 

those options in the new year. 

We’ve been talking to them and looking at things like the 

design at Bayview which has been modified to accommodate 

either buses or trains coming across the Prince of Wales bridge 

and tying into that station. So we have looked at some of the 

options that do involve interconnection and how they would 

work. But yes, in the short term this service will take OC 

Transpo buses off the street but will not have the same impact 

on STO buses. 

Haven’t heard about that tunnel, but we’ll go back and have a 

see what we can dig from the archives. Okay well we will 

check into that. There are a number of deep sewers and deep 

tunnels that we know about, but I haven’t heard of that one 

yet. 

If I’m not mistaken it ran from basically David Hopper Okay, well we will try and check into that.


the old Court House, the old jail, hostile, to 

straight across Queen Street. 

That might help, that might even cut your 

cost down a bit, don’t know how deep, but 

it’s been sealed for a hundred, hundred 

and fifty years. 

Rod Mclean I am kind of concerned about how we are 

going to compensate for the fact that we 

are now working at 10-12 stories down. 

Which brings to mind 2 things, how do we 

evacuate people from, you said, elevators 

at both ends? What kind of capacity are 

these going to have? It’s a long way up if 

you are walking, if electricity fails, it’s the 

only way you are going to get there. Is 

there a possibility also, of an additional 

station down to minimize the number of 

people who may need to get up? 

That takes care of smoke, what about 

electrical failure? 

So you are anticipating that you would be 

able to operate the escalators and 

elevators even in that circumstance? 

David Hopper 

David Hopper 

David Hopper 

David Hopper 

Okay, I don’t want to be the first one to walk in there, but I will 

follow along after they have aired it out. Great thank you. 

Well there is a code out there called NFPA 130, which is the 

National Fire Prevention Association code. It deals with 

underground mass transit stations and it says that you have to 

get everyone in the station to a point of refuge within 4 

minutes. So what we are looking at is each end of the station 

over the 4 tunnel entries, we would have vent shafts with fans 

so they would have emergency generators and emergency 

power, so the system will know where the train is that has the 

problem and will be able to start the sequence of fans in order 

to push air in where the people are and suck smoke out where 

the people aren’t. What we are looking at doing is when that 

happens, you would open the doors at street level and draw air 

down the stairs and escalators so that people who have gotten 

to the concourse level, about 6m above platform and have 

gotten off to the side will be in a zone of refuge and they don’t 

need to get out of the building in 4 minutes, they need to get 

out of the building as they are able to. So we are looking at, 

sort of like a safe zone inside the station below ground. So 

that has all been worked out, and will be worked out in more 

detail as we move through. But there are very rigorous codes 

that apply in terms of making sure we can safely evacuate 

these stations. 

If there is electrical failure we will be looking at redundancies 

because we are spanning all the way across the city and tying 

into the grid at different points unless we are talking about the 

whole of Ottawa being blacked out, which happens once every 

40 years. We would be looking at local zones where we would 

have to run slower and be able to feed power in from other 

parts of the system. We would be looking at making sure we 

had lighting and PA and emergency elevators on emergency 

backup power and putting generator power so that we could 

turn the system off as we have to. 

Probably not escalators, but we would be able to operate the 

elevator. We need to look at what is the power load to run all 

of this and what we can actually create in standby power and 


make that work, but generally escalators are not on emergency 

power, but we would have to look and see how we would 

handle the situation, and we may need to in this case. 

David 

Jeannes 

So obviously Tunney’s Pasture isn’t going 

to be the west end terminus of this system 

for long, hopefully, because a lot of people 

are coming into the west end, southwest 

and so on. What is the update on when 

the route will be decided on, the rail 

system further west and is that possibly 

going to tie into the system before the 

work is done, or is it going to be longer 

than that? 

It’s about expansion, and there was a 

question already about expansion 

potentially across to Gatineau. There are 

a number of other points at which you 

have previously looked at expansion. One 

possibility that was talked about before 

was potentially designing the Hurdman 

Station so that it might eventually connect 

south to the southeast transitway and then 

also in that case perhaps into the Hospital 

Complex. That doesn’t appear to be 

possible with your new design. Similarly 

you were talking about in the future we 

are looking at tripling in actual ridership 

which would probably also mean a tripling 

of people coming in on those buses from 

the west to Tunney’s and from the east to 

Blair. Although there are plans to extend 

west and east it seems that the way those 

buses are going to increase in numbers 

and importance were actually building in 

even greater possibilities for those future 

extensions. The difficulties we have right 

now and I am just wondering, for example 

that, we are talking about partially filling in 

the trench for a nice bus ramp down to go 

west to Tunney’s and that nice bus ramp 

that will be handling 3 times as many 

buses at some point in the future would 

Vivi Chi 

David Hopper 

The study will be done before this project is finished in terms of 

construction. We call that the Western LRT Corridor Study and 

we are in the process now of selecting a consulting firm to 

work with us, we are going through the qualifications stage 

right now and we will go through the detailed proposal. We 

hope to get that study underway no later than the start of next 

year. It could be in December. 

We could, but maybe I’m too close to it, the drawings I do sort 

of see some of that. You are right, at Tunney’s we would likely 

be filling in part of the trench only to reduce the grade up, but 

that would be reversible so we are going to extend west of 

Tunney’s, you would take that out again. The volume of buses 

that we are predicting in that station decides it is the 2031 

where we have tripled the ridership on the system so we are 

not looking at tripling the number planned for, we are looking 

at providing service out to 2031 with triple the transit ridership 

without expanding the network any further and it still works. 

Yes, there would be more difficulty the longer it takes to build 

these things the more difficulty there is in the transition. At 

Bayview station we have the ability to swing around to go to 

the south which would be likely the logical way to find some 

route to somehow get onto the Carling corridor, so we have 

that prebuilt into the system. At Blair station the lower 

level...and a potential of a matching curb to the north, we 

could go both ways into that.


have to be taken out and replaced by Scott 

Street and the Parkway, and I can’t see 

those facilities having the capacity for 3 

times as many buses that use the 

transitway and that sort of thing. I’m just 

wondering couldn’t there be a little bit 

more, even though you are going to hire 

the consultants on what to do next, 

couldn’t there be a little bit more or in 

showing what the build outs are from the 

stations that you are designing in 

particularly in the end points, Blair, 

Bayview perhaps because you didn’t 

actually show what the potentials would be 

for going north and we do know that the 

west corridor study might even chose the 

Carling corridor as an option for going 

west rather than the Parkway or the 

Richmond corridor, so isn’t it possible to 

just show what those might look like in a 

little more detail in this functional stage?

FIRST NATIONS CORRESPONDENCE

File Number: D06-01-07-DOTT 

26 August 2008 

Jp2g Consultants Inc. 

12 International Drive 

Pembroke, ON K8A 6W5 

Attention: 

Mr. Jim E. Hunton, MCIP, RPP 

Dear Mr. Hunton, 

Re: 

Consultation with Algonquins of Ontario 

- The City of Ottawa’s Downtown Transit Tunnel Study 

The Proposed Project 

The City of Ottawa is proceeding with the preparation of a Planning and Environmental 

Assessment Study of a downtown rapid transit project to accommodate existing and future 

demand to, from and through the downtown core area. The proposed project, which is 

referred to as the Downtown Ottawa Transit Tunnel (DOTT), is needed because transit 

operation on surface streets through the downtown has reached capacity. The transit demand 

is projected to increase dramatically in the coming years and the City requires a long-term 

solution to ensure reliable transit service through the downtown core. 

The Study Area 

The proposed DOTT project extends from the Bayview Transitway Station in the west across 

the downtown core through to the University of Ottawa, and over to the Hurdman Transitway 

Station and VIA Rail Station in the east. Several surface and underground transit stations are 

being planned as part of the transit project. 

The Study Process 

The DOTT study will be conducted in two phases: Project Planning Phase and Project 

Environmental Assessment Phase. During the Project Planning Phase, the study will examine 

the best route for the transit project and the location of transit stations. During the Project 

Environmental Phase, a detailed environmental impact assessment will be conducted of the 

preferred design. The assessment process will fulfill both the requirements of Ontario’s new 

Transit Project Assessment Process EA Regulation and those of the Canadian Environmental 

Assessment Act (CEAA). During both phases, the City will host consultation with the public, 

project stakeholders, consultation groups and government agencies. Inherent through this 

process is the need to consultation with the Algonquins. 

Study Schedule 

The overall time schedule for both phases of the study is approximately 20 months. This 

corresponds to a completion target date of January 2010 for approval of the Provincial and 

Federal environmental assessment reports. 

