Confederation Line (Stage 1) | In Service 1.0

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by HighwayStar

Pet Peeve.... HOV... what do these lanes actually accomplish? Other than blocking off a perfectly usable section of highway.

The basic question is - How many people choose to carpool because there is an HOV lane available? I'd be willing to bet the answer is very close to zero.

There are decent numbers of people who carpool in order to use the HOV lanes in Gatineau. Our HOV lanes are buses, taxis and vehicles with 3+ people.

[Kitchissippi]

Originally Posted by silvergate

Apparently the new lame will become a bus only lane during LRT construction on the transitway.

I know that, but two years of lane reductions for the construction of the extra lanes versus temporarily carving bus lanes out of the existing width for two years is about the same inconvenience. Sadly, the day the LRT opens will also be when the eastern Queensway increases its capacity — a disincentive to take public transit.

It's boggling that we're constantly enabling downtown congestion by widening roads, and then talk of disabling it with a congestion fee. If we stop enabling it by capping the volume of cars that can access downtown we can basically control congestion without any expensive equipment and administration. Let traffic happen to teach people a lesson not to take their cars during peak hours.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by silvergate

At this point in time, no, what with heavy government cuts and high vacancy rates downtown. Phase 2 of the LRT will hopefully be complete on time (2023), and the extension of rail to Orleans and Bayshore would actually make sense to begin implementing congestion fees, allowing users to park and ride rather than paying to drive to downtown. Though the way this city runs, I'm not sure a person could ever be elected with that in their platform.

I think the transit share for downtown travel trips is already very high. Something like 70%. This has been achieved by the transit operators but also due to the historic concentration by the federal government of the lion's share of its jobs in the CBD.

I know the feds have always had some of their jobs in more auto-dependent locations, but it seems as though there is a steady trickle away from the CBD for federal offices at the moment.

High transit usage rates in Ottawa (and Gatineau) need the feds on board to choose transit-friendly workplaces for their employees.

And we know how big a consideration that is for them these days...

[MaxHeadroom]

Originally Posted by silvergate

Apparently the new lame will become a bus only lane during LRT construction on the transitway. I hope it means an HOV might go in once the train is up and running.

I douibt that very much. Widening the Queensway between Nicholas and the Split solves the split merge where you have two lanes from 174 and two lanes from 417 merging into three, which is a huge safety issue that MTO and the City have been wanting to solve for a very long time. Even if there were an HOV lane, I don't see how it would work since it's a very short distance and it wouldn't make merging any safer. Note that westbound buses will have to use the segregated St Laurent off ramp that goes under Cyrville Rd because that's now the only way to get to St Laurent. Leaving four mainline westbound lanes under Cyrville.

What I want to know is, how eastbound buses from St. Laurent are going to get to Blair without performing a dangerous merge and double lane change operation to get on the 174.

[1overcosc]

The BRT lanes will become regular traffic lanes after the Confederation Line is complete.

HOV lanes were studied, but rejected. The MTO concluded that 417 HOV lanes are not feasible anywhere east of Highway 416 because of closely-spaced interchanges.

In any case, the Nicholas-174 segment needs 8 lanes. It's easily by far and away the most congested section of road in the entire City of Ottawa. The 417 traffic west of downtown is peanuts compared to what Orleans people have to go through at the Split. I never understood why the MTO made Carling-Kent 8 lanes first....

[MountainView]

Can someone tell me how exactly the eastbound bus routing will work? How will non-express buses serve Lees, Hurdman, Train, St. Laurent, and Cyrville Stations during construction? Will the buses have to exit the highway to access temporary stations? I couldn't find a website so if there is one and someone wants to redirect me there that would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks all.

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by MountainView

Can someone tell me how exactly the eastbound bus routing will work? How will non-express buses serve Lees, Hurdman, Train, St. Laurent, and Cyrville Stations during construction? Will the buses have to exit the highway to access temporary stations? I couldn't find a website so if there is one and someone wants to redirect me there that would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks all.

