I posted this on the Canada thread. I'll post it again here. My train of thought (no pun intended) covers a few fantasy threads (Bank and Montreal).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Beedok
Well, I suppose we’ll have to wait to see how well Edmonton and Hamilton’s surface LRT lines serve their urban areas to see if it would be a good fit for Ottawa.
Plus, I think a Montreal Road subway line makes more sense than a Bank Street one anyhow. Lower Town and Sandy Hill have fewer roads connecting to the CBD than Glebe or Centretown (meaning you can’t run new bus alignments as easily), and then Vanier is far larger than Old Ottawa South (and far less dominated by students making the short trip to a nearby university).
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For sure, there's been a lot of focus and debate on a potential future/fantasy/maybe somewhat plausible Bank light-metro.
Discussions on Rideau-Montreal, which would serve denser and lower income areas along with a mid-sized hospital, federal campuses and the only major post-secondary institution not currently served by rapid transit in Ottawa, has not materialized in the same way. I assume that may be because there's more more consensus among rail fans and transit advocates that the corridor has a better justification for rapid transit and therefore, does not ignite passions quite the same way.
As others have said, the Bank Subway discussion has evolved to include a transit system reorganization for the south end in order to solve future capacity issues on Trillium and transfer volumes at Bayview and Hurdman, with serving Centretown and the Glebe as a very beneficial, but secondary "bonus". A Rideau-Montreal light-metro would be heavily urban focus and not serve any upcoming system wide problems. There is the potential of extending a future Rideau-Montreal line to Orleans via the Cumberland Transitway, which would make for an easier sell to suburban focused politicians. That as well could help the Hurdman transfer issues (by running emptier Confed trains through Hurdman), delaying the need for Bank.
Side note: I imagine both projects as a fully grade separated light-metro along a single line when fully built out. Starting at Millennium in Orleans, it would run surface, road over rail to Blair Station. It would then run elevated to reach Bathgate, up the road to Montreal and turn east, heading underground past St. Laurent. Rideau Station would be under Daly to avoid conflicts with the existing deep Rideau Station. From there, it would run under Albert with a transfer station at Parliament, pedestrian tunnels connecting the two concourses under O'Connor, SunLife or the World Exchange Plaza. The line would then turn south under Bank to Billings, before emerging from the depths to become elevated, following Bank to South Keys where it would take over for Trillium towards the Airport and Riverside South.
Timelines, assuming the current TMP is fully complete by 2031, construction-completion:
2036-2041 Parliament to Blair
2041-2046 Blair to Millennium
2046-2051 Parliament to Airport/Riverside South