Confederation Line (Stage 1) | In Service 1.0

[lrt's friend]

if you look at all the stations from Hurdman to Blair, they are all horrible locations that are very disconnected from the surrounding community. In every case, the pedestrian environment is terrible. Yes, we have pedestrian bridges now at Blair and the VIA Rail Station but if you look around, it is rushing traffic, highways and parking lots everywhere. The only exception being Hurdman but that is equally disconnected from everything with some modest access to the neighbouring Riviera condo towers. It is going to take a lot of effort to make these better locations but to a great degree, the die has already been caste.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

if you look at all the stations from Hurdman to Blair, they are all horrible locations that are very disconnected from the surrounding community. In every case, the pedestrian environment is terrible. Yes, we have pedestrian bridges now at Blair and the VIA Rail Station but if you look around, it is rushing traffic, highways and parking lots everywhere. The only exception being Hurdman but that is equally disconnected from everything with some modest access to the neighbouring Riviera condo towers. It is going to take a lot of effort to make these better locations but to a great degree, the die has already been caste.

I think some improvements would require a lot of effort, but others could be implemented fairly easily (wider sidewalks, pedestrian lighting, safer design when reconstructing streets)

To me the perfect example of the city's folly is the St. Laurent/Ogilve/Coventry intersection. It is near a transit hub, surrounded by potential TOD sites and was recently reconstructed. But it was reconstructed with a pedestrian having to cross a right turn late (with exit ramp), 4 through lanes, two left turn lanes and two bike lanes. At the very least they could have taken out the exit ramps (which are super dangerous for pedestrians) and probably could have taken out one of the eastbound left turn lanes and made it somewhat better for pedestrians.

[Richard Eade]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

All the stations are being designed like that. LF, Lees, Bayview, etc. The city is caring about street access a lot more with these LRT stations than they did when planning the original Transitway.

I only used Cyrville station on a handful of occasions, to get to the Value Village near there, and crossing the street to get to the platforms was a pain. Glad to see that being fixed.

I'm not sure where you are getting that information, but a quick scan of the renderings on the Light Rail Website for Phase 1 shows that only Pimisi, Cyrville and Blair are going to be central-platform stations. For street access, Bayview will have an access path from each side of Scott/Albert, so that is an improvement. Pimisi and Cyrville, again, might be good, assuming that there is an elevator on each side of the overpassing street (not illustrated in the renderings). But, as Kitchissippi The rest of the at-grade (non-tunnel) stations have not really improved their access routes. The few underground stations are replacing a greater number of surface stops that had access from either direction along the sidewalk on one side of the street. Lyon and Rideau will now have access from both sides of the streets they run under; which is an improvement. (I believe that Parliament will be accessed from only the south side of Queen.) There will no longer be a Laurier Station so there will now be a 1.2 kilometre distance between downtown stations. All-in-all, I see few improvements in customer access to the transit system.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by Richard Eade

(I believe that Parliament will be accessed from only the south side of Queen.)

I think (based on local media) that there are two entrances, one through the sun life building (south side of queen) and one through the Heritage building on the North side of Queen, which from the construction hoarding appears to be the former zeller's entrance on O'Connor.

Sadly, the renderings and other information on the website seems quite out of date.

http://www.ottawasun.com/2015/05/12/jon-willings-5-new-things-about-lrt-construction

[MalcolmTucker]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

if you look at all the stations from Hurdman to Blair, they are all horrible locations that are very disconnected from the surrounding community. In every case, the pedestrian environment is terrible. Yes, we have pedestrian bridges now at Blair and the VIA Rail Station but if you look around, it is rushing traffic, highways and parking lots everywhere. The only exception being Hurdman but that is equally disconnected from everything with some modest access to the neighbouring Riviera condo towers. It is going to take a lot of effort to make these better locations but to a great degree, the die has already been caste.

Good thing that surface parking lots can be replaced with buildings.

Is the city running TOD area studies around the stations?

