Ottawa Rapid Transit Network developments

[citizen j]

Originally Posted by Franky

Let's hope the 9 story escalators up from the tunnel work better.

They will. Maybe. I've learned to incorporate stairclimbing in TTC stations into my daily exercise regimen. But the stations here are up to 55 years old. The newer ones tend to have a number options (multiple escalators and at least one elevator) so that if you have mobility problems or are pushing a stroller or something, you're not totally stuck. I assume the stations in the DOTT would similarly avoid putting all their eggs in one escalator/basket.

[waterloowarrior]

City asks for hundreds of million in LRT money


BY JAKE RUPERT, THE OTTAWA CITIZENMARCH 16, 2009 2:02 PM


OTTAWA — City officials on Monday formally requested the federal and provincial governments commit to funding Ottawa's rapid-transit plan.

The city is seeking funding for the first phase of its plan, the whole of which is estimated to cost $3.2 billion and be built in three stages.

This includes a downtown subway and a light rail line running from Blair Station to Tunney's Pasture through a tunnel, at an estimated cost of $1.4 billion. The plan also includes a new $207-million megastation at Algonquin College, bus Transitway extensions in the east, west and southern parts of the city totalling $137 million, and two new bridges, one connecting Barrhaven and Riverside South over the Rideau River, and another over the river at Lees Avenue.

The transit plan was developed in conjunction with a new official land-use plan for the city.

Together they are designed to create a more compact, denser city built around a fast and efficient rapid transit system, which will increasingly become people’s primary mode of transportation.

The full plan eventually sees light running across the city when the suburbs reach density targets contained in the official plan.

The city is hoping each level of government will agree to fund a third of the overall cost of the plan.

© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen

[waterloowarrior]

http://ottawa.ca/city_hall/rapid_transit/index_en.html

Getting it right - investing in the vision
Ottawa’s Transportation Master Plan contains a vision for transit to be developed by 2031. In the first phase, the City of Ottawa will invest in 40 km of new light rail transit (LRT) and vehicles to service these lines, as well as bus rapid transit (BRT) technology and additional bus lanes. This package—to be built in three stages—totals approximately $3.2 billion, and will be constructed as funding becomes available over the coming years, with early investment selected to address immediate needs and maximize return on investment.

The City is looking to senior levels of government to support this investment through Building Canada and successor funding programs.
Projects within Stage 1 include:

Transit Tunnel and LRT
The construction of the tunnel and LRT from Blair Station to Tunney’s Pasture, the cornerstone of the City’s transit plan, involves digging a tunnel from the University of Ottawa to Booth Street and converting 12 km of BRT to LRT in the east end. The City will work closely with the NCC to design stations that showcase Ottawa’s status as a capital city. It is estimated that this part of the project will employ some 7,000 people, directly or indirectly, over a two-year period, with a cost of $1.4 billion. In addition, a bridge over the Rideau River and Lees Avenue will be built to provide continuous Transitway service from the southeast to downtown, at an estimated cost of $45 million.

Expansion of Current Transitway

The Transitway will be expanded by adding a 15-km BRT system in east, west and south Ottawa. This will include:

• The Cumberland Transitway from Blair Station to Navan Road (estimated cost: $49 million)
• The West Transitway from Bayshore Station to Moodie Dr., to serve residents of Kanata, Stittsville and Bayshore (estimated cost: $42 million)
• The Southwest Transitway from Fallowfield Park & Ride/VIA Station to Barrhaven Town Centre (estimated cost: $52 million)

Strandherd-Armstrong Bridge, Approaches and Associated Work
One of the City’s most important network projects, this six-lane bridge crossing the Rideau River, with lanes dedicated for public transit, will link Prince of Wales Drive and Earl Armstrong Road. This project has an estimated cost of $102 million, which includes building the bridge, the widening of Earl Armstrong Road, a new transit station with a Park & Ride facility at Woodroffe Avenue and Strandherd Drive, as well as transit priority lanes from the new station along Woodroffe Avenue to the Fallowfield Park & Ride Station.

