Confederation Line (Stage 1) | In Service 1.0

[kmcamp]

Originally Posted by acottawa

The problem is the system was designed for inside-the-greenbelt use and the choice of technology and design of the system reflects that. The decision to extend it outside of the greenbelt creates problems.

Other than NYC and Philadelphia, I don't think there are any four track systems in North America. An express train would be nice, especially since were missing the one seat express service were used to with the transitway. That being said, the distances from the future Trim station all the way downtown isn't any longer than the distances from either terminus to union station on TTCs university-Yonge subway line

[rocketphish]

Jim Watson
‏@JimWatsonOttawa

Our first LRT train emerges from the yards, ready for testing this fall. Catch it on the Confederation Line in 2018. #OnTrack2018

https://twitter.com/jimwatsonottawa/status/788838947296280577

[Guideway]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

Jim Watson
‏@JimWatsonOttawa

Our first LRT train emerges from the yards, ready for testing this fall. Catch it on the Confederation Line in 2018. #OnTrack2018

https://twitter.com/jimwatsonottawa/status/788838947296280577

Is there something missing? I can't tell

[kmcamp]

Originally Posted by Guideway

Is there something missing? I can't tell

If we had chosen bombardier, the thing missing in this picture would be the whole train

I wonder if they're jealous over on the crosstown thread...

[Guideway]

Originally Posted by kmcamp

If we had chosen bombardier, the thing missing in this picture would be the whole train

I wonder if they're jealous over on the crosstown thread...

The Invisa-train! Proudly owned by bombardier.

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by kmcamp

Other than NYC and Philadelphia, I don't think there are any four track systems in North America.

I wasn't suggesting we should have a 4 track system. I was only saying it isn't really possible to have express trains without one, since with only 3 tracks, the trains will need to merge at some point, and in peek periods, the schedule will be too tight for that.

An express train would be nice, especially since were missing the one seat express service were used to with the transitway. That being said, the distances from the future Trim station all the way downtown isn't any longer than the distances from either terminus to union station on TTCs university-Yonge subway line

Trim to Rideau will be about 20km. The proposed Kanata extension will be 25 km from the CTC to Rideau.

Also, Toronto has GO Trains for those wanting to travel longer distances. Ottawa is too small to support a GO Train type comuter rail service though as the population drops off rapidly beyond Barrhaven and Kanata/Stittsville.

The biggest problem with Ottawa's suburbs is the Green Belt as it pushes the them further from the city and spreads it out to a thin band. If it didn't exist, not only would Kanata (for example) be about 4 km closer to downtown, but instead of being about 2km deep and 6 km wide, it would be more like 3 km deep and 4 km wide and integrated with Bells Corners. Much easier to plunk a transit station or two in the middle of that and serve everyone.

IMHO, if you are going to have a green belt, it should be beyond the reasonable commuting distance. Better yet, have a large urban park in a corner of the city (like Vancouver's Stanley Park).

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by Mikeed

Yes, the oft mentioned suburban focus of Ottawa is often criticized, but ultimately most of the growth is happening in the suburbs. Making the LRT competitive means making it fast and stopping at every stop on these long lines is going to become and issuing in getting more people to take transit.

If we justify extending transit (and roads, and water lines, and sewer lines, and other public services) to further and further and less and less dense suburbs, on the basis of "that's where the growth is", then we are creating a self-fulfilling cycle of sprawl and hollowing-out.

[Mikeed]

Originally Posted by Uhuniau

If we justify extending transit (and roads, and water lines, and sewer lines, and other public services) to further and further and less and less dense suburbs, on the basis of "that's where the growth is", then we are creating a self-fulfilling cycle of sprawl and hollowing-out.

Yes, but the primary driver of that cycle comes from the bottom-up. Ultimately, driven primarily by a free-market of citizens wanting the "suburban life". Policy, and hidden subsidies, follow that. We do need to constantly review applicable polices, and primarily those hidden subsidies and, elements of the "tragedy of the commons" that are found in suburban sprawl.

The creation and protection of an urban greenbelt is ultimately better for the Commons as it provides a lot of good to the urban fabric and regional land use planning. Through institutional, green space, and farming use. The creation of Barrhaven for example, was built in an area that ultimately hurt regional land use planning much worse then negative effects the Greenbelt created. Even now, we should continue to look at protecting ecologically significant area- this includes healthy stock of farmland- in the Ottawa region. South-Central Ontario, and thus a serious amount of Canada's growth potential, is intrinsically linked with a challenge of providing a lot of demographic growth along side some of the only, and best, farming conditions in Canada. Considering most of Canada is geographically unsuitable for growing produce. Even the West was settled late, and only at a significant rate after certain Canadian designed strains of wheat could be developed (by the Dominion scientists at the CEF)

The fragility of free-trade deals like NAFTA, which has become utterly vital to the supply of food in Canada, should make people take notice that wholesale destruction of farmland in Canada by free-market forces in an economic environment that currently dependent on a widely accessible, free-flowing, Continental food supply market. This certainly helps keep farmland land prices cheap (and thus suburban growth in farmlands), but protectionist forces, climate change and a host of other destabilizing forces that could emerge, makes it clear the proper land use planning regards to growth, and farmland destruction is ultimately intrinsically connected to Canada's foundational geopoltical realities, and thus a can be viewed through a national security lens.

