Thinking further about the Western LRT Corridor, after the connection with the Western Transitway, the next hurdles heading north are Lincoln Fields Station followed by Richmond Road.
Richmond Road:
I’ll start with Richmond Road since there should be no parallel bus lanes in this section. I am assuming in this instance that the chosen route is the Richmond/Byron Corridor. If the Ottawa River Parkway (ORP) alignment is chosen, then the following issue would not arise; same with a Carling alignment.
According to one Transit Committee member, IF the Richmond/Byron Corridor were chosen, it would be a good possibility that the eastern alignment (at the curve onto the ORP Corridor) would follow the old tram corridor which the City saved for this purpose. I was a bit surprised by the comment since I didn’t think he was considering any option but the ORP, and secondly because the City, from his viewpoint, had saved a corridor for a railway here. I don’t know if I have much faith in his statement, but I have included it in the following image.
It seems to me that following the old tram alignment between the buildings would make for a fairly tight turn (roughly 40m radius curve shown) starting almost 100 metres away from the station (assuming west/south bound train). Now I realize that City Staff have not worried about restricting the speed of the train with tight turns well away from the stations, but I do so I have included my suggestion for where the track and station should be; following the fuchsia lines. I think that pulling the line closer to Richmond Road is a better idea than running it through the neighbourhood; even if it is a neighbourhood of towers.
Unfortunately, there would need to be an expropriation of a commercial building – the gas station. Alternatively, the land across the street, shown as 2368, could be exchanged for the gas station land. This would allow a new gas station to have its road access aligning with the intersection.
Lincoln Fields Station:
Turning now to the Lincoln Fields Station, I think it should be moved farther south; to Carling. I think it was originally positioned between Carling and Richmond roads so that a single station could cover both; and because there was space for the sprawling configuration of the current station. If, as I have shown above, there is an additional station at Richmond Road, then the current station is only about 300 metres away from it. By moving the station to Carling, the distance between the stations becomes more reasonable, and the Bus Transitway can be more easily handled.
With the ORP ramps, the rail, and bus lanes all running parallel, the Carling overpass would need to be replaced with one having a longer span for everything to fit under it. Also, the buses would likely need to be moved so that both directions were on the east side of the rails. By following the example of what Staff is planning for the Baseline Station, the lengthening of the Calring structure can be avoided. The buses could be raised on ramps to a transfer station above the LRT platform, as shown in the following depiction.
I have added an intersection to Carling to allow buses access the Transitway. Local buses would stop along Carling. The intersection would also give pedestrians a new place to cross Carling without hopping the fence in the median. It is on the east side of the bridge to provide the easiest route for the kids going to the school; which will likely be the majority of the users.
Bus lay-up space would be (as at Baseline) along the ramps up to the bus station (perhaps only on the east side, I'm not sure). This means that the existing Lincoln Fields Station could be entirely removed; including that intersection. If the chosen LRT routing is along Carling Avenue, then the space freed by the removal of the existing station north of Carling could be used for the LRT loop and potentially LRT car storage.
Prev
Linear Mode