Baseline Rd. to Norice St. Rapid Transit
This new BRT/LRT major transfer station will integrate the Algonquin College expansion and the Centrepointe Town Centre future developments. This project will be a catalyst for the overall development of this important transit node. The project has an estimated cost of $207 million.

Stage 2: Conversion of Transitway to Light Rail

• Bayview Station to South Keys Station (estimated cost: $360 million)
• Tunney’s Pasture to Baseline Station (estimated cost: $542 million)

Stage 3: Expansion of Transitway and Light Rail

• LRT expansion – South Keys to Riverside South Town Centre (estimated cost: $314 million)
• West Transitway extension – Eagleson Rd. to Terry Fox Dr. (estimated cost: $41 million)
• West Transitway extension – Terry Fox Dr. to Scotiabank Place (estimated cost: $47 million)
• Cumberland Transitway extension – Navan to Millennium (estimated cost: $72 million)

For more information and maps highlighting these projects, please refer to the Transportation Master Plan.

[Dado]

Originally Posted by waterloowarrior

http://ottawa.ca/city_hall/rapid_transit/index_en.html

Projects within Stage 1 include:

Transit Tunnel and LRT
...[snip]...
In addition, a bridge over the Rideau River and Lees Avenue will be built to provide continuous Transitway service from the southeast to downtown, at an estimated cost of $45 million.

WTF? What's this about providing "continuous Transitway service from the southeast to downtown"? Wasn't this bridge supposed to be an interim measure during construction only, after which it would be used for the Nicholas-AVTC connection? Does this mean that even once the tunnel is in place we'll continue to have buses from the Southeast Transitway fouling up downtown Ottawa? This is the first I've heard that SE Transitway passengers wouldn't be transferring at Hurdman. And what does this mean for the UoOttawa portion of the Transitway? Will that continue to exist as well? What of the Council directive to look at converting the SE Transitway? That hasn't been reported back yet, though it's likely a foregone conclusion.

The addiction to BRT continues...

[MalcolmTucker]

I think it was meant as continuous in a route sense rather than temporal sense.

[Dado]

Originally Posted by kyle_olsen

I think it was meant as continuous in a route sense rather than temporal sense.

Umm, well, yes, THAT's the problem.

The main rationale for the tunnel - as far as the public is concerned - is to throw all the buses plying the Transitway out of downtown Ottawa. The East Transitway and the Southeast Transitway merge at Hurdman for the final run along the canal into downtown Ottawa along what I'll call the Central Transitway. The plan is to convert the East Transitway to LRT and also to convert part of the Central Transitway and build a tunnel beneath the rest of it in the vicinity of the University of Ottawa. To accomplish this one of the things that might be needed is a temporary bridge to carry bus traffic across the Rideau River while the dedicated bridge is converted. Since the TMP contains a new road bridge in the area anyway, the idea is to build it first and use it to take the buses as a temporary measure until the conversion and tunnel are complete.

Once the rail system was up and running the idea was that all passengers coming from the east would transfer to trains at stations along the route (in particular Blair and St. Laurent) while passengers on Southeast Transitway buses would transfer to trains at Hurdman for the final leg into downtown Ottawa. This announcement however suggests that buses from the Southeast Transitway will continue to head downtown even once the trains are running. This is running counter to the entire purpose of the exercise since it'll still be feeding upwards of 50 buses per hour through downtown.

[Richard Eade]

The $45M cost to build the Nicholas/AVTC Bridge is probably enough to extend the tunnel under the river to Hurdman. Thus, no bridge would be needed and the Transitway Bridge would not be affected during tunnel construction.

This is a sneaky way to get the Nicholas/AVTC Bridge built. Once it is built, the road along the AVTC will follow shortly.

[Dado]

Originally Posted by waterloowarrior

http://ottawa.ca/city_hall/rapid_transit/index_en.html

Getting it right - investing in the vision
Ottawa’s Transportation Master Plan contains a vision for transit to be developed by 2031. In the first phase, the City of Ottawa will invest in 40 km of new light rail transit (LRT) and vehicles to service these lines, as well as bus rapid transit (BRT) technology and additional bus lanes. This package—to be built in three stages—totals approximately $3.2 billion, and will be constructed as funding becomes available over the coming years, with early investment selected to address immediate needs and maximize return on investment.