[Mikeed]

The musing I did early about an Express rail system I suppose was more of a What-If they designed from the start a system more capable of expanding need into the suburbs, and serve a more regional rail function outside the greenbelt and metro inside.

This probably would have needed 4-rail through out, and probably would had numerous of it's own design flaws. Full automation would have provided a 90 second headway, and considering a headway of 3 minutes a peek period being significant between trains in the station. I can't help, but wonder what kind of system *could have* been designed.

My primary concern is how in 30 years and the suburbs are all pushing 100K pop. and changing socio-economic forces, will effect the need of having a high capacity transit system to remove cars from the road. Bus to Train to long 25km-35km metro ride to possible bus, becomes a bit of a stretch to think people will be doing that.

Consider travel patterns to the number 3rd employment node in Ottawa- DNDHQ from Orleans. An Bus>Express to Bayshore/Kanata TC > BRT bus to DNDHQ is I think becomes a much more effective regional transit network. I was recently pretty surprised to see how busy and important transit service to Kanata North is.

I suppose you'd need to have a minimum headway gap of 60 seconds through the central tunnel. As that allows within 3 minutes an 'inner-greenbelt metro' train, the Eastern express and the Western express. Or a full 4 way rail line. Which could be created by stacking the running tunnel and platforms. This could then allow the creation of a much wider regional rail network that I think is much more realistic then Moose Rail plans or other rail plans that require reusing the heavy rail ROWs found in Ottawa.

Would definitely had been more expensive!

But I will try not to rehash other design choices now in this thread, seeing that the current system is nearing completion.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by Mikeed

Yes, but the primary driver of that cycle comes from the bottom-up. Ultimately, driven primarily by a free-market of citizens wanting the "suburban life". Policy, and hidden subsidies, follow that.

Those subsidies also LEAD that. The "free market" of suburban living is heavily skewed by public policy choices that subsidize that supposed "free market".

[rocketphish]

Construction Update
Week of October 24

Crews mobilize to begin construction of the Rideau Station west HVAC shaft, while concrete work at the Rideau Station entrances continues to advance.

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Concrete work at Pimisi Station

West Stations

Tunney’s Pasture Station: Preliminary foundation work is ongoing; crews install rebar for station footings and begin caisson work. Crews also complete removals.

Bayview Station: Crews mobilize to begin foundation work including rebar installation and concrete pours. Ground improvement activities are ongoing along with duct bank and grade beam installations.

Pimisi Station: Construction of the station walls is finalized; crews complete waterproofing and concrete work.

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Staircase and wall concrete work at Lyon Station west entrance

Central Stations

Lyon Station cavern: Crews install rebar, formwork and pour the concourse slab. Work on the station arch is ongoing with rebar installation and concrete pours. Crews continue shotcrete final lining.

Lyon Station west entrance: Station entrance construction continues to advance; activities include rebar installation and pouring the columns and elevator pit.

Lyon Station east entrance: Station concrete work continues; crews pour station columns and walls. Rock removals resume later this week at the east vent shaft in anticipation of waterproofing and concrete pours in the coming weeks.

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Construction of the headhouse at Parliament Station west entrance

Parliament Station cavern: Crews install rebar, formwork and pour station L-walls. Waterproofing of the station arch is ongoing in anticipation of concrete work in the coming weeks.

Parliament Station west entrance: Work on the station slab, stairs and parapet wall take place. Crews mobilize to begin installing the winter enclosure. Hoe ramming and rock removals occur at the east vent shaft during the weekend.

Traffic restrictions on Queen and O’Connor streets remain in effect.

Rideau Station cavern: Crews install rebar and pour the invert. Waterproofing of the station arch and mechanical and electrical work are ongoing.

Rideau Station west entrance: Crews continue working on the station roof slab; rebar and falsework installation occurs along with concrete pours. Crews also mobilize to begin work on the HVAC shaft.

Rideau Station east entrance: Construction of the concourse walls and slab is ongoing; crews install rebar, formwork and pour concrete.

Rideau Street is closed 24/7 to vehicular traffic as of October 19 to permit works to advance.

uOttawa Station: Crews install rebar and pour concrete for the platform slab and electrical work occurs. Overnight closures of the pedestrian tunnel will be occur (between October 24 and 28).