Consultation with the Algonquins 

To further familiarize the Algonquins with the transit project and the assessment process, 

enclosed is the Study Design and Schedule Document – it provides a blueprint for both phases 

of the study. In addition, the Agenda is enclosed should you choose to attend the first Agency 

Consultation Group (ACG) meeting, which is scheduled for 9 September 2008. Meeting 

notes from this and future meetings will be made available to all interested participants. 

The City of Ottawa looks forward to hearing from you regarding potential interests in this 

particular project. If you have any questions, I can be reached at the coordinates listed below. 

City Of Ottawa 

Tel. : 613-580-2424 ext.: 

Ville d'Ottawa 

Tél. : 613-580-2424 poste:

Yours truly, 

Vivi Chi, P.Eng. 

Manager, Transportation & Infrastructure 

City of Ottawa 

110 Laurier Avenue West 

Ottawa, ON K1P 1J1 

Telephone: 613-580-2424 ext. 21877 

Fax: 613-580-2578 

e-mail: vivi.chi@ottawa.ca 

Memorandum 

To: File Date: August 27, 2008 

Copy: 

Project: TO3041TOB10 

From: Ronald Fournier 

Re: DOTT: Consultation with Algonquins 

Ronald Fournier contacted Ontario Secretariat for Aboriginal Affairs (613-732-8081) on 22 

August 2008. The purpose of the call was to confirm the provincial process for consultation 

with first Nations vis-a-vis the DOTT Project. Spoke with Shelly Dumouchel of the 

Secretariat who outlined process as described below. 

Enclosed: 

 

 

Downtown Ottawa Transit Tunnel Planning and Environmental Assessment Study 

Draft Final: Study Design and Schedule Document 

Agenda (9 September 2008): DOTT Planning and EA Study - Agency Consultation 

Group Meeting 

c.c. Chief Kirby Whiteduck 

Algonquins of Pikwàkanagàn 

1657A Mishomis Inamo Pikwàkanagàn 

Golden Lake, ON K0J 1X0 

Mr. Ronald Fournier 

Delcan Corporation 

1223 Michael Street, Suite 100 

Ottawa, ON K2J 7T2 

 

 

Mr. J.E. Hunton with Jp2g Consultants is to receive all information regarding the 

DOTT project. Mr. Hunton will advise Algonquins at the table of the project and 

ensure they get all information. Send letter to Hunton as the following coordinates 

and also copy the Algonquins of Pikwàkanagàn: 

Jp2g Consultants Inc. 

12 International Drive 

Pembroke, ON K8A 6W5 

Tel: 613-735-2507 

Email: jhunton@jp2g.com 

RE: Consultation with Algonquins of Ontario 

Copy: 

Chief Kirby Whiteduck 

Algonquins of Pikwàkanagàn 

1657A Mishomis Inamo 

Pikwàkanagàn 

Golden Lake, ON K0J 1X0 

Tel: 613-625-2800 

Email: chiefcouncil@pikwakanagan.ca 

Shelly Dumouchel stated that a Federal-Ontario agreement on consultation process 

with First Nations has been signed off by Ontario and Federal Government sign-off is 

expected in the Fall. 

Shelly stated Comprehensive Lands office with Federal Government. One (1) 

comprehensive claim in Ontario (Algonquins). 

H:\DATATEMP\PaulC\PreNoticeFNConsultation\Consultationwith Algonquins_Aug2708.doc

Memorandum 

To: File Date: August 27, 2008 

Copy: 

From: Ronald Fournier 

Re: DOTT: Consultation with Algonquins 

Project: TO3041TOB10 

 

 

 

 

Ronald Fournier telephoned J.H. Hunton on August 26, 2008 regarding the DOTT 

project. Stated he had made contact with Aboriginal Affairs regarding process. 

Hunton confirmed he wanted letter with information on the project so he and 

Algonquins could confirm their interest. He stated that their process was not 

intended to stop the project, but possibly identify areas of interest (i.e., artifacts of 

interest that are found – Algonquins should be contacted). 

Hunton stated that the Algonquins Negotiation Representatives (ANR) are meeting 

September 10-13, 2008 so the letter from the City would be timely and would be put 

on the Agenda. 

Hunton also stated that he was meeting with Kent Kirkpatrick, City Manager on 

September 9, 2008 at 4:00 p.m. 

Fournier stated letter regarding DOTT Project would be sent to him by City of Ottawa 

along with Study Design & Schedule Document and invitation to ACG September 9, 

2008. Hunton stated he does not normally attend ACG meetings as he has 150 

active files. He did state they would remain in contact and meet with City if they 

deemed necessary. 

H:\DATATEMP\PaulC\PreNoticeFNConsultation\ConsultationwithAlgonquins_Hunton_Aug2708.doc

With respect to the status of archaeological studies for the project, a copy of the baseline 

archaeological assessment for the project study area will be forwarded to you under 

separate cover. Potential impacts will be identified as part of the Environmental Assessment 

for this project, and we will keep you informed of any findings. 

Please contact Dennis Gratton if you have any additional questions or require further 

information on the project. He can be reached at (613) 580-2424 ext. 27890, or bye-mail at 

dennis.gratton@ottawa.ca . 

Algonquins of Ontario 

31 Riverside Drive, Suite 101 

Pembroke, Ontario K8A 8R6 

E-mail: Algonquins@nrtco.net 

Re: Downtown Ottawa Transit Tunnel: Tunney's Pasture to Blair Station via a 

Downtown LRTTunnel 

Thank you for your letter of 20 November 2009 regarding the public art component and 

status of the archaeological assessment for the Downtown Ottawa Transit Tunnel project. 

Vivi Chi, P. Eng. 

Manager, Transportation Planning 

Planning and Growth Management Department 

cc. Kevin Plautz, Project Officer, Ministry of Environment 

Dennis Gratton, City of Ottawa 

David Hopper, Delcan Corporation 

Public art is an important component of the project and will be accommodated within 

station and runningway elements of the system. The City of Ottawa has a policy requiring 

that an amount equal to one per cent of an infrastructure project's hard costs be dedicated 

to the provision of public art. An allowance of approximately $10 million has therefore been 

included in project costing for public art. In addition to the provision of stand-alone pieces 

of artwork throughout the system, public art could also be integrated into the architectural 

elements of stations and runningways. 

As the project moves into more detailed phases of the design, the City's Rail Implementation 

Office will oversee development of a public art program for this project. The City staff report 

approved by Ottawa City Council on 13 January 2010 specifically references that input into 

the public art program will be sought from a number of groups, including the Algonquins of 

Ontario. 

City Of Ottawa 

Planning and Growth Management 

110 Laurier Avenue West, 4th Floor 

Ottawa, ON K1P 1J1 

Tel. : 613-580-2424 ext.: 27890 

Fax: 613-680-9688 

Ville d'Ottawa 

Urbanisme et Gestion de la croissance 

110 , avenue Laurier Ouest, 4ieme etage 

Ottawa (Ontario) K1 P 1J1 

Tel. : 613-580-2424 poste: 27890 

Telecopieur: 613-680-9688

POST−NOTICE OF COMMENCEMENT CONSULTATION

NOTICE OF STUDY COMMENCEMENT

DowntownOttawaTransitTunnel(DOTT): 

Tunney’sPasturetoBlairStationviaaDowntownLRTTunnel 

 

OpenHouse 

NoticeofCommencementofTransitProjectAssessmentProcess 

 

TheCityofOttawaisholdingaPublicOpenHousetoprovideinformationontheplannedDOTTproject,existingenvironmentalconditions,theassessmentofeffects,and 

proposedmitigationmeasures.Thisisanopportunityforyoutoaskquestionsandshareyourcommentsontheassessmentofthistransitproject.Yourparticipationin 

thisevent,whichwillhelpshapethefutureofOttawa,isimportant. 

 

Tuesday,February23,2010 

5to8:30p.m. 

OttawaCityHall,MainFloorRotundaArea 

110LaurierAve.West(atElginStreet) 

TransitRoutes: 

5,6,14,andTransitwayroutes 

 

Background 

TheCityofOttawaisproposinganew12.5kmelectriclightrailtransit(LRT)linerunningfromTunney’sPastureStationinthewesttoBlairStationintheeastviaa 

downtowntransittunnel.Thirteenstationsareproposed,fourofwhichareinthe3.2kmtunnel,whiletheremainderaresituatedalongtheatgradecorridorthat 

generallyfollowstheexistingTransitway.Tosupportoperationoftheline,anewmaintenanceandstoragefacilityisalsoplannedtoaccommodateafleetofnewelectric 

lightrailvehicles. 

