City and NCC come to agreement on Western Corridor alignment

In a joint press conference this morning, the National Capital Commission and the City of Ottawa announced that they have come to a mutually acceptable agreement on the alignment of the Western Corridor of the city's LRT project, stretching from Dominion to Cleary stations.

The agreement, which came out of the much-ballyhooed 100-day truce mayor Jim Watson and outgoing MP John Baird agreed to, will see a fully-buried tunnel connecting the two stations. The tunnel, as illustrated above, will run underneath a re-aligned Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway from just after Dominion Station to Cleary Avenue, at which point it will turn south towards Richmond Road. The section underneath the Parkway will be a "stacked" transportation corridor, where the roadway will run on top of the underground rail line. There are a lot of other details in the memorandum of understanding, which you can read on the NCC website if you'd like.

From there, it seems to proceed as envisioned in the Richmond Underground proposal, hitting the new Cleary and New Orchard stations before emerging from the tunnel nearer to Lincoln Fields station. The only real difference between this one and the Richmond Underground alignment is the fully-buried tunnel under the Parkway, the NCC's major sticking point. UPDATE: According to more detailed information on the city's website, the alignment will transition from under Richmond Road to under [the] western portion of Byron Linear Park," where it will presumably continue toward New Orchard station.

There remain several key groups, including the First Unitarian Congregation and Neighbours for Smart Western Rail, who will likely be opposed to this alignment, but it generally meets the broad needs of most stakeholders:

• It won't affect sightlines along the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway: In fact, it should improve them, with a realigned roadway that increases potential greenspace as well as two proposed cycling/pedestrian connections from the residential area to the riverside (illustrated above, connecting Dominion and Cleary stations to the riverside).
• Parkway buffer is retained: There will still be a 30-metre tree buffer between the roadway/rail tunnel and the residence bordering the affected areas of the Parkway.
• It won't affect the Byron Linear Park.
• It adds stations where people are: The addition of Cleary and New Orchard stations to this stretch of train corrects a longstanding flaw of the existing Transitway, increasing access to areas that weren't served by high-speed transit previously. It won't increase access as much as a Carling alignment might have, but it's still pretty good (especially if trams are one day added to Carling, as is proposed).
• It won't increase cost: Apparently the work done here can be done for the same $980M budget as the previous alignment.

There are still a lot of details to work out, of course, but it is promising that both sides were able to come to some sort of agreement. The City will host an information session on March 30 at City Hall to gather feedback on this proposed alignment.

Burying transit, and the people who use it

In its shotgun announcement yesterday, the National Capital Commission laid down the law on Ottawa’s light-rail extension plans from Dominion to Bayview stations: A deep tunnel within the current alignment, or a path across Rochester Field leading Richmond Road—where it would, presumably, also head into a deep tunnel. The obvious commonality here is the complete burial of the light-rail line.

Here is one image the NCC is proposing, in which LRT expansion would traverse Rochester Field. #ottnews #ottpoli pic.twitter.com/0sXwc0Suoe
— Matthew Pearson (@mpearson78) November 21, 2014

These options, which the NCC “invited” the city to consider, brought to mind an interesting point made to me during the 2013 Car-Free Day street party. A woman there discussed the city’s preferred alignment with me, and expressed her dismay that the beautiful scenery of the Sir John A. MacDonald Parkway was being taken away from transit users. Her point was that the users of transit, many of whom are lower-income residents of our city, were being buried underground in order to preserve the “experience” of private automobile drivers who use the Parkway.

The woman pointed out the fact that as buses today drive along the Parkway, riders are often visibly relieved by the vistas of trees, greenery, and the Ottawa River. Many look up from their phones, books, or magazines and out towards the Gatineau Hills, breathing more deeply and seemingly releasing tension from their daily activities. As a user of the line, this is an experience I can testify to; I often prefer to take an inside seat on the right side of the buses, where I can get a better view out the window.