The City is looking to senior levels of government to support this investment through Building Canada and successor funding programs.
Projects within Stage 1 include:

Transit Tunnel and LRT
The construction of the tunnel and LRT from Blair Station to Tunney’s Pasture, the cornerstone of the City’s transit plan, involves digging a tunnel from the University of Ottawa to Booth Street and converting 12 km of BRT to LRT in the east end. The City will work closely with the NCC to design stations that showcase Ottawa’s status as a capital city. It is estimated that this part of the project will employ some 7,000 people, directly or indirectly, over a two-year period, with a cost of $1.4 billion. In addition, a bridge over the Rideau River and Lees Avenue will be built to provide continuous Transitway service from the southeast to downtown, at an estimated cost of $45 million.

Expansion of Current Transitway

The Transitway will be expanded by adding a 15-km BRT system in east, west and south Ottawa. This will include:

• The Cumberland Transitway from Blair Station to Navan Road (estimated cost: $49 million)
• The West Transitway from Bayshore Station to Moodie Dr., to serve residents of Kanata, Stittsville and Bayshore (estimated cost: $42 million)

This is getting pricey... last year it was priced at $39M for the entire run to Terry Fox (including about $20M of bridgework at March Rd but using the bus lanes on the 417 currently under construction):

W1 BRT BAYSHORE TO TERRY FOX: $39M

• The Southwest Transitway from Fallowfield Park & Ride/VIA Station to Barrhaven Town Centre (estimated cost: $52 million)

This project is already funded under 2008 budget authority. It shouldn't even be here. And it costs $79M according the 2008 budget authority, so there's a ~$27M discrepancy here. Anyone got a pet transit project for $27M they'd like built?

Strandherd-Armstrong Bridge, Approaches and Associated Work
One of the City’s most important network projects, this six-lane bridge crossing the Rideau River, with lanes dedicated for public transit, will link Prince of Wales Drive and Earl Armstrong Road. This project has an estimated cost of $102 million, which includes building the bridge, the widening of Earl Armstrong Road, a new transit station with a Park & Ride facility at Woodroffe Avenue and Strandherd Drive, as well as transit priority lanes from the new station along Woodroffe Avenue to the Fallowfield Park & Ride Station.

Baseline Rd. to Norice St. Rapid Transit
This new BRT/LRT major transfer station will integrate the Algonquin College expansion and the Centrepointe Town Centre future developments. This project will be a catalyst for the overall development of this important transit node. The project has an estimated cost of $207 million.

How is it we allowed Algonquin College to take an offer of free land and an expensive at-grade station ($20M) and turn it into an offer of free land and a very expensive tunnelized station?

Baseline Station is starting to give the DOTT a run for its money (literally). To put this in context, the estimated cost last year of running LRT on the surface downtown was $185M, so, based on last year's cost for Baseline Station ($20M), we could get LRT on the surface downtown AND a decent station at Baseline AND not affect the downtown tunnel at all for the cost of this grass-covered buried concrete monument.

What price, Algonquin College?

Stage 2: Conversion of Transitway to Light Rail

• Bayview Station to South Keys Station (estimated cost: $360 million)
• Tunney’s Pasture to Baseline Station (estimated cost: $542 million)

About a year ago, the costs for these were:
http://www.ottawa.ca/calendar/ottawa/cit...ntown%20Transit%20Final%2014%20April.pdf

C1 LRT GREENBORO TO BAYVIEW: $227M
C5 LRT BAYVIEW TO LINCOLN: $125M
C6 LRT LINCOLN TO BASELINE*: $110M
*including Baseline Station, then valued at $20M now at over $200M, above.

My guess is that they're dumping the vehicle requirements in at the same time... of course the busway projects listed here don't include buses.

Stage 3: Expansion of Transitway and Light Rail

• LRT expansion – South Keys to Riverside South Town Centre (estimated cost: $314 million)
• West Transitway extension – Eagleson Rd. to Terry Fox Dr. (estimated cost: $41 million)

Last year this cost $39M including the bit from Bayshore to Moodie (see above). Basically, the West Transitway from Bayshore to Terry Fox has doubled in cost.