 

 

 

ThisprojectisidentifiedasaprioritywithintheCity’s2008TransportationMasterPlanUpdate,whichrecognizedtheneedforarapidtransitfacilityfullyseparatedfrom 

generaltrafficthroughOttawa’sdowntown,toaccommodateexistingandfuturetransitridership,whileimprovingservicereliability.TheCityhasalsocarriedoutastudy 

todeterminetheappropriatetransittechnologyfortheDOTTandfutureextensionstotheCityofOttawa’srailrapidtransitnetwork.Publicconsultationsduringthe 

preliminaryplanningstageoftheprojectwereheldonFebruary26,2009,June22,2009andOctober26,2009.InJanuary2010OttawaCityCouncilapprovedthe 

functionaldesignfortheproject. 

 

Process 

TheenvironmentalimpactoftheDOTTprojectwillbeassessedaccordingtothetransitprojectassessmentprocessasprescribedinOntarioRegulation231/08,Transit 

ProjectsandGreaterTorontoTransportationAuthorityUndertakings.Regulation231/08assumesthattherationaleandalternativestothistransitprojecthavebeen 

established.Accordingly,theRegulationallowstheCityofOttawa,theproponent,tofocusitseffortsontheenvironmentalimpactsoftherecommendedplan. 

 

AdraftEnvironmentalProjectReportisbeingpreparedwhichwillidentifythescopeoftheproject,describecurrentenvironmentalconditionsandassessthe 

environmentalimpactsthatthedesign,constructionandoperationofprojectwillhave.Itwilldescribemeasuresthatarebeingproposedtomitigatenegativeimpacts 

andidentifyhowtheeffectivenessofthosemeasureswillbemonitored.Followingtheconsultationperiod,thedraftEnvironmentalProjectReportwillbecombinedwith 

thefeedbacktheCityofOttawareceivesfromthepublic,governmentagencies,andFirstNationstoproducethefinalEnvironmentalProjectReport.Atthattime,a 

formalNoticeofStudyCompletionwillbeissued.ThefinalEnvironmentalProjectReportwillthenbeavailablefora30dayreviewperiodontheprojectwebsite: 

ottawa.ca/tunnel.TheNoticeofCompletionfortheassessmentwillalsoincludeanumberoflocationstoreviewahardcopyofthereport. 

 

AFederalEnvironmentalAssessmentundertheCanadianEnvironmentalAssessmentActwillbecoordinatedwiththeProvincialprocess. 

 

Allinformationproducedaspartofthisproject,includingpreviousplanningstudieswillbeavailableatottawa.ca/tunnel. 

 

Membersofthepublic,agenciesandotherinterestedpersonsareencouragedtoparticipateactivelyinthetransitprojectassessmentprocessbyattendingthePublic 

OpenHouseorcontactingstaffdirectlywithinformation,commentsorquestions. 

 

Ifyouwouldliketobeaddedtoourprojectmailinglistorhaveprojectrelatedquestions,pleasecontact: 

 

DennisGratton,MCIP,RPP 

Manager,RailPlanning 

InfrastructureServicesandCommunitySustainability 

PlanningandGrowthManagementDepartment 

CityofOttawa 

110LaurierAvenueWest 

Ottawa,ONK1P1J1 

Tel:6135802424,ext.27890 

Email:dennis.gratton@ottawa.ca 

 

UndertheFreedomofInformationandProtectionofPrivacyActandtheEnvironmentalAssessmentAct,unlessotherwisestatedinthesubmission,anypersonal 

informationsuchasname,address,telephonenumberandpropertylocationincludedinasubmissionwillbecomepartofthepublicrecordfilesforthismatterandwill 

bereleased,ifrequested,toanyperson. 

Tunneldetransportencommunaucentrevilled'Ottawa: 

DupréTunneyàlastationBlair,viauntunnelpourleTLRaucentreville 

 

Réunionportesouvertes 

Avisdedébutduprocessusd’évaluationduprojetdetransportencommun 

 

LaVilled’Ottawaorganiseuneréunionportesouvertesafinderenseignerlapopulationsurleprojetdetunneldetransportencommunaucentrevilled’Ottawa,les 

conditionsenvironnementalesobservéessurplace,l’évaluationdeseffetsetlesmesuresd’atténuationenvisagées.Cetteréunionseral’occasionpourlesrésidentsde 

poserdesquestionsetdefairepartdeleurscommentairessurl’évaluationdeceprojetdetransportencommun.Votreparticipationàcetteréunion,quiaideraàforger 

l’avenird’Ottawa,estdesplusimportantes. 

 

Lemardi23février2010 

De17hà20h30 

Hôteldevilled’Ottawa 

Rotondedurezdechaussée 

110,avenueLaurierOuest(àl’angledelarueElgin) 

Circuitsdetransportencommun: 

5,6,14,etcircuitsduTransitway 

 

Contexte 

LaVilled’Ottawaprojetted’aménagerunelignedetrainlégerélectrique(TLR)de12,5kmentrelastationPréTunneyàl’ouestetlastationBlairàl’est,unelignequi 

emprunteraituntunneldetransportencommunaucentreville.Laconstructiondetreizestationsestproposée:quatresetrouveraientdansletunnellongde3,2km 

tandisquelesautresseraientsituéesauniveaudusollelongducouloirquisuitglobalementleTransitwayactuel.Afind’exploitercetteligne,onproposeunenouvelle 

installationd’entretienetd’entreposaged’unparcdenouveauxvéhiculesélectriqueslégerssurrail. 

 

CeprojetestdésignéprioritairedansladernièreversionduPlandirecteurdestransportsde2008delaVille,quireconnaîtlanécessitéd’uneinstallationdetransporten 

communrapidecomplètementdistinctedurestedelacirculationducentrevilled’Ottawa,afindedesservirlesusagersactuelsetfutursdutransportencommun,tout 

enaméliorantlafiabilitéduservice.LaVilleaenoutreréaliséuneétudevisantàdéterminerlatechnologiedetransportencommunappropriéepourletunnelde 

transportencommunetlesprolongementsfutursduréseaudetransportencommunrapidesurraildelaVilled’Ottawa.Lesséancesdeconsultationpubliquedel’étape 

préliminairedeplanificationduprojetontététenuesle26février,le22juinetle26octobre2009.Enjanvier2010,leConseilmunicipald’Ottawaaapprouvéla 

conceptionfonctionnelleduprojet. 

 

 

 

Processus 

L’incidenceenvironnementaleduprojetdetunneldetransportencommunaucentrevilled’Ottawaseraévaluéedanslecadreduprocessusd’évaluationdesprojetsde 

transportencommunprescritparlerèglementdel’Ontario231/08,TransitProjectsandGreaterTorontoTransportationAuthorityUndertakings.L’applicationdu 

règlement231/08supposequelaraisond’êtreetlessolutionsderechangedeceprojetdetransportencommunontétéétablies.Parconséquent,leRèglementpermet 

àlaVilled’Ottawa,lerequérant,deconcentrerseseffortssurlesincidencesenvironnementalesduplanrecommandé. 

 

Unrapportprovisoiredeprojetenvironnemental,encoursd’élaboration,devraitpermettrededéterminerlaportéeduprojet,dedécrirelesconditions 

environnementalesexistantesetd’évaluerlesincidencesenvironnementalesdelaconception,delaconstructionetdel’exploitationdeceprojet.Ildécriralesmesures 

proposéespouratténuerleseffetsnégatifsetdétermineracommentseracontrôléel’efficacitédecesmesures.Aprèslapériodedeconsultation,lerapportprovisoirede 

projetenvironnementalseraassociéauxcommentairesquelaVilled’Ottawaaurareçusdesmembresdupublic,desorganismesgouvernementauxetdesreprésentants 

desPremièresnations,pourdevenirunrapportdeprojetenvironnementaldéfinitif.C’estàcemomentqu’unavisofficield’achèvementd’étudeseraémis.Lerapportde 

projetenvironnementaldéfinitifseraensuitesoumisàunepérioded’examende30joursenétantaffichésurlesiteWebduprojet,àl’adresseottawa.ca/tunnel.L’avis 

d’achèvementmentionneraégalementlesendroitsoùdesexemplairespapierdurapportserontdisponibles. 

 

Uneévaluationenvironnementalefédérale,réaliséeconformémentàlaLoicanadiennesurl'évaluationenvironnementale,seracoordonnéeavecleprocessusprovincial. 

 

Touslesrenseignementsdisponiblesdanslecadredeceprojet,ycomprislesétudesdeplanificationantérieures,pourrontêtreconsultésàl’adresseottawa.ca/tunnel. 