East Portal: Crews excavate the ramp, install reinforcements and begin working on the mud slab in anticipation of upcoming guideway work.

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Rebar installation at Lees Station

East Stations

Lees Station: Crews finalize work on the raft slab; activities include rebar installation and concrete pours. Electrical work also occurs.

Hurdman Station: Station construction is ongoing; crews install structural steel and masonry. Work at the bus operators’ building continues with crews installing internal finishes.

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Roof installation at Tremblay Station

Tremblay Station: Crews install the station roof and continue mechanical and electrical work. Waterproofing and backfilling also occur.

St-Laurent Station: Crews install structural steel, prepare to begin elevator installation and continue work on the hydro room.

Cyrville Station: Work continues on the station roof and crews install elevators and structural framing for exterior wall panels. Mechanical and electrical work is ongoing.

Blair Station: Crews install exterior wall panels and work on the station escalator. Mechanical and electrical work also continues. At the bus operators’ building, crews install rebar and formwork for footings and walls.

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Excavation of the last section of running tunnel

Tunnel Excavation and Support

Crews excavate and install reinforcements in the last section of the running tunnel.

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Grading west of Pimisi Station

Guideway

Tunney’s Pasture Station to West Portal: Crews continue to construct the guideway in sections; work includes excavation, backfilling and ballast installation. Duct bank work is ongoing between Pimisi Station and West Portal. Crew mobilize to begin trackwork including crossover track installation.

Mann Avenue Bridge to west of Tremblay Station: Construction of the guideway is ongoing; crews install sewers, duct banks, fencing and ballast. Crews continue pulling rail between Lees and Tremblay stations.

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Crews continue rehabilitation of the Mann Avenue Bridge

Other Activities

Bayview Bridge: Concrete work continues as part of reconstruction of the Bayview Bridge.

Mann Avenue Bridge: Crews install formwork on the deck in preparation for concrete pours.

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Upcoming Construction Activities

In the coming weeks, the following construction activities are scheduled to occur:

• Tunney’s Pasture Station work requiring right turn lane restriction.
• Installation of traction power sub station on the guideway near Tunney’s Pasture Station and elsewhere along the alignment.
• Lyon Station HVAC and west vent shaft work resumes.
• Structural steel installation at uOttawa Station.

Vehicle testing and Overhead Catenary System will be energized in phases along the guideway between Belfast Yard and Blair Station.

http://www.ligneconfederationline.ca/news/construction-update-96/

[roger1818]

Not sure if this has been posted before (I hadn't seen it), but Morguard's website has the draft architectural plans for the Parliament- East Entrance and how it integrates into their building at 155 Queen (Heritage Place). I found it useful to look at pg.3 first and then go back to pages 1 and 2 (it made me realize the retail concourse was below ground).

I wonder how long it will take for the other downtown landlords to realize the economic benefit of having their building connected to LRT and if they will push to also be connected.

[Kitchissippi]

Originally Posted by roger1818

Not sure if this has been posted before (I hadn't seen it), but Morguard's website has the draft architectural plans for the Parliament- East Entrance and how it integrates into their building at 155 Queen (Heritage Place). I found it useful to look at pg.3 first and then go back to pages 1 and 2 (it made me realize the retail concourse was below ground).

I wonder how long it will take for the other downtown landlords to realize the economic benefit of having their building connected to LRT and if they will push to also be connected.

That's the basement level of the Winners. It will be interesting to see if they do reconfigure the store to have direct access to the LRT. It will enable walking through and exit out to Sparks Street during store hours.

It would be better if they moved the Winners to the upper floors of that building and turned the lower and street level into smaller stores with a open passageway, maybe even integrate the BierMarkt

[rocketphish]

Confederation Line Fall Newsletter

October 28, 2016

"It has been a busy but exciting time in the construction the O-Train Confederation Line Light Rail Transit Project. For all the news and updates about what has gone on the past few months, please click the link below to view our Fall Newsletter."

http://www.ligneconfederationline.ca/wp-...n_Line_Newsletter_Fall_2016_EN_print.pdf

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by Kitchissippi

It would be better if they moved the Winners to the upper floors of that building and turned the lower and street level into smaller stores with a open passageway, maybe even integrate the BierMarkt

I suspect something like that is in the plans (or at least the option of having smaller stores with an open passageway). There is a section of wall between the LRT entrance and the building that's labeled "Future Opening (by others)."

