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Originally Posted by Acajack
At least in theory but there are only three road crossings through Gatineau Park and I doubt the NCC will be super open to widening any of them. And certainly there won't be any new ones. (Though I am sure they will be accommodating for a transit link of some kind through the park - provided it's in the same corridor as one of the roads.)
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That would likely be the existing Gamelin ROW through the park, the one the NCC partially shut down some 5 or so years ago to "preserve frog habitat". While neither were great options before, it did make St-Raymond and des Allumettières worse ever since. That route doesn't really jive with the route presented in the map above, but seems to be the most likely place for a transit-only crossing, perhaps even for a temporary BRT.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Acajack
It doesn't affect me but I wonder if the STO shouldn't be putting together a cheapo BRT or at least expanded buses only lane network as a temporary solution even as they also move towards a rail system that's still a long way away.
In some cases the new roadway for buses could form a basis for the rail system's right of way in terms of land acquisition, clearing and even road-rail bed... I am sure this is technically possible.
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The transit report released earlier this year did offer some suggestions for BRT-lite options for the west end that could offer some temporary relief and improvements in service, and some were relatively inexpensive to implement, such as painting bus lanes on Allumettières or Principale. I'd think that if any new ROW were to be used, they would be unlikely to use it for buses and then quickly switch it to LRT, if they are already planning to commit to LRT. This isn't quite like what OCTranspo has done with the Phase 2 extension to Moodie, which had already been committed to BRT.
Even a stop-gap solution will have to overcome the challenges of the limited number of Gatineau Park crossings and the congestion leading up to the Champlain bridge approaches from the West on Lucerne and Principale. Those are the key choke points in traffic between Aylmer and Hull.