The city’s preferred plan involves a partially buried line along the Parkway, and it takes our transit vehicles—and the people within then—and pushes them underground. The NCC’s two options would take it one step further, forcing them even deeper underground and out of sight.

One of the NCC’s conditions was that the city achieve “minimal visual impact” and maintain the “user experience” of the Parkway corridor. Their recommendations fail to acknowledge that OC Transpo riders are also users of the corridor, and they should be allowed to enjoy it as well. Although it’s easy to forget, there are people inside the OC Transpo vehicles. They are at least as entitled to the Parkway’s scenery as private automobiles that also use it—and perhaps more entitled, since drivers must remain focused on the road while riders are free to take in the sights.

Ottawa’s western light-rail extension needs to take ecological and community considerations into account. But it also needs to consider the desires of the riders of our transit system.

Stage 2 Details: Connaught Park Tunnel

Among the many interesting facets of the City of Ottawa's proposed Transportation Master Plan and its $2.5B worth of public transit projects (that "Stage 2" thing) is the acceleration of a light-rail extension to Bayshore Station. This is likely interesting to many in the city's west end, but particularly to me from a personal perspective since I live right near the proposed Connaught tunnel in the Queensway Terrace North community.

As some background: The proposed Connaught tunnel is nothing is nothing new. It was initially proposed back in 1994 (and approved in 1996) when the city was looking for a more efficient way of getting buses to Bayshore Station. Without room beside the Queensway, it seemed like cutting through the community north of the Queensway--appropriately known as Queensway Terrace North--like so:

In 2007, though, that plan was changed to the less costly (by an estimated $30M) option of expropriating 25 houses on the south side of Roman Avenue in order to run a Transitway parallel to the Queensway towards Pinecrest Station. This plan resulted in a huge campaign to "save Roman Avenue," and in 2011 the city reversed its prior decision and went back to the Connaught Park bus tunnel idea at an estimated cost of $138M.

As the map above indicates, the tunnel as proposed will branch off the Southwest Transitway north of the Queensway into NCC land, taking a bridge over Pinecrest Creek before descending into a tunnel under Connaught Park, Connaught Avenue, and the Queensview bus garage before coming to the surface around a brand new Queensview Station and then proceeding to Pinecrest Station and onto Bayshore.

Of course, there's an elephant in this room: This proposal will definitely require the support of the National Capital Commission, and will definitely impact the Pinecrest Creek corridor. We're all in for at least a few more years of discussions between the NCC and the City, with the Richmond Underground still awaiting approval from the NCC as well as this request. The City will also have to go through a complete environmental assessment (EA) process, since the EA that had been completed in 1996 was specifically for a bus tunnel.

The big development for this project in the Stage 2 plan (aside from the acceleration of the tunnel's construction) is the decision to bypass the BRT set-up and move straight to LRT. The extension from Lincoln Fields Station to Bayshore Station via the Connaught Park tunnel has been estimated at $400M, although it's unclear exactly how much of that is for the tunnel directly.

This spur to Bayshore is something that Kanata North councillor Marianne Wilkinson has been pushing for since January of 2011. It's a component of the plan that would hugely improve the transit experience for commuters from Kanata, allowing them to transfer to trains at Bayshore and continue on their trip much more quickly, in my estimation. With the huge renovations being done to Bayshore, it's becoming a major attraction, as well; connecting it to the main network is a sensible (if, at $400M, expensive) addition to the revised plan.

It's been clear for quite some time that the city needed a new way to connect Pinecrest and Bayshore to the main Transitway corridor; merging with the Queensway (as express buses and the 96 do) is unnecessarily complicated for riders and drivers, while the 97's route along Richmond Road and Carling Avenue can be exceptionally slow at times. The Connaught Tunnel is the city's chosen solution to the bottleneck right now, but it'll be interesting to see how the plan moves forward from here.