 

Lesmembresdupublic,lesorganismesetlespartiesintéresséessontinvitésàparticiperactivementàceprocessusd’évaluationdeprojetdetransportencommun,en 

assistantàlaréunionportesouvertesouencommuniquantdirectementaveclepersonnelcompétentenmatièrepourdemanderdel’informationoufairepartdeleurs 

commentairesetdeleursquestions. 

 

Sivoussouhaitezêtreajoutéànotrelisted’envoiousivousavezdesquestionsàproposdeceprojet,veuillezcommuniqueravec: 

 

DennisGratton,MCIP,RPP 

Gestionnaire,PlanificationRéseauferroviaire 

Servicesd’infrastructureetViabilitédescollectivités 

Servicedel'urbanismeetdelagestiondelacroissance 

Villed’Ottawa 

110,avenueLaurierOuest,4 e étage 

Ottawa(Ontario)K1P1J1 

Tél.:6135802424,poste27890 

Courriel:dennis.gratton@ottawa.ca 

 

EnvertudelaLoisurl'accèsàl'informationetlaprotectiondelavieprivéeetdelaLoisurlesévaluationsenvironnementales,etàmoinsdementioncontrairedansla 

demande,touslesrenseignementspersonnels,telsquelenom,l’adresse,lenumérodetéléphoneetl’emplacementdelapropriétéviséeparlademande,serontdu 

domainepublic.Ilsserontdivulguésàquiconquesursimpledemande.

BREAKING NEWS AT_OTTAW~CITIZEI'1I.COM 

Information' 

ottawa.ca 

City 3' 1 1- 

ser\(ices - - 

TTY.,613-580-2401 

Downtown Ottawa Transit Tunnel (DOTT): 

Tunney's ,Pasture to Blair Station via a Downtown 

, , LRT TUJineI" ' 

Open House 

Notice of Commencement 'of Transit Project 

, Assessment Process ,- 

The City of Ottawa is liolding aPublic'Open House t~ provideinformallon on the planned 

DOTI project, existing environmental conditions, the assessment of effects, and proposed 

mitigation measures, 1;his, is an oppor\linil): for you to ask qU'estions and share your 

comments on the assessment o[this transit project Your participation in'this event, which 

will help shape the l'u~e of Ottawa, is, important 

Tuesday, Feoruary 23, 2010 

5 to 8:30 p,m,. 

Ottawa City Hall 

Main Floor Rotunda Area 

110 Laurier Ave, West ,(at Elgin Street) 

Transit Routes: 

5,6, 14, and 'Transitway routes 

Background , ' , 

The City of Ottawa is proposing a new 12.5 kill electric light rail transit (LRT) line running 

from Tunney's Pasture Station in the west to Blair Station in the east via a downtown 

transit runnel: Thirteen stations are proposed, four of which are.in the 3,2 kill tunnel, while • 

the remainder'are situated along the at-grade corridor'that generally follows the existing 

Transitway, To, support operation of tjle line, anew maintenance and storage facility is also . 

. planned to 'accommodate a fleet of new electric light rail vehicles, 

This project is identified as a priority within the City's 2008 TransPRrtation Master Plan 

Update, which recognized the ne'ed for a ,rapid transit facility fully separated from gene{al 

traffic thrQugh Ottawa's' downtown, to accommodate existing and future transit ridership, 

,while improving servi'ce reliability, The City has also 'carried out a study to determine the 

appropriate transit technology for the DOTI and future extensions 1'9 the City of Ottawa's 

'ran rapid transit network. Public consultations during the preliminary planning stage of the 

project were held on FebfUary 26,2009, 'June '22, 2009 and October 26, 2009 .. In January 

20 I 0 Ottawa City Council approved the functional design for the project 

, Process 

Tne env,ironmental impact of the DOtTpl'ojectwill be assesseq according to the,transit 

project assessment process as,prescribed in Ontario Regu!ation'231108, TransitProjeots 

and Greater Toronto Transportation Authority Undertakings. Regulation 231108 assumes 

that tIie rationale i'lld alternatives to this transit,!?r9Ject'have been established, AccordinglY" 

the Regulation allows the City of Ottawa, the proponent,to focus its efforts on the 

environmental impacts of the recommended platl~i(,- ". . 

. .... _.;s. .•.:-~." .•-0.,'"., •• -'-

CONSULTATION GROUP MEETING #6 

- Agenda 

- Presentation 

- Meeting Notes (ACG, BCG, PCG)

CONSULTATION GROUP MEETING #6 

- Agenda 

- Presentation 

- Meeting Notes (ACG, BCG, PCG)

Downtown Ottawa Transit Tunnel: 

Tunney’s Pasture to Blair Station via a Downtown LRT 

Tunnel 

Planning and Environmental 

Assessment Study 

Consultation Group Meeting #6 

Presentation 

17 February 2010 

Meeting Agenda 

• Introduction: Study Team, Consultation Group members 

• DOTT project update 

• EA process 

– Environmental effects and mitigation 

– Project benefits 

– Assessment of effects 

– Commitments to future work 

• Schedule update/process moving forward 

DOTT Project Update 

• Transit Technology Choice approved by Council on 25 

November 2009 

• Recommended Plan (functional design) approved by 

Council on 13 January 2010 

• EA Notice of Commencement posted on 12 February 

2010 

• Public Open House for EA phase on 23 February 2010 

Overview of Recommended Plan 

• Council approved functional design for project 

components, including: 

– LRT alignment 

– Station locations and designs 

– Maintenance and Storage Facility



EA Process 

• The DOTT project is subject to both federal and 

provincial EA requirements 

– Focus of this meeting is on provincial EA requirements 

• The City is working with federal and provincial i approval 

authorities to coordinate the EA processes 

• The Provincial EA study is expected to be completed by 

June, 2010 

• Additional approvals and permits will be addressed at 

the preliminary i and detailed d design stages

Federal EA Requirements 

• A federal EA is required under the Canadian 

Environmental Assessment Act when a federal authority: 

– Proposes a project; 

– Provides financial assistance to a proponent to enable 

a project to be carried out; 

– Sells, leases, or otherwise transfers control or 

administration of federal land to enable a project to 

be carried out; or 

– Provides a licence, permit or an approval that is listed 

in the Law List Regulations that enables a project to 

be carried out. 

Provincial EA Requirements 

• The EA for the DOTT project will follow Ontario Regulation 

231/08, Transit Projects and Greater Toronto o o Authority 

Undertakings (2008) 

• Major features of the Transit Project Assessment Process 

include: 

– Proponents can rely on previous planning work for project justification 

– EA completed within 6 months including public consultation period 

– Environmental Project Report (EPR) report prepared for a 30-day public 

and agency comment/objection period 

– After review period, Minister of the Environment has 35 days to issue 

decision 

– Issues of provincial importance or constitutionally protected Aboriginal 

or treaty rights are only grounds for objection to the project 

– ‘Time-out’ initiated until the concerns raised are addressed 

Environmental Effects and Mitigation 

• EA study assesses the potential environmental effects and benefits 

of a project on the environment (human, natural) 

– Effects at all stages of project implementation considered: 

• Planning/Design 

• Construction 

• Operation 

• Environmental effects have been avoided or minimized to the extent 

possible in the development of the DOTT project 

– Re-use of existing corridor 

– Identification and evaluation of alternatives 

– Selection of Recommended d Plan 

• Mitigation measures for effects that cannot be fully avoided will be 

developed 

Project Benefits 

• The DOTT project represents a significant transit 

investment for Ottawa and will benefit residents, 

businesses and visitors to Ottawa, as well as the 

environment by: 

– Increasing Transit Capacity 

– Improving Reliability and Speed of Transit 

– Reducing Transportation Related Air Quality Impacts 

– Reducing Transit Costs 

– Accommodating Growth 

– Providing Economic Development 

– Improving the Downtown

Assessment of Effects 

• Environmental factors to be considered include: 

Human Environment 

• Air Quality 

• Noise 

• Vibration 

• Archaeological Potential 

• Built Heritage 

• Emergency Services 

• Transit Service 

• Road Network Integration 

• Pedestrian and Cycling Integration 

• Recreational Pathways 

• Urban Character and National Symbolism 

• Land Use Intensification and Compatibility 

• Capital Arrivals 

• Rideau Canal Setting 

• Downtown Business Vitality 

• Land Acquisition 

• Safety and Security 

• Municipal Services 

• Public Utilities 

Natural Environment 

• Surface Water Quality & Aquatic Habitats 

• Terrestrial Habitats 

• Species at Risk 

• Groundwater 

• Ground Movement 

• Contaminated Materials 

Commitments to Future Work 

• As part of the EA approvals process, the City is committed to future work to ensure 

the environmental effects of the project are properly mitigated t during future project 

design and implementation phases. Commitments to future work include: 

• Consultation Plans (coordinated communications with agencies, the public, property 

p owners, First Nations and other stakeholders) 

• Monitoring Programs (Air quality, erosion control, construction noise, surface water 

run-off) 

• Management Plans for: 

– Construction management 

– Traffic management 

– Access management 

– Environmental management 

• Permits and Approvals (during design and construction stages) 


• DOTT Public Open House #4 next Tuesday (23 February 

2010) 

• Focused on Environmental Assessment 

• Provide opportunity for public to see and comment on 

environmental effects and mitigation measures 

• Information gathered will contribute to producing the 

provincial and federal EA reports 

Process Moving Forward 

• Public Open House #4 – 23 February 2010 

• Consult with stakeholders, approval authorities, others 

• Issue Notice of Completion (provincial process) 

– Initiates 30-day public review of EPR 

• Ministerial Review 

– Minister of Environment has 35 days to issue decision on project 

• Federal EA process to be coordinated to extent possible

Thank You!