• West Transitway extension – Terry Fox Dr. to Scotiabank Place (estimated cost: $47 million)

Last year's cost:
W2 BRT TERRY FOX TO ARENA: $42M

• Cumberland Transitway extension – Navan to Millennium (estimated cost: $72 million)
  [re-copied from above:]
• The Cumberland Transitway from Blair Station to Navan Road (estimated cost: $49 million)

Last year's costs:
E3 BRT INNES TO MILLENIUM: $104M
E2 BRT BLAIR TO INNES: $24M
-> $128M then, $121M now



So there you have it: in the space of a year cost estimate changes up and down by margins small and enormous.

[MalcolmTucker]

Originally Posted by Dado

Umm, well, yes, THAT's the problem.

The main rationale for the tunnel - as far as the public is concerned - is to throw all the buses plying the Transitway out of downtown Ottawa. The East Transitway and the Southeast Transitway merge at Hurdman for the final run along the canal into downtown Ottawa along what I'll call the Central Transitway. The plan is to convert the East Transitway to LRT and also to convert part of the Central Transitway and build a tunnel beneath the rest of it in the vicinity of the University of Ottawa. To accomplish this one of the things that might be needed is a temporary bridge to carry bus traffic across the Rideau River while the dedicated bridge is converted. Since the TMP contains a new road bridge in the area anyway, the idea is to build it first and use it to take the buses as a temporary measure until the conversion and tunnel are complete.

Once the rail system was up and running the idea was that all passengers coming from the east would transfer to trains at stations along the route (in particular Blair and St. Laurent) while passengers on Southeast Transitway buses would transfer to trains at Hurdman for the final leg into downtown Ottawa. This announcement however suggests that buses from the Southeast Transitway will continue to head downtown even once the trains are running. This is running counter to the entire purpose of the exercise since it'll still be feeding upwards of 50 buses per hour through downtown.

My use of the word temporal might have caused some confusion here. I meant it as the word continuous was placed in the document not to indicate continuous transitway operation even after the LRT, but as in a continuous route for the interim period.

[Franky]

Originally Posted by Dado

WTF? What's this about providing "continuous Transitway service from the southeast to downtown"? Wasn't this bridge supposed to be an interim measure during construction only, after which it would be used for the Nicholas-AVTC connection? Does this mean that even once the tunnel is in place we'll continue to have buses from the Southeast Transitway fouling up downtown Ottawa? This is the first I've heard that SE Transitway passengers wouldn't be transferring at Hurdman. And what does this mean for the UoOttawa portion of the Transitway? Will that continue to exist as well? What of the Council directive to look at converting the SE Transitway? That hasn't been reported back yet, though it's likely a foregone conclusion.

The addiction to BRT continues...

It's worse than that, the BRT route through the hospital/browning corridor will bring thousands more from the East end of town. So much for a quiet downtown free of buses. Ha, ha, what a joke.

The bridge is not even needed. If the transfer station (Hurdman) is temporarily located in the Lynx parking lot, the on/off ramps can connect to Nicholas without any problems.

This whole bridge thing is just a way to get more roads built to dump traffic into an already congested city core - A REALLY STUPID PLAN. It needs to be taken out of the Official Plan. It's outdated 1950s thinking.

[lrt's friend]

The addiction to BRT continues...

Why would this surprise you?

The main rationale for the tunnel - as far as the public is concerned - is to throw all the buses plying the Transitway out of downtown Ottawa.

I don't think the transit riding community will agree with you on this, at least not until LRT is completed east, west and south. That is the ultimate goal I suppose to rid downtown of most buses, but to do this after Phase 1 will create so much inconvenience that it will drive non-captive transit riders away. Let's do this correctly.

while passengers on Southeast Transitway buses would transfer to trains at Hurdman for the final leg into downtown Ottawa.