What's to come with the Richmond Underground: New Orchard Station

Earlier in the week I posted some photos and concept images of Cleary Station, one of two proposed stations that would be incorporated into the City of Ottawa's Richmond Underground LRT plan. The second of those stations is New Orchard, which would be located at the intersection of New Orchard and Richmond Road in the Woodroffe North community. The indicator on this map indicates roughly where the station will be:

Below is a photo from ground level on Richmond Road of roughly where the New Orchard Station will be; it's basically right at the spot that transit shelter (which serves the 2 bus route) stands today.

 The station will be right in the middle of Byron Linear Park, an extremely popular narrow strip of greenspace separating Byron Avenue and Richmond Road. This is a close-up of the bus shelter that currently stands where New Orchard Station is proposed, looking along the linear park:

And below is a concept image of the station from the middle of Richmond Road. As you can see, it seems to occupy the full width of the park; I'll be curious to see how the city makes space to allow dog-walkers using the park to get from one side of the station to the other without having to walk on Richmond or Byron.

Finally, a look at the station from Byron Avenue looking to the east.

New transit stations are always interesting, especially when they're added onto an existing and very popular transit corridor. We might be 15-20 years away from seeing these stations actually built, but they present a very good way of improving transit access and, hopefully, increasing its use.

Details of the Richmond Underground LRT extension

Although this is old news by now, the City of Ottawa is moving forward with the so-called "Richmond Underground" option as the western corridor of the city's new light-rail line. It's the second phase of the line, heading west from Tunney's Pasture Station towards Baseline Station.

Here's a brief video of the latest tweaks to the line, from the city:

Much has been made of the National Capital Commission's refusal to budge on light-rail on the Sir John A. MacDonald Parkway, and rightfully so; it's kind of a big deal. But the city seems convinced that their latest plans to bury most of the line in a deep trench should satisfy the NCC. The City has also said that to fully comply with what the NCC is asking for would cost an extra $180M, which isn't in the budget for the city.

Here's an image showing the route from Westboro to Lincoln Fields (click to enlarge); the remainder of the line will follow the existing Transitway infrastructure:

The addition of two new major transit stations, Cleary and New Orchard, is great; the huge distance between Dominion and Lincoln Fields without stops under the current Transitway system is a huge drawback. The catchment area for both stations is quite strong, as well, so it will offer residents of those areas hugely improved transit access.

Given that the first phase of the light-rail plan has just recently started construction, we're still a ways off from seeing this one running. Construction isn't even expected to begin until 2017 at the earliest, so there's still plenty of time for the city to gain the NCC's approval and gain some more community support.

The Confederation Line: Elegant, but not extravagant

Today in the Ottawa Citizen, a local resident published a letter on the city's Confederation Line transit plan. The letter, written by Mr. Roderick Taylor in response to a previous article about praise councillors heaped on train station "starchitect" Richard Brisbin during the penultimate approval vote, contained some good points but, in my opinion, was off the mark.

Since the letter likely contains opinions shared by others, I decided to respond directly to the comments made. I've tried to do so respectfully, and mean no offence to the letter-writer--his opinions differ from mine, but remain valid. Feel free to respond to my responses in the comments below.

Re: LRT station designs wow councillors, Dec. 13.

In their infatuation with station concepts, one is left with the impression that many on city council have forgotten that the most important criterion by far when considering the suitability of a transit project is not the elegance of its stations, but whether the plan itself makes rational sense from a transit planning perspective.

This "most important criterion" is certainly true, and planners who emphasise transit stations at the expense of the plan itself fail to see the forest through the trees. But I don't believe that's the case here; the transit plan was the first step, and has been heavily researched by staff, architects, planners, and others. Only once the plan was in place were the stations designed, and they have been designed very well.

I also think that the opposite of what Taylor is saying is true: Even the most sensible transit plan will be limited in its effectiveness if it's not something people will want to ride. Comfort is a huge factor in building effective public transit, and well-designed stations can transform the area around them, moving from transit hubs to lifestyle hubs. Will that happen in Ottawa? It could, if fostered well through planning decisions and local input. Without good transit stations, though, it almost certainly would not happen.

