Confederation Line (Stage 1) | In Service 1.0

[McC]

or this guy: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=157565; we're blessed with so many threads.

(Ottawa: the town with more rapid transit discussion threads than rapid transit lines)

[McC]

oops, I said "town"!!

<ducks>

<hides>

[S-Man]

If it was about vote buying, they would have pledged money for the 174, not the 17. Stop being so cynical.

You're right - nothing this government has ever done would ever warrant cynicism from a plebe like me. I've never picked up a newspaper.

Do I have to spell it out? East Ottawa and east rural = Liberal, died in the wool. Safe seats. No need for unnecessary expenditures. They even cancelled the interprovincial bridge study to satisfy local outcries in east Ottawa, thus perpetuating the downtown truck problem (not that the NCC was about to whip into action or anything...)

West Ottawa? Shaky Liberal seat. The route for the 17 up the Valley? Blue.

You buy votes you need, not the ones you take for granted.

But yes, this thread is merging out of the driving lane here.

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by S-Man

You're right - nothing this government has ever done would ever warrant cynicism from a plebe like me. I've never picked up a newspaper.

Do I have to spell it out? East Ottawa and east rural = Liberal, died in the wool. Safe seats. No need for unnecessary expenditures. They even cancelled the interprovincial bridge study to satisfy local outcries in east Ottawa, thus perpetuating the downtown truck problem (not that the NCC was about to whip into action or anything...)

West Ottawa? Shaky Liberal seat. The route for the 17 up the Valley? Blue.

You buy votes you need, not the ones you take for granted.

But yes, this thread is merging out of the driving lane here.

Nobody in the City of Ottawa is going to care about 17 widening. Those in Renfrew will. That's a VERY safe conservative seat. Libs could fill every truck in Renfrew with pots of gold and they're still not getting that seat.

The east, not so. Glengarry-Prescott-Russell & Ottawa-Orleans are liberal seats now but they're at huge risk of loss to the PCs (the former especially) now that they've promised a 174 extension. GPR was already at risk before, Libs barely won that seat last time.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by Catenary

Here's an article that mentions it, third paragraph from the end:

http://www.torontosun.com/2014/04/14/wynne-announces-revenue-tools-for-transit

"... and the next phase of the Light Rail Transit in Ottawa, Wynne said."

Full context:

Ontario remains committed to projects planned and underway, and will consider an acceleration of the Northern Highways program to create four-lane highway connections from border to border to border; getting started on frequent high-speed rail service all day between Toronto, Pearson Airport, Waterloo Region and London; and the next phase of the Light Rail Transit in Ottawa, Wynne said.

I'm sick of being "considered" by the Province of Toronto. Sick of it.

[Kitchissippi]

Originally Posted by S-Man

Do I have to spell it out? East Ottawa and east rural = Liberal, died in the wool. Safe seats. No need for unnecessary expenditures.

Ya, but... the Confederation Line (which this thread is about) mostly goes east!

[J.OT13]

Belfast Yards construction starting. I wonder if/when Pepsi will be expropriated. With the massive Stage 2 plan, they will need a significant expansion of the rail yards or a second one. Best bet would likely expanding into the St-Laurent bus depot. Can't think of any other spot for rail yards, except maybe somewhere in Orleans?

April 15, 2014
MSF Construction Commencement and Belfast Road Closure

Confederation Line’s Maintenance and Storage Facility (MSF)

Preliminary activities on the Maintenance and Storage Facility (MSF) site began in spring 2013 and included the demolition of the existing structures. Demolition was completed in fall 2013 and work has resumed on-site.

Initial activities on-site included site clearing, tree removal and equipment mobilization. Excavations for utility work and for the MSF foundation have also begun. Erection of the steel structure for the MSF building is scheduled to commence in June 2014 with construction of the MSF anticipated to be completed in summer 2015. Noise generated from these activities is expected to be low to moderate.

Construction of the MSF connector track is scheduled to begin in May 2014 and conclude in spring 2016. The MSF connector track will provide Light Rail Transit (LRT) vehicles with access to and from the main Confederation Line track. It will run parallel to Belfast Road, south of Tremblay Road and will cross under the existing VIA railway line, as shown below.

Additional activity in the area is required in support of Confederation Line construction and the MSF, including utility relocations and the replacement of the Belfast Bridge over Highway 417.


MSF Site Map_Eng

This work will require the full closure of Belfast Road from Coventry Road to Trainyards Drive as early as mid-May 2014 until spring 2016. Tremblay Road is scheduled to remain open during construction. Further details on the precise schedule and detour routes will be communicated in advance of the closure.

The MSF has been designed to minimize the impacts of its operations on neighbours through specific engineered solutions, including a berm on the north side of the facility. The construction of the berm will be ongoing from spring 2014 until spring 2015. Final landscaping will both improve the appearance of the site, as well as provide a visual barrier.

From 2016 to 2017 the facility will be used to assemble the Confederation Line’s light rail vehicles. The facility will be in full operation in 2018.

http://www.confederationline.ca/#target3211

[Harley613]

Damn.. I didn't know Belfast would be closed from Trainyards to Coventry for two years... why does the road have to be closed at all? I use that road pretty much every day.