This is a foolish idea. Most buses from the south do not run to Hurdman except in peak periods. Direct bus service to downtown from the south should only be terminated after LRT service reaches South Keys. Likewise, westward when LRT reaches Baseline. Otherwise, how many mega-transfer stations are we going to build and at what cost? I am still waiting to hear the cost of the Blair transfer station. Or is this a grand surprise (or shock $$$$$$+++++) for the future?

The bridge is not even needed. If the transfer station (Hurdman) is temporarily located in the Lynx parking lot, the on/off ramps can connect to Nicholas without any problems.

The cost of something like this will likely exceed the cost of the bridge. The bridge is a permanent investment, whether it continues to be used for transit or not. Let's use our money wisely and not waste it on something temporary.

[Dado]

Originally Posted by kyle_olsen

My use of the word temporal might have caused some confusion here. I meant it as the word continuous was placed in the document not to indicate continuous transitway operation even after the LRT, but as in a continuous route for the interim period.

That would be possible were it not for all the other words that followed it:

"provide continuous Transitway service from the southeast to downtown"

It should read:
"provide continuous Transitway service from the east and the southeast to downtown during the construction period" or something similar.

Since the interim period poses problems for both the east and southeast there's just no reason to single out the southeast *UNLESS* it refers to maintaining Transitway service post-tunnel construction.

You have to appreciate that we're talking about Ottawa here, not Calgary. There's little that makes sense here. I've talked to a couple of senior people at Calgary Transit / City of Calgary and they can't believe the nonsense that goes on here in Ottawa. At the time I was last in Calgary a cost of $750M was being bandied about here in Ottawa by City officials for a 3 km section of LRT in a City-owned former tramway corridor without much in the way (Richmond/Byron) as one of the possible west-end LRT routings and they (at Calgary) couldn't understand how such a price was possible given that the West LRT project in Calgary costs about the same for more than twice the distance with flyovers, tunnels, stations (aerial, sunk and at-grade), property and rolling stock. It's still all about buses and BRT in Ottawa; LRT is only about saving BRT from itself by employing as little of it that can be got away with, and that little bit is always ludicrously expensive.

[lrt's friend]

Since the interim period poses problems for both the east and southeast there's just no reason to single out the southeast *UNLESS* it refers to maintaining Transitway service post-tunnel construction.

And why not? It will be 15 or 20 years before we receive LRT service. This is the least to be expected. The tunnel does us no good until then. It is like redirecting Calgary's West and North BRT to terminate at a C-Train station 1 km away from downtown. Why would they ever consider it?

[Dado]

Well you might want it to be that way, but that's not the impression that was given until today's announcement. It would be like hearing that they're going to extend the O-Train somewhere - I would welcome it, but it's not what they've been announcing all along. There are no blue lines extending into downtown Ottawa in the TMP but that is essentially what this is promising to do - and Franky's right about the Hospital Link corridor just adding to the mess because there is no LRT on the books in the TMP that would even come close to replacing that corridor's traffic since it will go all the way out to Cumberland. It is now a recipe for who knows how many buses to stay on Albert and Slater over the long term. Next up will be keeping buses from Kanata on the Ottawa River Parkway and into downtown (need to load balance those east-end buses, after all, and transferring at Lincoln Fields with zero chance of a seat will be such a drag... much easier just to keep going).

It's insidious.

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

Why would this surprise you?

It doesn't, but you probably knew that.

I don't think the transit riding community will agree with you on this, at least not until LRT is completed east, west and south. That is the ultimate goal I suppose to rid downtown of most buses, but to do this after Phase 1 will create so much inconvenience that it will drive non-captive transit riders away. Let's do this correctly.

Do you think the transit-riding public knows what Phase 1 actually is? Even we have trouble keeping on top of it with all this "increment" talk. I very much think that if you asked the average person what the tunnel is for that they would say it is to improve transit service in the downtown by replacing all the buses.

Direct bus service to downtown from the south should only be terminated after LRT service reaches South Keys. Likewise, westward when LRT reaches Baseline. Otherwise, how many mega-transfer stations are we going to build and at what cost? I am still waiting to hear the cost of the Blair transfer station. Or is this a grand surprise (or shock $$$$$$+++++) for the future?