[Kitchissippi]

Transit Oriented Development thrives in the pedestrian "friction" of a mode transfer hub. It requires people getting out of the station and walking somewhere or catching another mode. In my opinion, the Transitway failed to foster TOD because it was focused on one-ride express routes. The only people that use the stations are the ones who live or work nearby, they are nothing but glorified bus stops. It did not create enough critical mass to warrant development, plus many of the stations required a lot of room for ramps and turn-arounds for buses that nothing truly convenient could be built adjacent to it. The infrastructure was so over-engineered it was an impediment to the ease of walking, and treated pedestrian flow as secondary to moving large amount of buses.

[McC]

Originally Posted by MalcolmTucker

Is the city running TOD area studies around the stations?

yes, and a bunch are already approved:

Train, St. Laurent and Cyrville stations:
http://ottawa.ca/en/city-hall/planning-a...n-guidelines/community-plans-and-stu-341

Bayview Station:
Bayview Station District Community Design Plan
http://ottawa.ca/en/city-hall/planning-a...n-guidelines/community-plans-and-stu-342

Bayview and Tunney's Pasture Stations:
Scott Street Community Design Plan
http://ottawa.ca/en/city-hall/planning-a...n-guidelines/community-plans-and-stu-286
Wellington Street West Community Design Plan
http://ottawa.ca/en/city-hall/planning-a...n-guidelines/community-plans-and-studi-9

[capital_urbanite]

Originally Posted by acottawa

I think (based on local media) that there are two entrances, one through the sun life building (south side of queen) and one through the Heritage building on the North side of Queen, which from the construction hoarding appears to be the former zeller's entrance on O'Connor.

Sadly, the renderings and other information on the website seems quite out of date.

• Lyon West Entrance will be constructed at the corner of Queen and Lyon with an entrance on the west side of Lyon and/or the South side of Queen. This structure will be integrated into a future Claridge Development
• Lyon East Entrance will be located in Place de Ville (with an entrance on the North side of Queen)
• Parliament West Entrance will be integrated with the Sun life building atrium (on the South side of Queen, across from CBC). This will be part of the general renovations of the atrium going on in the complex
• Parliament East Entrance will be integrated with 155 Queen (on the North side of Queen).
  
  SOURCES:
• You can find more technical info about the integration of the stations with existing infrastructure in this slide deck (starting at slide 21):
  http://www.irwaonline.org/eweb/upload/sandiego15/2015Presentations/Wednesday/Real%20Property%20Challenges%20of%20Canada's%20Light%20Rail%20Project.pdf
  
• more detailed info about the Sun Life building integration here: http://sunlifefinancialcentreottawa.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/SLFC-presentation-FINAL-.pdf)
  
• Lots of more detailed technical drawings here for the entrance at 155 Queen and the general layout of Parliament station itself:
  http://morguardlrtupdates.com/PDF/qs/150525_DE_EE_Layout_R1.pdf

[eltodesukane]

Originally Posted by acottawa

..To me the perfect example of the city's folly is the St. Laurent/Ogilve/Coventry intersection. It is near a transit hub, surrounded by potential TOD sites and was recently reconstructed. But it was reconstructed with a pedestrian having to cross a right turn late (with exit ramp), 4 through lanes, two left turn lanes and two bike lanes. At the very least they could have taken out the exit ramps (which are super dangerous for pedestrians) and probably could have taken out one of the eastbound left turn lanes and made it somewhat better for pedestrians.

The St. Laurent/Ogilvie/Coventry intersection is certainly very unpleasant for pedestrian. It is dangerous, and it takes quite a long time to wait and quite a long time to cross. And you have to do it twice if you want to cross diagonally. And all over again when you come back (cause when you go somewhere, you usually have to come back later).

[eltodesukane]

http://ottawa.ca/en/city-hall/planni...ns-and-stu-341

The "TOD Plans, November 14, 2012 - Train TOD Plan Area" shows a "Future Coventry Road" which, as far as I know, was scrapped when the St. Laurent Mall expansion was cancelled.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by capital_urbanite

SOURCES:

Thanks. Those are good links with lots of information. It is fairly telling that little of that information is available on the project website. People complain about NCC secrecy, but this project seems to be leading the league.

[passwordisnt123]

Originally Posted by eltodesukane

http://ottawa.ca/en/city-hall/planni...ns-and-stu-341

The "TOD Plans, November 14, 2012 - Train TOD Plan Area" shows a "Future Coventry Road" which, as far as I know, was scrapped when the St. Laurent Mall expansion was cancelled.