DOWNTOWN OTTAWA TRANSIT TUNNEL 

TO3041/TO3049 


TO3041/TO3049 

AGENCY CONSULTATION GROUP MEETING NOTES Page 1 of 8 

DATE: February 17, 2010 

TIME: 9:00 a.m. 

LOCATION: Ottawa City Hall – Honeywell Room 

PROJECT TEAM MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE: 

DISTRIBUTE TO ALL ACG MEMBERS 

Dennis Gratton - City of Ottawa 

David Hopper - Delcan Corporation 

Paul Croft - Delcan Corporation 

Ron Fournier 

- Delcan Corporation 

Task 

No. 


Description 

Discussion / Status 

Question: In Calgary the M&S Facility has a track that connects 

normal rail to LRT tracks to facilitate delivery. Will 

that be provided here? 

Response: Yes, design shows a spur from the VIA corridor 

leading into the M&S Facility. LRVs and other large 

equipment could be delivered via flatcar and lifted 

onto LRT tracks or service vehicles. 

Question/ 

Comment 

Klaus 

Beltzner 

David 

Hopper 

Task 

No. 

Description 

1. Opening 

Remarks 

Question/ 


Comment 

Dennis Gratton opened up the meeting with an introduction and an overview of 

the meeting purpose. Attendees introduced themselves. 

2. Presentation A PowerPoint presentation was given providing an update of the 

project, the EA process, the upcoming Public Open House and the 

study process moving forward. 


A general update on the project status and schedule was 

presented. 


David 

Hopper 

David 

Hopper 

Question: Wouldn’t rail gauge be same, wouldn’t the LRVs be 

hauled to site? 

Response: Not usually. They are typically floated in (flatbed 

cars) due to distance from factory, to avoid wear on 

wheels and damage. 

Question: Have previously mentioned that facility in Houston 

has ability to use an adjacent rail corridor for a test 

track. Have you investigated using the VIA corridor 

for this? It has width for 2 tracks. 

Response: We have not to-date but could do in future, will talk 

to VIA. We don’t know what their future needs in this 

corridor are. 

Klaus 

Beltzner 

David 

Hopper 

David 

Jeanes 

David 

Hopper 

An overview of the functional design for the M&S Facility was 

provided. 

Question: What is the purpose of the berm on the north side of 

the facility? We were previously told there would be 

no impacts on adjacent communities, so what is need 

for berm? 

David 

Hopper 

David 

Jeanes 

EA Process 

An overview of the federal and provincial EA processes was 

provided. The focus of this meeting is on the provincial EA 

process. An overview of the assessment of effects and mitigation, 

project benefits and environmental factors being considered as 

well as commitments to future work was also provided. 

David 

Hopper 

Response: The intention is to screen view across corridor from 

residential to north, allow facility to blend into 

background. 

Question: But it is on industrial zoned land. Why are you taking 

additional land to west for a landscaping berm? 

Response: Land to west is a remnant parcel and could be used 

for other transit purposes in the future. 

Question: What is the assumption on length of LRVs? 

Response: Used a 30 m nominal length. 

Question: Are there transmission corridor impacts? 

Response: The design of the connecting track avoids the existing 

pylon on the east side of Belfast, south of Tremblay. 

Comment: There may be no relocation required, but we will need 

to review design for potential impacts. 

Response: Correct, you will be involved during design phase. 

David 

Hopper 

David 

Jeanes 

David 

Hopper 

Klaus 

Beltzner 

David 

Hopper 

Florence 

Robinson 

David 

Hopper 

Florence 

Robinson 

David 

Hopper 

Question: Are issues of provincial significance concerned mainly 

with heritage/natural environment - narrowly scoped? 

Response: Yes, Regulation gives outline of provincial issues but 

also need to consider local implications. For example 

we need to consider other provincial policies such as 

smart growth. 

Comment: Generally think along corridor there aren’t major 

provincial issues. 

Response: Yes, we are primarily converting BRT to LRT, plus 

adding a tunnel downtown, so there should be very 

few EA issues arising. Still a fair bit of work to do to 

complete reporting. 

Question: Impacts are referred to as negligible. Does that 

include construction impacts? 

Response: Yes. Appropriate mitigation should reduce impacts. 

Construction activities are relatively short in duration. 

Question: Even bus operations? 

Response: There will be disruption to bus service, but this can 

be mitigated and the net effect is considered 

insignificant over life of the project. 

David 

Jeanes 

David 

Hopper 

David 

Jeanes 

David 

Hopper 

Mona 

Abouhenidy 

David 

Hopper 

Mona 

Abouhenidy 

David 

Hopper


TO3041/TO3049 



TO3041/TO3049 


Task 

No. 

Description 


Question/ 

Comment 

Klaus 

Beltzner 

David 

Hopper 

Task 

No. 

Description 


Question/ 

Comment 

Sandra 

Candow 

David 

Hopper 

David 

Jeanes 

Question: Does the TBM need to be turned around at the 

Campus Station? 

Response: There will be a removal shaft for the TBM here. The 

TBM will be removed and taken back to LeBreton to 

start 2 nd run, or, if there are 2 TBMs they will be 

removed and taken away from this site. 

Question: Given the existing road network in area, and 

proximity of buildings, it looks like a tight site. Is that 

not a challenge? 

Response: Yes, it is a challenging site. The construction 

technique and mitigation will address impacts. 

Construction disruption will be relatively short-term 

Question: Is it possible that the exit shaft for the TBM could be 

further south at Mann Avenue? 

Response: Yes, that is possible and will be considered further 

during preliminary design. We are looking at the 

worst case impact for the EA study. 

Question: Will you be contacting Hydro One regarding access, 

impacts to our facilities? 

Response: Yes, you will be circulated prior to construction, and 

as part of the approvals process for the project. 


The next Public Open House will be on 23 February 2010, from 5:00 

p.m. to 8:30 p.m. There will be no presentation component to this 

event. The focus of this Open House is on the provincial EA process 

and requirements. 

Question: Will there be a presentation given? 

Comment: A small notation indicating federal approvals process 

is required. We can work together for wording. 

Response: Agreed, we can accommodate. 

Response: No, just display boards for this Open House. Project 

team members will be available to answer questions 

and discuss the project. 


Key dates: 

Public Open House – 23 February 2010 

Draft Environmental Project Report available – March 2010 

Notice of Completion (initiates 30-day public review) – April 2010 

Question: When will the Open House panels be completed? 

Response: Text has been completed and we are working on 

graphics. 

Comment: From NCC perspective, station locations and federal 

impacts suggest a preview of the material. 

Response: Yes, we will try for that. We can also note federal 

interest on relevant display boards. 

Klaus 

Beltzner 

David 

Hopper 

David 

Jeanes 

David 

Hopper 

Florence 

Robinson 

David 

Hopper 

David 

Hopper 

David 

Jeanes 

David 

Hopper 

David 

Hopper 

Sandra 

Candow 

David 

Hopper 

Sandra 

Candow 

David 

Hopper 

Question: To what extent is DOTT study coordinated with 

Interprovincial Transit Strategy? There are issues 

that require attention, e.g. branching off from 

Rideau. To what extent does the tunnel design 

accommodate this? There is also the potential for 

running trains on multiple routes. The expert panel 

indicated an incompatibility of running shorter trains 

with lower ridership along the same line as longer 

trains with higher ridership. 

Response: There has been a fair amount of work done on this. 