Well that's why I think the entire network inside the Greenbelt should be converted in one shot.

As for Blair, I agree - with yet another "underground" area for LRT it is a sticker shock waiting to happen, especially once this new Cumberland Transitway has to find a way to join in the fun as well.

The cost of something like this will likely exceed the cost of the bridge. The bridge is a permanent investment, whether it continues to be used for transit or not. Let's use our money wisely and not waste it on something temporary.

I think I see what Franky's suggesting - build a basic platform at the stadium to serve as the temporary hub for the SE and East Transitways (it can be the stadium's station in the future). It need not be anything too big. During the conversion all downtown buses would pass through there and onto the Queensway (without even leaving the on-ramps) so as to avoid using the bridge between Lees and Hurdman while also avoiding building a new one across the Rideau. Express buses could probably skip the parking lot altogether. It's not a bad idea really.

[Franky]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

The cost of something like this will likely exceed the cost of the bridge. The bridge is a permanent investment, whether it continues to be used for transit or not. Let's use our money wisely and not waste it on something temporary.

I bet the Hurdman station will be scrapped to make way for the new LRT station, why not just move it? I can't see that costing anywhere near $45M. Or, as Dado said, just build a basic station (plus some temporary ones) that can be used for the stadium later on.

[Richard Eade]

Franky has a point. Instead of curling the buses from the 417 down to a temporary station at Hurdman and then back up to the 417 to cross the river, why not create a temporary station at the stadium?



I would guess that this layout would be about $20M.

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by Richard Eade

Franky has a point. Instead of curling the buses from the 417 down to a temporary station at Hurdman and then back up to the 417 to cross the river, why not create a temporary station at the stadium?



I would guess that this layout would be about $20M.

Exactly how is that supposed to work going the other direction? Will current transfer patterns work anymore? I have my doubts for certain combinations, which is critical considering that Hurdman is one of the most important transfer stations east of downtown. And exactly how much time delay would be expected? I have travelled on the Vanier Parkway through this interchange during peak periods and there can be considerable congestion. And if we add hundreds of buses, what will be the impact on congestion?

[Franky]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

Exactly how is that supposed to work going the other direction? Will current transfer patterns work anymore? I have my doubts for certain combinations, which is critical considering that Hurdman is one of the most important transfer stations east of downtown. And exactly how much time delay would be expected? I have travelled on the Vanier Parkway through this interchange during peak periods and there can be considerable congestion. And if we add hundreds of buses, what will be the impact on congestion?

Doesn't the light blue line represent the other direction flow? I had thought the parking lot could be used but Richard's solution is very interesting. I believe that that Vanier Parkway bridge over the 417 was slated to be redesigned and re-built for the 417 widening. Perhaps this work could be done in advance of the LRT mess?

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by Franky

Doesn't the light blue line represent the other direction flow? I had thought the parking lot could be used but Richard's solution is very interesting. I believe that that Vanier Parkway bridge over the 417 was slated to be redesigned and re-built for the 417 widening. Perhaps this work could be done in advance of the LRT mess?

The Light blue represents transit movement from the SE Transitway to downtown. What I was wondering was movement in the opposite direction, ie from downtown and how transfers would work between the the two former Transitways? I don't think this really addresses this.

[Dado]

Transfers would occur at the yellow area. What you've got is a massive one-way loop - buses from downtown, from the Southeast Transitway and from the East Transitway all head north on Vanier then east into the stadium station, loop around and go back out in whichever direction they're going. Where this probably breaks down from a feasibility PoV is the sheer number of buses circulating on public streets (and crossing paths, though we have this at Hurdman already). 450+ buses in the peak hour would not be inconceivable if all express buses (including west-end origin/destination) were routed through here. The station itself would have to be like a toll plaza with a series of aisles (probably 3 - one each for downtown/west, East and Southeast) to handle the loads. We could call it the John Bonsall Transit Hub as a fitting final monument to the Transitway's chief proponent complete with a commemorative plaque to remind everyone of how we got here.

Anyway, the express buses would simply have to stay out of it for this to work.