I'm getting a "page not available" error when I click that link.

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by Richard Eade

The few underground stations are replacing a greater number of surface stops that had access from either direction along the sidewalk on one side of the street. Lyon and Rideau will now have access from both sides of the streets they run under; which is an improvement. (I believe that Parliament will be accessed from only the south side of Queen.)

This isn't a bad thing. More stops isn't automatically good. There are too many bus stops on Albert/Slater IMO. The bus barely gets moving before it gets caught in another jam. If it weren't for the fact that the Confederation Line is about to replace it anyway I'd favour consolidating the Bank and Kent stops.

Originally Posted by Richard Eade

There will no longer be a Laurier Station so there will now be a 1.2 kilometre distance between downtown stations. All-in-all, I see few improvements in customer access to the transit system.

Speaking as someone who lived in Sandy Hill for a year and used Laurier all the time it wasn't really useful and not really worth the expense of another underground station. Because of the way the Canal pushes Sandy Hill further east as you go south, pretty much anywhere in the Laurier East area is actually only 2-3 minutes further on foot from Campus than it is from Laurier--and the Sandy Hill is exceptionally pedestrian-friendly so walking distances are highly tolerable. Laurier would have been nice to have but it's not really needed.

[eltodesukane]

Originally Posted by passwordisnt123

I'm getting a "page not available" error when I click that link.

Strange, it was working yesterday...
http://ottawa.ca/en/city-hall/planni...ns-and-stu-341
Now all I can find is this:
http://ottawa.ca/en/city-hall/planning-a...n-guidelines/community-plans-and-stu-340

[Catenary]

Originally Posted by eltodesukane

Strange, it was working yesterday...
http://ottawa.ca/en/city-hall/planni...ns-and-stu-341
Now all I can find is this:
http://ottawa.ca/en/city-hall/planning-a...n-guidelines/community-plans-and-stu-340

The issue is in the link itself. The forum software shortens the middle of the links with a "...", but the hyperlink still goes to the full link. If you copy and pasts the text link off of another post, it will break. Hover your mouse over the two links and you'll see the difference at the bottom of the screen.

[rocketphish]

Report offers 'lessons learned' from LRT project

Matthew Pearson, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: December 11, 2015 | Last Updated: December 11, 2015 10:10 PM EST

Basing cost-estimates on more detailed plans, talking to property experts about tricky land acquisitions and including OC Transpo as soon as possible are some of the key recommendations contained in a long-awaited “lessons learned” report that sheds light on what the city could take from the early days of its Confederation light-rail project and apply to the proposed $3-billion expansion.

Two years into construction of the $2.1-billion Confederation line, the city hired consultants to offer an assessment of the challenges faced during the planning, preparation and procurement of the largest infrastructure project in Ottawa’s history.

Consultants from Deloitte and local firm Boxfish Group conducted interviews with 19 city staff members, advisers and government officials who have been involved in the Confederation project from the early planning stages right up to its current construction.

Although it was only released to councillors on Friday by city manager Kent Kirkpatrick, the report — or an earlier draft of it — was used previously to justify awarding a sole-sourced $60-million contract to plan the next phase of LRT.

Boxfish’s lead consultant is Brian Guest, the brother-in-law of Chris Swail, a key figure in planning phase one and now the director in charge of implementing phase two. Boxfish also had a wide-ranging contract for the Confederation Line, for tasks from setting up the project’s website to challenging basic assumptions like where exactly the rail line should go.

The original cost estimate for the lessons-learned study was $100,000, but it ended up costing half that, Kirkpatrick wrote in a memo to councillors.