I believe none of the decisions relating to this have been finalized yet, but here's what I've heard so far:
-Lees station will continue to be served; buses will access Highway 417 via the Lees Avenue onramp that encircles Lees station. That onramp will be closed to general traffic for the entire duration of LRT construction. Construction of Lees station will allow for temporary bus platforms to coexist while the LRT station is built.
-Most buses will exit the highway to serve Hurdman. The new LRT station is being built slightly north of the existing Hurdman station, as the LRT route is slightly different from the current BRT route, so the existing station can continue to be used throughout construction. Express buses, though, will bypass Hurdman.
-One of the Transitway routes (likely the #96) will continue to serve the train station by travelling down Tremblay between Riverside and St. Laurent. The other bus routes will not serve the train station. Train BRT station itself will cease to exist next year; the new LRT station is being built in a slightly different location.
-St. Laurent will be served by westbound Transitway buses only, not eastbound. Local routes in the area will be beefed up to compensate for the loss of service.
-Cyrville will close completely.

Many of these details are not tied down yet. One option I've heard is being considered for service to Cyrville & St. Laurent is to have route 94 temporarily rerouted down Cyrville to St. Lauernt instead of going up Blair, to allow full service to Cyrville & St. Laurent stations.

In any event, this diversion will be hell for hundreds of thousands of people. It drives me insane that there's so much bitching and moaning about the Scott Street diversion and those 500 poor people who are going to have to suffer buses near them, and yet not a peep about the 100,000+ transit riders whose commutes will get far worse as a result of the 417 diversion.

[MountainView]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

I believe none of the decisions relating to this have been finalized yet, but here's what I've heard so far:
-Lees station will continue to be served; buses will access Highway 417 via the Lees Avenue onramp that encircles Lees station. That onramp will be closed to general traffic for the entire duration of LRT construction. Construction of Lees station will allow for temporary bus platforms to coexist while the LRT station is built.
-Most buses will exit the highway to serve Hurdman. The new LRT station is being built slightly north of the existing Hurdman station, as the LRT route is slightly different from the current BRT route, so the existing station can continue to be used throughout construction. Express buses, though, will bypass Hurdman.
-One of the Transitway routes (likely the #96) will continue to serve the train station by travelling down Tremblay between Riverside and St. Laurent. The other bus routes will not serve the train station. Train BRT station itself will cease to exist next year; the new LRT station is being built in a slightly different location.
-St. Laurent will be served by westbound Transitway buses only, not eastbound. Local routes in the area will be beefed up to compensate for the loss of service.
-Cyrville will close completely.

Many of these details are not tied down yet. One option I've heard is being considered for service to Cyrville & St. Laurent is to have route 94 temporarily rerouted down Cyrville to St. Lauernt instead of going up Blair, to allow full service to Cyrville & St. Laurent stations.

In any event, this diversion will be hell for hundreds of thousands of people. It drives me insane that there's so much bitching and moaning about the Scott Street diversion and those 500 poor people who are going to have to suffer buses near them, and yet not a peep about the 100,000+ transit riders whose commutes will get far worse as a result of the 417 diversion.

Thanks a lot for the insight! Having no eastbound service to St. Laurent sounds crazy to me. I think at least one 90-series bus needs to serve the station or have a direct new route that can run from Hurdman to St.Laurent. It could leave Hurdman, take the 417 an exit St. Laurent, turn left and enter through the mall overpass. It makes sense for a majority of the buses to skip St. Laurent because it does add a lot of extra time detouring to go into the mall. But allowing people to transfer at Hurdman and having a someone rapid route to St. Laurent would make things easier (a bus that comes every 7 minutes).

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by jeremy_haak

The main benefit of the yyyymmdd format and the principal reason I use it is the fact that it sorts correctly.

Good point.

[Aylmer]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

In any case, the Nicholas-174 segment needs 8 lanes. It's easily by far and away the most congested section of road in the entire City of Ottawa. The 417 traffic west of downtown is peanuts compared to what Orleans people have to go through at the Split. I never understood why the MTO made Carling-Kent 8 lanes first....

