Canadian LRT/RT projects U/C

[J.OT13]

I don't think anyone has delusions that Bank Street is Ottawa's Yonge Street, otherwise we'd be calling for an heavy-rail subway like the TTC and Montreal Metro. What we're advocating is a modest Canada Line type system, or Millennium Line Broadway extension.

The main goal of a Bank subway could be to relieve Hurdman and Bayview, two major transfer stations just outside the downtown. The high volume of transfers at these stations onto largely full trains on the Confederation Line coming in from the suburbs is problematic.

A second goal would be to provide direct to downtown service from the airport and, possibly Riveside South (both currently Stage 2 Trillium extension, but could be transferred to a future Bank Line). This would leave Trillium as it's own, short urban route serving key destinations along the S/E Transitway, Carleton University, the new Civic Hospital and major TOD zones. We would then be ale to limit double tracking to all but the Dow's Lake Tunnel and Rideau River Bridge, resulting in an acceptable 6-8 minute frequency. Ridership of the line before the pandemic was 20,000 per day. I'm confident it could reach close to 50,000 per day, Sheppard Line numbers for a fraction of the price, within 20 years, with South Keys to Bayview only.

The third goal would be to serve density and major destinations. Centretown has a density of around 12,000/square kilometers. The Glebe 5,000. There are about a dozen+ buildings ranging from 6 to 30 floors proposed or u/c all along the corridor between Downtown and Billings Bridge. Bank between downtown and the Rideau River is a near continuous lively traditional main street. Key major destinations within 500 meters are the CBD, the Canadian Museum of Nature, Lansdowne Park (24,000 seat stadium, 10,000 seat arena, Farmer's Market, and restaurant/entertainment district) and Billing's Bridge shopping Centre along the S/E Transitway. Plugging in the airport and Riverside South would increase ridership further.

The reasoning against a streetcar is space. It's a narrow traditional main street with on-street parking. Some sections are only two lanes. There's no room for streetcars and stations. Some propose removing cars, but Bank is only one of two north-south streets in the downtown that reach all the way to suburban areas south of the Rideau River. In fact, Bank goes all the way to the St. Lawrence River.