The foreshortened light-rail line ending at Tunney's and Blair (without, in all likelihood, the prospect of the necessary financing from senior levels of government for line extensions for the foreseeable future) will simply inconvenience legions of transit riders with time-consuming transfers at those points, and at Hurdman, and actually discourage transit ridership. It does not make rational sense.

The uncertainty of funding eastern, western, and southern extensions of the Confederation Line is a real issue, and it does surround the plan with questions. However, massive and long-term city-building projects like this one will always have huge question marks; if cities were to wait for all of those questions to be answered, nothing would ever get done except extremely small projects.

(It's also worth noting that the federal government's budgetary projections have them slated to ink a surplus in 2016-17, the year before this phase of Confederation Line will be finished, and--by extension--in advance of commencement of the rail extensions towards the suburbs. While these projections may seem as reliable as a crystal ball, they're the best we have at the moment. The province is another story, obviously, but the city has five years to lobby their federal and provincial partners to get supportive funding for the transit plan's next stages.)

Transfers are regularly cited as a deterrent, but that's not always the case; transfers are a necessary component of most transit systems, and they can actually make trips faster in certain circumstances. The key to avoid discouraging riders is to make the transfer points comfortable and to make the transfer times short. Comfort was discussed above, and trains in the system can run as frequently as every 1:45; that's pretty frequent. Transit systems that are effective for both user and taxpayer are virtually impossible without transfers, but systems with transfers can be designed to remain responsible to both groups of stakeholders. This system, by all accounts, does that.

LRT stations that may end up rivalling the Taj Mahal in their magnificence do not alter that stark reality.

This obvious hyperbole doesn't help the argument here, but the opinion that these stations are overly ornate may be a common opinion, but it simply isn't the case. Sure, compared to the existing OC Transpo bus stations/hamster cages, they're "magnificent," but compared to stations in other cities (Moscow; Almaty, Kazakhstan; Stockholm; these cities), they're fairly simple: It looks like there is a lot of glass, smooth finishes of metal and ceramic, natural wood, and open spaces. The stations are modern and minimalist, but look like they'll stand the test of time and will also be cost-effective.

There are other, more sensible and cost-effective ways of alleviating downtown bus congestion problems, such as supplementing the existing bus transitway system with a regional/local rail service using existing rail lines, which would be far more convenient and attractive for the travelling public.

Although I agree that leveraging existing rail lines to complement our existing public transit infrastructure is an idea worth investigating, I fail to see how it would alleviate downtown bus congestion--which is the most pressing issue for OC Transpo; the system has hit its capacity downtown, particularly around the Mackenzie King Station, and there is no longer room to run more buses there. Since supplemental rail lines would fail to serve most of the city's major destinations (the downtown business district, the University of Ottawa, Tunney's Pasture, etc.), it would not solve the underlying problems that have motivated the construction of the Confederation Line. The best they could do is transport people to either Bayview Station or Train Station, which would still require use of the Confederation Line itself.

Council and staff should be pursuing these options, not an exorbitantly expensive transit white elephant with dazzling stops en route. 

Roderick Taylor, Ottawa

Obviously, Taylor's point is laid bare in this conclusion: The plan itself is flawed, and not even the most beautiful transit stations would compensate for those flaws. But he says the plan is exorbitantly expensive, which it isn't; it's expensive, but the costs are controlled through a fixed-cost contract, they're in line with other similar projects, and funding has been earmarked from start to finish. He also says it's a white elephant, which it won't be; Ottawa is a resilient transit market (even a 53-day transit strike barely made a dent in ridership), and this line will serve a greater capacity of riders heading to the same destinations at least as quickly as they're being served already (likely more quickly), and in more comfortable surroundings.