Induced demand and basic economics. We'll either have 6 lanes of congestion or pay hundreds of millions of our money for 8 lanes of congestion. I challenge anyone to find a single credible study that shows that more lanes reduce congestion it travel times, because I have yet to find one.

Widening a road is as effective in reducing congestion as ritual sacrifices. At least the latter is inexpensive.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Radster

Just to add some fuel to the bus vs LRT fire, I came across this article last week, I am sure some of you will recall hearing about this guy! No one loves busses more than him, and no one hates LRT more than he does.

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2014-07...1_1_light-rail-feeder-buses-rail-transit

If we're talking about surface LRT, as he is, I totally agree.

For everyone suggesting a pedestrian zone of toll system for downtown; it can't work. We're no where near large enough and the lack of urban rapid transit results in their being no true alternative to cars. That said, Ottawa is already one of the most progressive cities in North America when it comes to rapid transit. Sure we're a little behind in terms of infrastructure, but we are ahead of the curve in ridership.

[Innsertnamehere]

You would be surprised. The lanes are great for buses as well.

They certainly come in handy in Toronto, I love them. The ones I don't quite understand are the ones on regular city streets, they are essentially completely ignored.

Edit: talking about HOVs.

[eternallyme]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

The BRT lanes will become regular traffic lanes after the Confederation Line is complete.

HOV lanes were studied, but rejected. The MTO concluded that 417 HOV lanes are not feasible anywhere east of Highway 416 because of closely-spaced interchanges.

In any case, the Nicholas-174 segment needs 8 lanes. It's easily by far and away the most congested section of road in the entire City of Ottawa. The 417 traffic west of downtown is peanuts compared to what Orleans people have to go through at the Split. I never understood why the MTO made Carling-Kent 8 lanes first....

West of Nicholas, there is no room to expand without any expropriation, so any traffic problems there (long term) can only be accomplished by parallel corridors. The LRT will likely help somewhat for now.

That does bring up the ring road discussion, but that as proposed would likely be an absolute failure since it would be a sprawl magnet that would draw few vehicles (since the overwhelming majority of cars and trucks entering Ottawa are heading to Ottawa, or stopping in Ottawa, and would get no benefit from it). The problem is there is no real place for a high-quality parallel corridor inside the Greenbelt, and building through the Greenbelt would be extremely controversial.

Most likely, the LRT will buy at least 10 to 20 years before any such building is necessary, as traffic should decrease somewhat after Phase 2.

[eternallyme]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

If we're talking about surface LRT, as he is, I totally agree.

For everyone suggesting a pedestrian zone of toll system for downtown; it can't work. We're no where near large enough and the lack of urban rapid transit results in their being no true alternative to cars. That said, Ottawa is already one of the most progressive cities in North America when it comes to rapid transit. Sure we're a little behind in terms of infrastructure, but we are ahead of the curve in ridership.

Some US cities the size of Ottawa - those with the least transit - have ridership less than 1/20th what the Ottawa region's transit ridership is.

[OTSkyline]

I think once we see a full-fledged LRT SYSTEM (with multiple lines serving multiple neighbourhoods and having large coverage in our central area) then the city can really focus on really pushing public transit and take steps to limit people driving (tolls, parking fees, pedestrian only streets) etc..

Until then, it's kind of understandable why not everyone is dropping their car to run to the nearest bus/LRT stop (although we do have a nice high % of transit users).. I mean, after all is said and done, even after phase 2, we will still only have 1 LRT line...

[Aylmer]

Originally Posted by eternallyme

Most likely, the LRT will buy at least 10 to 20 years before any such building is necessary, as traffic should decrease somewhat after Phase 2.

Any decrease in traffic will also decrease the cost of driving, increasing the demand until it attains the same supply/demand equilibrium. We cannot reduce congestion by reducing the cost of driving any more than we can reduce the demand for pizza by reducing its price. That's not the point of transit.

The point of transit is to give people a viable alternative to sitting in traffic.