At Bayview, the design can accommodate multiple 

options for interprovincial service. The tunnel design 

near Rideau can accommodate an underground 

junction but this is somewhat tricky and will need 

more work in the preliminary engineering phase. We 

are generally aware of the interprovincial study, its 

timing, and general recommendations. That study 

has fallen behind schedule somewhat and we had 

hoped for more input. 

Question: The previous (N-S LRT) project, required significant 

federal involvement regarding operating regulations. 

The CTA has since been amended to allow delegation, 

has a submission been made by City? 

Response: There have been discussions between the City, 

Transport Canada and the CTA. The City is leaning 

towards a provincially regulated municipal railway but 

needs to look at impacts on existing operations. 

Question: Has a formal letter been issued to the Minister? 

Response: No, City is still working through implications of being 

a municipal railway before asking for exemption. 

Question: With the exception of the TTC, no in-province 

inspection capacity exists. The province typically 

contracts this back to the federal government. In 

Montreal, the AMT is trying to become federal railway 

to get greater powers and reduce costs for 

regulation. Capital railway does operate interprovincially, 

and future inter-provincial routes 

suggest it may be better to stay with federal 

regulation. 

Response: The current regulatory framework is designed for 

heavy rail, not LRT. The N-S line required many new 

regulations and exemptions to implement. 

Response: Automation is also further removed from CTA 

regulatory ability. 

David 

Hopper 

Luc Masse 

David 

Hopper 

Luc Masse 

David 

Hopper 

David 

Jeanes 

Luc Masse 

David 

Hopper


TO3041/TO3049 



TO3041/TO3049 


Task 

No. 

Description 


Question/ 

Comment 

David 

Jeanes 

Task 

No. 

Description 


Question/ 

Comment 

Phil Pawliuk 

Comment: In 1998 when O-Train went through process, we 

thought we were moving towards a more European 

system to address shortcomings in existing North 

American safety regimes. Would be leery of walking 

away when these benefits may still be realized. 

Response: The USA has FTA, which is geared to transit 

regulation. Nothing similar exists in Canada. 

Question: Will the presentation and display boards be available 

on website? 

Response: The presentation will be online later this week, and 

the POH boards will be available after POH. We will 

send notice. 

Question: Has the budget been updated? 

Response: No, the current budget won’t change until end of 

preliminary engineering. 

Question: What does the value engineering exercise look at? 

Response: It is a process that looks at the complete design. 

Typically look at most expensive elements first and 

work way down, looking for opportunities to improve 

the design, minimize impacts, improve 

constructability or modify the design to achieve the 

same functionality with a different solution. 

Question: Will the depth of the tunnel be looked at? 

Response: The City is undertaking a geotechnical study and 

results will be used in preliminary design phase to 

determine if depth of tunnel can be decreased. 

Question: Will you also look at shifting stations to save money? 

Response: Yes, but that will be part of preliminary engineering, 

not value engineering. 

Comment: It is also related to development opportunities 

downtown. 

Question: Will transit priority measures on 417 which may need 

EA approval be shown or left for next phase? 

Response: Some will need to be in EA report, but we were not 

intending to show detail at POH without showing 

physical options. Report will need to show concepts 

in more detail. 

Comment: Later on, you will need to show where approvals have 

been received for specific infrastructure. 

Response: Yes will need to work towards that, it is primarily an 

issue for the Rail Implementation Office. 

Luc Masse 

Ian 

Donnelly 

David 

Hopper 

Ian 

Donnelly 

David 

Hopper 

Klaus 

Beltzner 

David 

Hopper 

Klaus 

Beltzner 

David 

Hopper 

Klaus 

Beltzner 

David 

Hopper 

Ian 

Donnelly 

Phil Pawliuk 

David 

Hopper 

Comment: MTO is moving into detailed design for widening of 

the Queensway in the summer/fall of 2010. We need 

to know whether any transit priority measures will be 

part of design. 

Question: Do you have a date for release of scope of work for 

this assignment? 

Response: March of 2010 

Question: Will MTO need to make changes to their EA? 

Response: No, they would be covered in DOTT EA. 

Comment: At the last CG meeting we saw plans for stations, but 

something new shown in the design report was the 

alignment between stations. One of benefits 

identified for the project is speed and there were 

questions raised at Council on speed of service. I 

have questions about the impacts of reverse curves 

at several locations on speed and also the lack of bypass 

tracks at stations for express service. Buses 

operate at speeds of 90-100 km/h, but proposed 

curves will eliminate the opportunity for 

superelevation and reduce speed for LRT compared to 

current service. 

Response: All curves can accommodate superelevation, including 

the reverse curves. At Train and Campus existing 

sharp curves will be removed. Another sharp curve 

at the Mackenzie-King bridge will also be removed, as 

well as 14 signalized intersections downtown. While 

vehicle speed may be lower at certain locations, the 

end to end speed of the whole system will be better 

than at present. 

Question: Can you provide details on speeds for future 

segments, for example in the Greenbelt? The N-S LRT 

project had a maximum design speed of 80 km/h, 

resulting in slower journey times. 

Response: Can’t predict exactly as the actual vehicle make is 

unknown. We can provide some general info but 

nothing definitive at this point. 

Question: Edmonton LRT design guidelines use a design speed 

of 80 km/h. Will this be greater? 

Dennis 

Gratton 

Phil Pawliuk 

Mona 

Abouhenidy 

David 

Hopper 

David 

Jeanes 

David 

Hopper 

David 

Jeanes 

David 

Hopper 

Klaus 

Beltzner 

Phil Pawliuk 

David 

Hopper


TO3041/TO3049 



TO3041/TO3049 


Task 

No. 

Description 


Question/ 

Comment 

David 

Hopper 

Task 

No. 

Description 


Question/ 

Comment 

Carmel 

Dufour 

David 

Hopper 

Response: That document was prepared 25 years ago, and is 

based on the technology available at the time and 

currently used in Edmonton. Design guidelines for 

Ottawa will be developed by the Rail Implementation 

Office. 80 km/h is likely sufficient based on station 

spacing and the restrictive geometry in the built-up 

area of the City. Across the Greenbelt, higher speeds 

could be appropriate. You would need to specify a 

vehicle which can operate faster. Physical constraints 

of environment (existing Transitway alignment) limits 

achievable speed, unless you want to spend a lot 

more money to design system which would then not 

connect everything you want to connect. 

Question: When will there be an exercise to model travel time 

v. the current bus service? One objective is to make 

transit faster – that needs to be quantified. 

Residents are looking for a system which will make 

travel faster. Longer walk times within stations also 

needs to be addressed. 

Comment: Can’t compare today to 5-10 years from now when 

buses will be even slower due to congestion, 

crowding. 

Response: The real advantage is reliability, and the elimination 

of confusion of buses – every train will be your train 

and will be able to take you where you want to go. 

You will also have off-vehicle fare collection and 

multiple doors for boarding speeding up the overall 

journey time. The entire system needs to be taken 

into account not just in-vehicle travel time. 

Question: Is anything preventing OC from operating bus service 

like LRT proposed now? 

Response: Primarily the lack of transfer facilities at stations and 

capacity of downtown road network. 

Comment: You can only park so many buses in a given time 

interval. 

Response: Off-board fare collection will speed system, make it 

regular v. today where boarding is slowed by 

cash/ticket transactions at front doors. True test is 

how system operates not vehicle speed. Between 

Bronson-Elgin transit access will be similar to today, 

and integration will be improved (e.g. DTW station 

with direct connections to Place de Ville (5 buildings). 

Question: How do you organize system to allow LRT to skip 

stops? 

Response: It could be run just like a bus, with passengers 

required to request stop. San Jose and Edmonton 

operate like this. Can also have individual door 

operation, like on O-Train for efficiency. 

Klaus 

Beltzner 

Ian 

Donnelly 

David 

Hopper 

Klaus 

Beltzner 

David 

Hopper 

Cheryl 

Savage 

David 

Hopper 

Comment: Can only skip stations if there is not someone waiting 

on platform. 

Response: Yes, but train operator will also know that any 

passenger waiting at a station is waiting for the train 

and not one of several bus routes, eliminating the 

need to stop for passengers who actually want a 

different bus. 

Question: LRT skipping stations does not fit a timetabled 

operation. Assume this will not be covered in EA? 

Response: It’s an operational decision. The current Transitway 

buses have a different operating speed at different 

times of the day which reflects, in part, that not all 

trips stop at all stations. This service is still 

scheduled. 

Comment: Raised the issue of alignment as we have had no 

opportunity to discuss previously. If corridor needs 

to be altered, whether it is not significant, it is an EA 

factor. Previous issues with train operation over S 

curves, even where you can have transitions. Want 

to make sure benefits of less curvy alignments have 

been considered. 

Response: Yes, that has been looked at. 