Among the recommendations contained in the 20-page report:

• Better estimates: The federal and provincial governments each approved a $600-million contribution based on an initial cost estimate that did not include construction inflation, financing and transaction costs, the report says. In the future, estimates should be based on more detailed plans and include $200 million for financing and transaction costs. Upper levels of government should also be urged to provide some contingency in case the total cost changes once advanced designs are completed.
• Property experts: The city needed to negotiate land usage/transfer with a number of governmental stakeholders, including the National Capital Commission. The report suggests the city approach the federal government and request that lands required for the project be granted in recognition that LRT will enhance the capital and benefit federal public servants. The report also recommends engaging with property experts early on to identify “potential challenges with specific alignments relating to property acquisition.”
• Project bundling: The decision to bundle the construction of the Confederation line with the widening of Highway 417 has been hailed as one of the most successful parts of the project. The move put contractor Rideau Transit Group in the driver’s seat to ensure the highway widening work would get done in time to use the new lanes for buses in order close the eastern leg of the Transitway (to convert the roadway to rail). The city should do this again for any infrastructure projects that could have a “material impact” on the second phase of LRT, the report says.
• Getting OC Transpo on board: Including the city’s transit operator in shaping service levels, the customer experience, vehicle’s operational specifications and safety is critical, the report says.
• Paying for progress: One area of the Confederation line that isn’t working well, according to the report, is the use of milestone payments, as measured against completion of certain “fixed” components. Verifying and even defining milestones has been hard so the report suggests using a more flexible.

When it’s completed in June 2018, the 12.5-kilometre Confederation line will run from Tunney’s Pasture in the west to Blair station in the east, and will include a 2.5-kilometres tunnel downtown.

The project’s ambitious second phase would extend light rail service further east and west, and also extend the O-Train Trillium line further south.

[email protected]
twitter.com/mpearson78

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/report-offers-lessons-learned-from-lrt-project

[rocketphish]

Watson, city manager to choose LRT toilet
Pay to go option would come back to council for consideration

By Jen McIntosh
Ottawa West News, Dec 10, 2015

The city is looking at self-cleaning, gender neutral washrooms for the future Bayview and Hurdman light rail stations.

The staff report heard by council on Dec. 9 said the new options for washrooms at the stations would cut the $13,000 per month proposed maintenance cost by up to half.

“The cost would be 50 to 75 per cent of the maintenance cost proposed,” city manager Kent Kirkpatrick said.

The LRT construction timelines are tight, so the mayor, Kirkpatrick and transportation chairman Stephen Blais are to pick the model of toilet.

If a choice isn’t made by Dec. 16, the city will be on the hook for an extra $250,000.

The item will go back to council for consideration if staff decides on a pay-per-use model for the washrooms, set to be installed during the construction of the stations.

Knoxdale-Merivale Coun. Keith Egli said he wouldn’t support a pay-per-use model.

Rideau-Vanier Coun. Mathieu Fleury said he was happy to hear there would be a reduction in the $13,000 per month maintenance fee.

“That seemed rather high to me,” he said.

River Coun. Riley Brockington said the public should get a say on whether or not they support a pay-per-use model.

At the city’s finance and economic development committee on Nov. 30, Mayor Jim Watson said the city should look to recover some of the maintenance and construction costs with a pay-to-go model.

College Coun. Rick Chiarelli made a couple of jokes about the plans.

“I look forward to the opening,” he said. “The first photo flush should be something.”

Chiarelli also commented on the mayor’s involvement with the selection of the toilet, noting Watson said it wasn’t the council’s job to get involved in the city’s human resources inner workings – referencing the planned cuts to the city’s workforce.

“Look, the mayor is choosing a toilet,” Chiarelli said.

http://www.ottawacommunitynews.com/news-story/6168415-watson-city-manager-to-choose-lrt-toilet/

[eltodesukane]

How come McDonald's/Tim Hortons/Harvey's/... have no problem putting restrooms in each and everyone of their locations while OC Transpo can not?

[capital_urbanite]

Originally Posted by eltodesukane

How come McDonald's/Tim Hortons/Harvey's/... have no problem putting restrooms in each and everyone of their locations while OC Transpo can not?

Those places have staff to clean and maintain the facilities on a regular basis.

Self-cleaning is the way to go. Although I'm sure Ottawa will figure out a way to screw it up.

[EdFromOttawa]

I would actually be extremely happy for self-cleaning pay toilets. I would definitely be willing to spend up to a dollar to use it if it keeps the vagrants from camping out in it and using it for drugs, vandalism, shelter and god knows what else.

Cleanliness >>> costliness when it comes to public facilities for me!!