[MalcolmTucker]

And traffic is in continual market failure due to the u-shapped demand curve. The marginal benefit for sitting in congestion is way higher than the marginal cost imposed on the individual of the congestion a marginal car costs. Hence traffic jams that 🞵🞵🞵🞵 for for the collective but make sense for everyone to sit in.

[rocketphish]

August 6, 2014
Construction Summary

Central Segment

TUNNEL

West Portal (Jawbreaker)
• Drilling of the umbrella continues, followed by excavation of the ramp and central pillar, as well as shotcreting and pouring of the mud slab in the next weeks.

Reinforcement continues in Lyon Station cavern


Central Shaft (Chewrocka)
• The roadheader continues mining Parliament Station cavern in drifts, followed by mining of the bench.
• Cavern reinforcement is ongoing with shotcreting and umbrella, rockbolt and mesh installation.

Excavation of Parliament Station advances in drifts from the central shaft


East Portal (Crocodile Rouge)
• Installation of tunnel support, including rockbolts and spiles , is ongoing as mining advances north under Waller Street.

Tunnel reinforcement and mining advances at East Portal


For weekly updates on tunnel excavation progress please visit the Roadheader page.

East Segment

MAINTENANCE AND STORAGE FACILITY (MSF)

Construction activities progress at the MSF as long-term closure of Belfast Road south of Tremblay Road to Trainyards Drive and north of Tremblay Road to Coventry Road is ongoing.
• Site utilities, storm sewer work and backfilling is ongoing.
• Excavation on the MSF building foundation was completed.
• Work continues of the MSF shed foundation.
• Works for the MSF connector continue, including shoring, piling and the installation of whalers.
• Delivery of the Petrucco track support system is ongoing.
• Mobilization of steel begins.
• Utility work south of Tremblay Road continues.

Site utilities installation is ongoing


CIVIC WORKS

Highway 417 Roadwork, Widening and Structure Rehabilitation

• The switch to stage 2 for Highway 417 eastbound lanes continues to the outside lanes to allow the median to undergo rehabilitation.
• Work includes paving, obliterating and repainting lines, and shifting the quick moveable barriers (QMB) into the new configuration.
• The westbound lanes switch to the outside lanes will commence in the beginning of August.

Noise wall panel installation continues on the south side


Roadworks
• Utilities and sewer work is progressing along the north and south sides of the highway.
• Panel work continues for the sound wall along the north and south sides of the highway from St. Laurent Boulevard to Vanier Parkway.
• Roadway construction advances with excavation, milling , placing and compacting granulars, grading and pouring of concrete barrier walls along the north and south sides of Highway 417 from St. Laurent Boulevard to Nicholas Street.

Signage
• The three message signs have been installed; final construction and electrical works to power the signs continue.

Structures
• Widening, reconstruction and rehabilitation of various bridge structures along the highway continue to progress toward stage 2 of works.

Hurdman Bridge
• Widening and rehabilitation of the structure is ongoing, with installation of plates and hardware, access platform removal, and stripping the deck on the north side.

Construction is ongoing on the deck of Hurdman Bridge


St. Laurent Overpass
• Widening and rehabilitation of the structure progresses and includes forming, pouring, and stripping of the deck end, and installation of road plates on the north side.

Widening and rehabilitation of the structure, including stripping of the deck end, continues at St. Laurent overpass


Vanier Parkway Overpass
• Work advances in preparation of the rapid bridge replacement scheduled for fall 2014.
• Work continues in the staging area and includes forming, pouring, and curing the new superstructure’s overhang, sidewalk, and median.
• Erection of steel piers begins.

Construction advances on the deck of the new superstructure in Vanier Parkway staging area


Belfast Road Underpass
• Demolition of the existing structure advances as long-term closure of Belfast Road, north of Tremblay Road to Coventry Road continues.
• Demolition of the bridge piers was completed.
• Construction and rehabilitation continue with the placement of the subdrain and bolts.
• Formwork is ongoing on the south and north abutments.