There will be dazzling stops en route, granted, but they won't be ostentatious. They'll be cost-effective, and should fit in nicely with the new Ottawa aesthetic, alongside the Art Gallery, the re-designed Museum of Nature, the Ottawa Convention Centre, and the new Lansdowne Park.

LRT on the Parkway: Simply not happening

The city's current light-rail transit plan has, since its inception, pencilled in the western corridor of the line to run along the NCC-owned Ottawa River Parkway. Despite obvious reluctance on the part of the NCC to allow the line, it's continued on as the default option, even while the city investigates the feasibility of other western-corridor options, including Carling and Byron.

It seems that city staff and planners are reluctant to face an obvious fact: The Parkway option is simply not going to happen.

The NCC is obviously no in favour of the option. Since the plan was approved, the NCC has been telling the city that they'd better investigate every other option available, because they'd need a compelling case to offer the Parkway for light-rail. Although they haven't said so explicitly, they've hinted as recently as last week that they're not convinced.

The Parkway option would have advantages. It's the simplest because there's little development to disrupt; it's the cheapest for the same reason; and it's the current western corridor so there's an ease of transition. (It would also offer riders a pretty sweet view across the river as they ride the train, but that's probably not a deciding factor in the debate.)

But those advantages are based on a fact that is also the most significant criticism of the option: Namely, that it's not surrounded by high populations. It would draw well from the northern portion of Westboro, but on the other side is just a river--not many people live in there. Contrast that with Carling or Byron, which are surrounded on both sides by fairly high-density residential areas as well as retail sites and plenty of employers.

Last week, David Reevely blogged about a letter from the NCC to the city in which their tone changed slightly: They don't want to allow trains on the Parkway, and they see little reason to think that would change.

I'm sure few would argue that using the Ottawa River Parkway land as a scenic roadway is the best use of that land, but using it as a light-rail throughfare wouldn't be much better.

Wilkinson pushes for light-rail to Bayshore

Kanata North councillor Marianne Wilkinson is pushing for an extension of light-rail west, to extend the line right into Bayshore Station. From the Ottawa Citizen:

Under the plan, Barrhaven and other commuters from the southwest will transfer from buses to the train at Baseline Road, and then head downtown. Kanata and other west-end commuters will get off the buses at Lincoln Fields and then catch the train east along whatever route it ends up taking.

But Wilkinson says that plan will ruin the commute for thousands of the people who live in west, and could drive them away from public transit. The Kanata North councillor says the trains coming from Baseline would be chock full by the time they get to Lincoln Fields, causing unacceptable delays for the west-enders.

She says the city has to seriously examine the possibility of extending a spur from Lincoln Fields to Bayshore to make the transfer easier for commuters coming from Kanata and surrounding areas.

“What they are saying is that everybody from the west, a very large number of people — about 300,000 — will come by bus and transfer at Lincoln Fields to a train that’s already full with people from Barrhaven and the south,” Wilkinson told the Citizen Wednesday.

Given where we are now, it's a bit of a strange push for Wilkinson to make. Realistically, light-rail won't be moving at all for about 20 years. And although the current transit plan doesn't include an extension of light-rail to Bayshore (it stops at Lincoln Fields station before heading south to Baseline), you've got to think the plan will be amended--and perhaps significantly--in the 20 years we have before we'll even be finished phase one of the massive transit plan.

As the Citizen article says, though, earliest planning is already underway for the second phase of the plan. And given that the plan already includes a southern leg (on the eastern side of the Rideau River down towards the Airport and Riverside South), continuing the western corridor west rather than directing it south does, in theory, make some sense.

But Baseline Station is a huge transit hub, and an actual huge destination, given its placement within the Algonquin College campus. On-campus residents looking to head downtown would be served start to finish with a light-rail line (no transfers!), and Algonquin students living along the rail line would be in the same boat. Aside from shopping, Bayshore Station isn't a huge transit destination, but would be used as the western transfer point from bus to light-rail; looking at it objectively (or trying to), Lincoln Fields is likely a better transfer point than Bayshore, because it's more established and has more room.