3. Closure As this is likely the last meeting of the ACG, members were thanked 

for their participation in the study. The meeting notes and 

presentation will be posted on the ftp site as soon as possible. The 

meeting ended at 11:30 a.m. 

Please report on errors or omissions to Paul Croft at p.croft@delcan.com by March 3, 2010. 

Attendees: 

Cheryl Savage – OC Transpo 

Dave Hart – Rogers Cable 

Mona Abouhenidy – City of Ottawa 

Bob Spicer – City of Ottawa 

Phil Pawliuk - MTO 

Klaus Beltzner – Transport Action Canada 

David Jeanes – Transport Action Canada 

Nadia Brescacin - MTO 

Arto Keklikian - NCC 

Allan Ireland - MTO 

Ian Donnelly – Downtown Coalition 

Sgt. Claude Parent – Ottawa Police 

Marylène Cormier – Transport Canada 

Sandra Candow – NCC 

Florence Robinson - Hydro One 

Carmel Dufour - STO 

Luc Masse – Transport Canada 

Stuart Edison – City of Ottawa 

Linda Carkner – City of Ottawa 

Phil Pawliuk - MTO 

Carina Duclos – City of Ottawa 

Rick Zarzosa – City of Ottawa 

Gary O’Connor – City of Ottawa 

David 

Jeanes 

Cheryl 

Savage 

David 

Jeanes 

David 

Hopper 

David 

Hopper 

Klaus 

Beltzner 

David 

Hopper 

H:\ISO\TO3041\TOB\DOCS\Agency Consultation Group\Meeting6_Feb1710\ACG Meeting_Feb1610_Notes_Draft.doc


TO3041/TO3049 


TO3041/TO3049 

BUSINESS CONSULTATION GROUP MEETING NOTES #7 Page 1 of 5 


TIME: 1:00 p.m. 


Task 

No. 


Description 


Question/ 

Comment 





Ron Fournier - Delcan Corporation 

Task 

No. 

Description 


1. Opening 

Remarks 

DISTRIBUTE TO ALL BCG MEMBERS 

Question/ 

Comment 


the meeting purpose. Attendees introduced themselves. 





David 

Hopper 

Response: There are actually several federal triggers for a federal 

EA of this project, including land, funding, permits and 

approvals that are required for the project. 

Question: Will this project be part of Capital Railway or will it be 

separate? 

Response: The situation in Ottawa is unique. All other urban 

railways in Canada are municipal operated/provincially 

regulated. Because in Ottawa the O-Train crosses 

heavy rail corridors and has potential for an 

interprovincial crossing it is federally regulated. 

Regarding DOTT, we are unsure if that is appropriate. 

Transport Canada is geared to heavy rail regulation. 

There are pros and cons to both approaches. The 

answer then is maybe. The issues is being reviewed 

by the Rail Implementation Office. 

David 

Hopper 

David 

Glastonbury 

David 

Hopper 

A general update on the project status and schedule was presented 

David 

Hopper 

Question: So the LRT would not be treated as part of bus 

system? 

David 

Glastonbury 



provided. 

Question: Will all trains be stored inside? 

Response: Yes, there are benefits for train operations in 

inclement weather and reduced impact on the 

adjacent residential areas. 

Question: Is the link to the mainline at-grade or below ground? 

Response: The connecting track is below-grade. 

Question: Has any thought been given to breaking down cost to 

attribute overall project costs to other, future related 

projects? 

Response: We have done some work on this. The facility is 

planned for staging up to 2031 requirements, but 

some components will be needed from day one. Will 

work with the Rail Implementation Office to identify 

specifics and attribute costs accordingly. 

EA Process 


provided. The focus of this meeting is on the provincial EA process. 

An overview of the assessment of effects and mitigation, project 

benefits and environmental factors being considered as well as 

commitments to future work was also provided. 

Question: Is the federal EA required due to funding? 

David 

Hopper 

David 

Glastonbury 

David 

Hopper 

Louis-Martin 

Parent 

David 

Hopper 

Hume 

Rogers 

David 

Hopper 

David 

Hopper 

David 

Glastonbury 

Response: The proposed LRT will not operate across the 

provincial boundary so may not need to be federally 

regulated for operating standards. Canadian 

Transportation Agency still involved in EA until issues 

are resolved. 

Question: Does that mean the DOTT could be a municipal 

railway under provincial regulation? 

Response: Potentially. That still needs to be discussed and 

decided between the City and Transport Canada 

Question: Could setup be similar to short line operation? 

Response: Different standards apply for urban transit. 

Question: Have First Nations communities provided any input 

to-date? Will there be any impact from land claims? 

Response: Have not heard anything with respect to land claim 

issues in regard to this project. The Algonquins have 

identified an interest in the public art component and 

city has indicated they will be engaged in that process. 

Response: First Nations have also identified archaeological 

resource potential as an interest. They are interested 

in the results of the baseline study and want to be 

advised if the project discovers s any artifacts during 

the design/construction phase. 

Question: Are they represented on any committees? 

Response: They are represented on the Agency Consultation 

Group. 

Question: Can you make use of previous studies by others as 

part of the EA? 

David 

Hopper 

David 

Glastonbury 

David 

Hopper 

David 

Glastonbury 

David 

Hopper 

David 

Glastonbury 

David 

Hopper 

Ron 

Fournier 

David 

Glastonbury 

Ron 

Fournier 

David 

Glastonbury


TO3041/TO3049 



TO3041/TO3049 


Task 

No. 

Description 


Question/ 

Comment 

David 

Hopper 

Task 

No. 

Description 


Question/ 

Comment 

Peggy 

Nieghorn 

David 

Hopper 

Peggy 

Nieghorn 

David 

Hopper 

Response: During the first stage we did a desktop exercise which 

used previous databases for contaminated sites, 

borehole information, etc. Once the alignment was 

defined, additional work was undertaken. Our work 

built on the previous studies. 

Question: Will EA consider the changes in transit patterns while 

construction is on-going? 

Response: Yes, will look at impacts to transit users and consider 

duration, bus routings, etc. 

Question: Will traffic impact to local streets be looked at? 

Response: Yes, OC Transpo has done some work as to where 

buses will go during construction. Provincial interest is 

at a higher level, not specific road corridors or 

locations. Diversions may have a large impact but 

they are of a short duration. 

Question: Will construction be done in increments, or will whole 

corridor be closed at once? 

Response: Construction will likely be incremental, starting with 

tunnel, M&S facility and major stations where work 

can be done off-line, without impacting traffic and 

transit operations. Transitway would be closed in 

logical segments. When the work is finished the whole 

line will open up at once. The final procurement 

strategy may alter this general approach, and the 

successful contractor may decide on a different 

approach. 

Question: Will project use one tunnelling machine or two? How 

will tunnel be constructed? 

Response: That will be a contractor decision. Using one machine, 

it would start at LeBreton, tunnel under downtown and 

be pulled out either at Campus Station or the Mann 

Ave. portal and be returned to LeBreton for the second 

run. Two machines would operate in parallel, also 

starting from LeBreton, with one machine being 

launched 3-4 months before the second one. 

Contractor will have to decide on best approach. 

Short length of tunnel will likely not provide an 

advantage to using multiple machines. 

Question: Where are the “ugly” parts of the project going to be? 

David 

Glastonbury 

David Hoper 

David 

Glastonbury 

David 

Hopper 

David 

Glastonbury 

David 

Hopper 

Question: What is the duration of activities downtown? 

Response: 18-24 mos. Depends on complexity involved at each 

location. 

Question: 18-24 months at each station? Will this be concurrent 

or overlap at all? 

Response: It is likely that the construction of the underground 

stations will be slightly staggered, but there will be a 

time when all are under construction at once. The 

exact details will depend on contractor. 

Comment: Utility relocations, etc. will also need to be done. 

Response: The integration of station accesses and vent shafts 

into existing buildings or vacant sites would help limit 

disruption as they would not impact utilities under the 

City’s roads. Those trade-offs come later. 

Comment: City is gathering more detailed geotechnical 

information this year. Borehole drilling will have some 

disruption and will likely occur within the next several 

months. 


The next Public Open House will be on 23 February 2010, from 

5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. There will be no presentation component 

to this event. The focus of this Open House is on the provincial EA 

process and requirements. 


Key dates: 



Notice of Completion (initiates 30-day public review) – April 

2010 

Comment: From an official perspective, this is the final meeting 

of the BCG. All BCG members are stakeholders in the 

project, please bring forward any issues you still have 

during the EA process and we will consult with you on 

an individual basis. 

Comment: Concerns have been raised previously. And we will 

assume that they will be addressed without being 

raised again. 