Work on the Belfast Road Underpass is ongoing


Lees Avenue Underpass
• Construction of the new bridge continues in preparation for the rapid replacement scheduled for September.
• Work on the new deck advances and includes stripping of the deck formwork and soffit.
• Installation of reinforcing steel and caissons are anticipated on the north side.
• Formwork of the south side wingwalls and ballast walls begins.
• Granular and sewer work progresses on Robinson Road.

Construction progresses on the deck of the new superstructure at Lees staging area


Coventry Pedestrian Footbridge
• Footbridge construction progresses with precast panel installation and formwork on the superstructure.
• Forming of the south abutment ceiling occurs.

Precast installation and formwork on the Coventry Footbridge superstructure continues


Stay on-track with us and follow our progress by visiting the sections related to each area of construction at the top of this webpage.

[1]Spiles refer to the protective pipe canopies installed to support the tunnel structure.
[1]Whalers are horizontal reinforcement used to secure upright structures, such as formwork for the pouring of concrete.
[1]Petrucco track support is a new system to reinforce and support railroad tracks, patented by the Petrucco Group as a result of over 30 years of experience in the supporting of tracks and the jacking of underpasses.
[1]Milling refers to the process of removing asphalt pavement with a milling machine.
[1]Formwork refers to a mold in which concrete is poured.
[1]Soffit refers to the underside of a structural component, such as the underside of the superstructure deck.

[rocketphish]

More info on the Petrucco track support system:
http://www.petrucco.com/?page_id=11&lang=en

Not sure how this is being used in the MSF though? Is this a temporary construction-related activity, or a permanent MSF facility feature?

[rocketphish]

Rethink plans for Queen Street LRT station, city's own experts advise

David Reevely, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: August 7, 2014, Last Updated: August 7, 2014 4:57 PM EDT


A rendering of the plans for the Ottawa LRT station serving Parliament Hill as they stood in 2012.

An overly grand design for the light-rail station that’s to serve Parliament Hill risks crowding neighbouring buildings and the space in front of it on Queen Street, the city’s own panel of design experts warns.

The group of architects and urban designers goes over the plans for major projects, including the city government’s own, to give advice on esthetics and function. It studied the city’s plans to rebuild Queen into a “showcase street” centred on the LRT stations that are supposed to open in 2018.

Overall, the panel found, it’s high-quality work. But the group had some reservations, particularly with the entrances to the stations.

“The Panel feels that the LRT station designs and entrances do not adequately capitalize on the opportunity of creating gateways to the popular tourist destinations, close to the study area,” says a summary of the panel’s recommendations posted on its website.

“The Panel expressed major concern with the design of the Parliament Station in particular, and the very tight surrounding spaces it creates with adjacent buildings and with the public realm,” the report goes on. “The Panel questions whether such a large entrance structure to the station is needed, vis-à-vis anticipated ridership levels at peak hours. Many subway stations in larger cities around the world function well with narrower staircases that take up less space in the public realm, despite higher volumes of users.”

The current plan for the station also has a prominent ventilation stack, the designers observed, which should either be moved or disguised, maybe with a piece of art.

Speaking of art, sculptures and similar pieces are a big part of the plan, thanks to a city policy of spending one per cent of a major project’s budget on them — in the $2.1-billion rail plan, that means $21 million. The city might be planning to spend a bit too much of that on Queen in particular.

“Given the number of opportunities for public art in other locations close to the study area, such as on Sparks Street and on Confederation Boulevard, the Panel feels that public art should not be as high a priority of the project as its other objectives,” the report says.

In mild language, the architects also pointed out that Queen Street will probably be very busy at rush hours but if it’s going to be occupied at other times, “more people will need to be living in the area.”

The panel often goes over plans twice or more before they go ahead, with the builders making changes to try to get the group’s approval. Securing that sign-off isn’t mandatory but it would be embarrassing for the city government to steamroll the advice of its own experts.

[email protected]
twitter.com/davidreevely

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news...own-lrt-station-citys-own-experts-advise