[Capital Shaun]

Originally Posted by Harley613

Damn.. I didn't know Belfast would be closed from Trainyards to Coventry for two years... why does the road have to be closed at all? I use that road pretty much every day.

Belfast is 4 lanes wide there too. Was narrowing it down to 2 lanes during construction even considered?

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Belfast Yards construction starting. I wonder if/when Pepsi will be expropriated. With the massive Stage 2 plan, they will need a significant expansion of the rail yards or a second one. Best bet would likely expanding into the St-Laurent bus depot. Can't think of any other spot for rail yards, except maybe somewhere in Orleans?


http://www.confederationline.ca/#target3211

I believe it is being built with lots of excess capacity.

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by Harley613

Damn.. I didn't know Belfast would be closed from Trainyards to Coventry for two years... why does the road have to be closed at all? I use that road pretty much every day.

They're building the spur to the facility as a cut-and-cover tunnel underneath Belfast. I imagine that takes lots of time.

[Dado]

Originally Posted by Harley613

Damn.. I didn't know Belfast would be closed from Trainyards to Coventry for two years... why does the road have to be closed at all?

Because Ottawa has a shut-it-down mentality.


What truly pisses me off about the railyard is how the City let the opportunity to use the until recently vacant *Trainyards* site slip through its fingers and instead went about expropriating and knocking down a bunch of other buildings with operating businesses. The Trainyards site could have been contiguous with the existing St. Laurent bus garage site and it would have had rail access by way of the yard lead to the southeast. This is one of the consequences of the time spent on the misguided N-S LRT project with its railyard in the middle of nowhere and incomplete downtown line. Had that project extended to Hurdman (to get rid of the buses downtown), it would have been dead obvious to use the Trainyards site for the railyard.

[JM1]

The attractiveness of the train yards site is that it should allow you to tap the train lrt station. Unfortunately, that potential remains untapped now and maybe for the future.

Now granted Ottawa is not as big as Berlin, but a site like the train yards/train station was leveraged there to build the new hauptbahnhof, which links intercity rail with major s-bahn lines. Overtop of that is a stylish shopping centre and office complex which acts as a nucleus for the vacant land adjacent.

Originally Posted by Dado

Because Ottawa has a shut-it-down mentality.


What truly pisses me off about the railyard is how the City let the opportunity to use the until recently vacant *Trainyards* site slip through its fingers and instead went about expropriating and knocking down a bunch of other buildings with operating businesses. The Trainyards site could have been contiguous with the existing St. Laurent bus garage site and it would have had rail access by way of the yard lead to the southeast. This is one of the consequences of the time spent on the misguided N-S LRT project with its railyard in the middle of nowhere and incomplete downtown line. Had that project extended to Hurdman (to get rid of the buses downtown), it would have been dead obvious to use the Trainyards site for the railyard.

[S-Man]

But, but, but - without the Trainyards development, I wouldn't have my second-closest Wal-Mart!

[bikegypsy]

Originally Posted by JM1

The attractiveness of the train yards site is that it should allow you to tap the train lrt station. Unfortunately, that potential remains untapped now and maybe for the future.

Now granted Ottawa is not as big as Berlin, but a site like the train yards/train station was leveraged there to build the new hauptbahnhof, which links intercity rail with major s-bahn lines. Overtop of that is a stylish shopping centre and office complex which acts as a nucleus for the vacant land adjacent.

Weird... I was thinking precisely this earlier today

[lrt's friend]

This is one of the consequences of the time spent on the misguided N-S LRT project with its railyard in the middle of nowhere and incomplete downtown line.

Yes, and the proposed long-term plan is better for the south end of the city? Only Ottawa will build a train to the airport that doesn't run downtown. And we will wonder why ridership will continue to be poor in the south end.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

Yes, and the proposed long-term plan is better for the south end of the city? Only Ottawa will build a train to the airport that doesn't run downtown. And we will wonder why ridership will continue to be poor in the south end.

The current plan isn't perfect, but it still beats the old one.

[S-Man]

The current plan isn't perfect, but it still beats the old one.

Yup.

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

Yes, and the proposed long-term plan is better for the south end of the city? Only Ottawa will build a train to the airport that doesn't run downtown. And we will wonder why ridership will continue to be poor in the south end.

I love how you harp on about south end, south end, south end while ignoring what's best for the city as a whole. The old LRT plan was good for the south and bad for everyone else. This plan is the best compromise for everyone.

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

Yes, and the proposed long-term plan is better for the south end of the city? Only Ottawa will build a train to the airport that doesn't run downtown. And we will wonder why ridership will continue to be poor in the south end.

Many subway systems connect the airport on non-downtown lines. Toronto's is planned to, as the airport will be served by a western extension of the now U/C Eglinton line. The airport->downtown piece will be served by a premium express train connection which in Ottawa would not work at all (not enough demand--even Toronto's has a questionable business case).