Question: Is the provincial EA process being used the speeded 

up one? 

Response: Yes. The project is following the new provincial 

process for transit projects, which not only speeds up 

the process, but provides definitive timelines to the 

proponents. 

Ron 

Fournier 

David 

Hopper 

Ron 

Fournier 

David 

Hopper 

Response: The TBM launch site (LeBreton) will be a major 

construction site. Major station sites will also require 

significant construction. Use of a TBM will mean less 

disruption downtown but access shafts will require 

disruption at localized spaces above each of the 

downtown stations. 

David 

Glastonbury 

David 

Hopper 

Peggy 

Nieghorn 

David 

Hopper 

David 

Hopper 

Dennis 

Gratton 

Gilles 

Landry 

David 

Glastonbury 

David 

Hopper


TO3041/TO3049 


Task 

No. 

Description 


Question: Is there a connection between this study and the 

Interprovincial Transit Study? 

Response: Yes, we have coordinated with that study. The design 

of Bayview Station will accommodate an 

interprovincial link. Design of tunnel alignment east of 

Rideau could accommodate branching for future link to 

north/east. Further work will be needed during 

preliminary design. Hopefully more details from the 

interprovincial study will be available by then. 

3. Closure As this is likely the last meeting of the BCG, members were 

thanked for their participation in the study. The meeting notes and 


meeting ended at 2:30 p.m. 


Attendees: 

Louis-Martin Parent – CFIB 

Gilles Landry - NAC 

Phil Waserman – ByWard Market BIA 

David Glastonbury – Ottawa Chamber of Commerce 

Jasna Jennings – ByWard Market BIA 

Felix Siwanowicz – Rideau Viking 

Joe Bampton – Rideau Viking 

Cindy van Buskirk – Rideau Viking 

Peggy Nieghorn – Ottawa Convention Centre 

Hume Rogers – Downtown Coalition 

Angela Taggart – Bentall 

P. Partner - Bentall 

Chris Brouwer - City of Ottawa 

H:\ISO\TO3041\TOB\DOCS\Business Consultation Group\Meeting7_Feb1710\BCGMeeting7_Feb1710_Draft.doc 

Question/ 

Comment 

David 

Glastonbury 

David 

Hopper 

David 

Hopper 


TO3041/TO3049 

PUBLIC CONSULTATION GROUP MEETING NOTES #6 Page 1 of 4 


TIME: 6:30 p.m. 



DISTRIBUTE TO ALL PCG MEMBERS 




Ron Fournier 

- Delcan Corporation 

Task 

No. 

Description 

1. Opening 

Remarks 

Question/ 


Comment 


the meeting purpose. 





A general update on the project status and schedule was presented 



provided. 

Question: What is the distance between the M&S Facility and the 

mainline? 

Response: Approximately 400 - 500 m distance between the 

facility and mainline. 

Question: Are those skylights on the building? 

Response: Yes, design shows skylights for natural lighting of 

offices and work space, but design is conceptual at this 

stage. Will be looking to incorporate green features 

(e.g. green roof, natural light) into facility. 

EA Process 


provided. The focus of this meeting is on the provincial EA process. 

An overview of the assessment of effects and mitigation, project 

benefits and environmental factors being considered as well as 

commitments to future work was also provided. 


The next Public Open House will be on 23 February 2010, from 5:00 

p.m. to 8:30 p.m. There will be no presentation component to this 

event. 

David 

Hopper 

David 

Hopper 

David 

Hopper 

John 

Brennan 

David 

Hopper 

John 

Brennan 

David 

Hopper 

David 

Hopper 

David 

Hopper


TO3041/TO3049 



TO3041/TO3049 


Task 

No. 

Description 


Question/ 

Comment 

Task 

No. 

Description 


Question/ 

Comment 


Key dates: 



Notice of Completion (initiates 30-day public review) – April 

2010 

Question: At the 13 January 2010 Council meeting, questions 

were asked about the Business Case for this project. 

It was supposed to be available on 31 January, is it 

available now? 

Response: A draft was prepared, and is currently under review. 

It is expected to be available around the end of 

February. 

David 

Hopper 

Cam 

Robertson 

David 

Hopper 

Response: We relied on previous studies as part of developing the 

baseline conditions, using the previous studies to 

identify resources and issues. More detailed work was 

undertaken when the alignment was defined. All 

technical studies will form part of the EA report and be 

available for public review. 

Question: Mentioned previously that at the next design stage you 

hope to bring depth of stations up. Can you provide 

more information on this? 

Response: We need to know more about rock conditions along 

the route of the tunnel. Hopefully this information will 

allow us to raise station caverns up, possibly a 3-5 m 

vertical shift. That will be done as part of preliminary 

engineering. 

David 

Hopper 

Cam 

Robertson 

David 

Hopper 

Question: Does the Public Open House cover the whole project or 

just the EA? 

John 

Brennan 

Question: Is 3-5 m much of a gain? 

John 

Brennan 

Response: There will be an overview of the project but the main 

focus is on the Environmental Assessment. 

David 

Hopper 

Response: Should be enough to be noticeable. It equates to 1-1.5 

stories 

David 

Hopper 

Question: We have seen the conceptual designs, I am wondering 

if when we get into detailed design will changes be 

possible? 

Response: The EA allows for some minor changes to be made, 

such as the shifting of entrances, and minor changes 

to alignment, but major changes will require an 

amendment to the EA. 

Question: But if changes are just strictly in terms of design it 

won’t need to be re-visited? 

Response: No, because it is just a functional design right now. 

There is an expectation that the City will go back to 

the public as the design progresses to gain input on 

specifics of the design, public art, amenities, etc. 

John 

Brennan 

David 

Hopper 

John 

Brennan 

David 

Hopper 

Comment: There would be potentially significant cost savings to 

excavation, escalators, etc. 

Comment: The City is developing design guidelines for stations 

and will be going to public in June for discussion. 

Comment: City should keep in mind comfort as well as aesthetics 

when developing these guidelines. 

Response: These are all important elements to consider. 

Question: How many LRVs will be stored at the M&S Facility? 

Response: Facility is designed to hold 120 LRVs, but only need 65 

for DOTT project. 

Dennis 

Gratton 

Dennis 

Gratton 

John 

Brennan 

Dennis 

Gratton 

Cam 

Robertson 

David 

Hopper 

Question: In the area of the landfill around Bayview, will you be 

building on the surface only, or cutting into the 

landfill? 

Response: Most work at Bayview is above grade, but there will be 

a need to excavate in order to do structural foundation 

work for the station. More investigation will be 

needed as part of the detailed design to see if there is 

contamination present and how much. Any 

contaminated material has to be handled according to 

provincial standards. 

Question: How much material from other older studies is 

relevant for this EA? 

Dickson 

Davidson 

David 

Hopper 

Dickson 

Davidson 

Question: When will tunnel construction start? 

Response: Hard to determine at this point but likely 2013 based 

on lead time needed for design work and approvals. It 

is a complex project with many different stages and 

components to the work. Opening day is likely 2018- 

2019. 

Question: Will track laying be done after tunnel is complete? 

Response: It will depend, there will be a need to stagger work 

along the line to use resources effectively. 

Question: Are you thinking of keeping buses running on 

Transitway as long as possible during construction? 

John 

Brennan 

David 

Hopper 

John 

Brennan 

David 

Hopper 

John 

Brennan


TO3041/TO3049 


Task 

No. 

Description 


Response: That is one of the objectives, but will depend on 

procurement method used to build project. Contractor 

may prefer to shut everything down at once to 

complete construction faster. 

Question: The EA process typically has a public advisory 

committee to review work, will this be set-up or is it 

part of the PCG role? 

Response: The PCG serves that purpose for this study and has 

reviewed work to-date. EA report will be provided for 

independent review, and if necessary another meeting 

of the PCG would be called to address any major 

issues. 

3. Closure As this is likely the last meeting of the PCG, members were 

thanked for their participation in the study. The meeting notes and 


meeting ended at 7:45 p.m. 


Question/ 

Comment 

David 

Hopper 

John 

Brennan 

David 

Hopper 

David 

Hopper 

 

Attendees: 

Richard Eade – PTAC 

John Brennan – Alta Vista Ward 

Rod Maclean - PTAC 

Dickson Davidson – Hintonburg Community Association 

Cam Robertson – City Centre Coalition 

H:\ISO\TO3041\TOB\DOCS\Public Consultation Group\Meeting6_Feb1710\PCGMeeting6_Feb1710_Draft.doc

Appendix A_Pages266to338_9MB.pdf - Ottawa Confederation Line

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?