It's unclear what Wilkinson envisions the "spur" to Bayshore would do. Will it simply be a short rail route connecting Bayshore to Lincoln Fields? If so, it's simply adding an extra transfer to riders from the west, and still sets them up to jump on an already-full train.

Will it be a stand-alone route running alongside the one from Baseline Station? If so, one would assume that it would double the amount of waiting time for users transferring onto rail at the two hubs (those from the west at Bayshore, those from the south at Baseline, as the two routes would take turns running along the main line). Would that offer a service frequently enough to adequately serve riders in either situation, or will it simply compromise service for both groups?

At some point, extending rail further west will likely be required. But at this point, questions remain as to whether or not it is the most prudent priority for city transit planners to put their weight behind.

First western LRT consultation draws hundreds

Although I was out of town and unable to attend, CTV is reporting that Monday's public consultation on the Western corridor for the light-rail transit plan--the first in a series of consultations--drew hundreds of interested citizens.

General opinions were those which have been voiced before: A concern about appropriation of houses along possible routes (something which will almost always come up in the discussion of municipal mega-projects), and a widespread disinterest in running rail along the Ottawa River Parkway.

Public open house on Western Light-Rail Corridor

Just a heads-up for transit enthusiasts that the city will be hosting an open house for the western corridor of the city's LRT plan:

Monday, 29 November 2010

5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Tom Brown Arena
Upper Hall
141 Bayview Road, Ottawa

For some great info on the western corridor options, check out Eric Darwin's series on West Side Action:

• West LRT, part i
• West LRT, part ii: Carling options
• West LRT, part iii, Ottawa River corridor
• West LRT, part iv, the Scott/Byron route
• West LRT – the Loblaws option

On to Baseline: Western Light Rail consultation begins

The City of Ottawa has begun the Western LRT Corridor Planning and Environmental Assessment project. This project is going to determine the route that light rail will take as it leaves Downtown (at Bayview station) and heads to Baseline Station. While the current Transit Master Plan (TMP) chose the Ottawa River Parkway, this study is going to "wipe the slate clean" and look at all the route options. Anything from the Parkway, Byron Avenue, O-Train cut, Carling Avenue, Churchill, and just about anything else conceivable is on the table for review and investigation.

The NCC has not said one way or another that they will permit light rail on the Parkway. But the NCC was a key contributor in designing the assessment, and has suggested a willingness to discuss options if the Parkway is indeed recommended under the Environmental Assessment. The feeling at city hall is that the NCC wants to make sure the City has really investigated alternate routes and is not choosing the Parkway simply because it's there and is the easy "status-quo" choice.

The City is engaging stakeholders by forming three different input groups: agency, business, and public. The "agency" group is composed of government ministries and agencies that are involved because they are a major employer, landholder or provide oversight to the Environment Assessment process. The "business" group is made up of the school boards, hospitals and BIAs in the area. Finally, the "public" group comprises Community Associations, advocacy groups, and members from the city's Advisory Committees.

Monday, June 21, 2010 was the first day of meetings between the City and the consultation groups. The agenda was to get the groups up to speed on how the process will work and to invite the groups to offer feedback on the process itself.

The next meeting in September is where everyone will get into the details of choosing an alternate route. Management consultant group Delcan will be preparing a number of options to be reviewed at that point. Both the City and Delcan have been very up front about the fact that all options are on the table. The process will initially "fan out" to explore the different routes (Parkway, Carling, O-Train, Byron, and so on) and designs (underground, below grade, overhead, etc) then whittle the options down until just one route is selected as the recommended alignment.

More reading:

• City of Ottawa's Western LRT Project information (http://ottawa.ca/westernLRT)
• Western LRT Corridor, Planning and Environmental Assessment, Study Design and Schedule Document (PDF)
• June 21 slide presentation and meeting notes.