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by Mikeed

The creation and protection of an urban greenbelt is ultimately better for the Commons as it provides a lot of good to the urban fabric and regional land use planning. Through institutional, green space, and farming use. The creation of Barrhaven for example, was built in an area that ultimately hurt regional land use planning much worse then negative effects the Greenbelt created. Even now, we should continue to look at protecting ecologically significant area- this includes healthy stock of farmland- in the Ottawa region. South-Central Ontario, and thus a serious amount of Canada's growth potential, is intrinsically linked with a challenge of providing a lot of demographic growth along side some of the only, and best, farming conditions in Canada. Considering most of Canada is geographically unsuitable for growing produce. Even the West was settled late, and only at a significant rate after certain Canadian designed strains of wheat could be developed (by the Dominion scientists at the CEF)

The fragility of free-trade deals like NAFTA, which has become utterly vital to the supply of food in Canada, should make people take notice that wholesale destruction of farmland in Canada by free-market forces in an economic environment that currently dependent on a widely accessible, free-flowing, Continental food supply market. This certainly helps keep farmland land prices cheap (and thus suburban growth in farmlands), but protectionist forces, climate change and a host of other destabilizing forces that could emerge, makes it clear the proper land use planning regards to growth, and farmland destruction is ultimately intrinsically connected to Canada's foundational geopoltical realities, and thus a can be viewed through a national security lens.

This post has bothered me for a while. While I agree that it is important to protect our farms and ecologically important land, the Greenbelt was never created for this purpose and is completely ineffective at doing this.

The Greenbelt was created by the NCC to give Ottawa a green image for tourists. Rather than choosing land based on its importance from some type of conservation perspective, they drew two semi circles on a map and then bought all of the land between them that they could get their hands on. I suspect that if they used any factor to choose which land to buy, it would have been price as it looks better to buy more land with the budget they were given. If you look at much of the forest in the Greenbelt, it is obvious by the evenly spaced trees that it was reforested land and it does not have a very diverse or significant habitat.

If we want to preserve our farm land, a much better option would be to create an Agricultural Land Reserve (like in BC). This is much more cost effective as the farmers continue to own their land instead of the government having to buy it. It also ensures that the decisions on what land to keep agricultural is based on the quality of the land itself and not its proximity to a city and some artificial line drawn on a map.

For ecologically significant land, a better option would be to identify these places and create ecological parks for them. Once again the decision should be made based on the significance of the land itself and not its proximity to a city (though cities may choose to conserve regions within their boundaries).

It is true these measures would likely create a patchwork of developed and undeveloped land in our cities, but the land being saved would be for good reason and not out of an attempt to create a false, green image.

[PHrenetic]

Good Day.... agreed.
hence the continual land-for-land swaps of significant parcels owned by others for insignificant NCC parcels that the NCC engages in, some few of which occasionally make it into the news. Both the current Phase 1 and the future Phases 2 and 2.5 (Kanata ext.) have engaged in this. And engaged in for other purposes and reasons (!?!).

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by roger1818

This post has bothered me for a while. While I agree that it is important to protect our farms and ecologically important land, the Greenbelt was never created for this purpose and is completely ineffective at doing this.

The Greenbelt was created by the NCC to give Ottawa a green image for tourists. Rather than choosing land based on its importance from some type of conservation perspective, they drew two semi circles on a map and then bought all of the land between them that they could get their hands on. I suspect that if they used any factor to choose which land to buy, it would have been price as it looks better to buy more land with the budget they were given. If you look at much of the forest in the Greenbelt, it is obvious by the evenly spaced trees that it was reforested land and it does not have a very diverse or significant habitat.

If we want to preserve our farm land, a much better option would be to create an Agricultural Land Reserve (like in BC). This is much more cost effective as the farmers continue to own their land instead of the government having to buy it. It also ensures that the decisions on what land to keep agricultural is based on the quality of the land itself and not its proximity to a city and some artificial line drawn on a map.

For ecologically significant land, a better option would be to identify these places and create ecological parks for them. Once again the decision should be made based on the significance of the land itself and not its proximity to a city (though cities may choose to conserve regions within their boundaries).

It is true these measures would likely create a patchwork of developed and undeveloped land in our cities, but the land being saved would be for good reason and not out of an attempt to create a false, green image.

Disjointed ecological reserves or agriculture land surrounded by sprawl creates a lot of problems too. Residents let their pets lose to kill birds and other animals. Residents complain about predators. Residents complain about manure and other farm smells. Garden plants become invasive. Animals are unable to move around within their habitat.

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by acottawa

Disjointed ecological reserves or agriculture land surrounded by sprawl creates a lot of problems too. Residents let their pets lose to kill birds and other animals. Residents complain about predators. Residents complain about manure and other farm smells. Garden plants become invasive. Animals are unable to move around within their habitat.

This is a particular problem if we made the Greenbelt a patchwork quilt. We end up with conservation land that really doesn't conserve everything that we want.

[PHrenetic]

Good Day... true, if........

but NCC is not necessarily maintaining a full blanket with their swaps. This has been a continuing commentary about their seemingly ad-hoc and definitely unexplained land acquisitions/sell-offs/swaps. If they and we had a full picture of, what IS .vs. what SHOULD be, getting done, we all might have a better basis for commentary.