West Gatineau Tramway & Downtown Loop | Proposed

[Kitchissippi]

Originally Posted by Acajack

But it's a question of whether our transit priority at this stage should be that, or getting people out of bottlenecks where they're living at the moment?

Precisely. If you look at the bottlenecks, it's really because there are only three ways you can get to and from Aylmer and Hull through the wedge of Gatineau Park: The Val-Tétreau corridor in the south, the 148 in the middle, and Saint-Raymond to the north. It would seem to me that adding a fourth transit-dedicated route (the Gamelin corridor) would be part of the solution, ideally unimpeded by traffic or grade separated. Given that much of the potential population growth will occur north of the 148, it would be wise to place the westward transit spine parallel to it without removing any of its current capacity.

I didn't really mean around Sacré-Coeur, but rather between St-Rédempteur and Sacré-Coeur, which is basically the backyard of the old government printing bureau and some other institutional uses, with the autoroute on the other side.

Not much different that the Hurdman-St Laurent stretch of the Confederation line. Also, as I indicated in the diagram, with a bit more effort and money it could go along Sacré-Coeur as well.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Kitchissippi

Not much different that the Hurdman-St Laurent stretch of the Confederation line. Also, as I indicated in the diagram, with a bit more effort and money it could go along Sacré-Coeur as well.

That's not a bad idea actually. Sacré-Coeur is (dare I say it) a wide and underused road. I don't think I've ever seen a traffic jam there at any time of day.

[Horus]

Originally Posted by Acajack

That's not a bad idea actually. Sacré-Coeur is (dare I say it) a wide and underused road. I don't think I've ever seen a traffic jam there at any time of day.

Shhhh! Don't tell anyone. I use that route to get through Hull at rush hour.

[BigGuy]

This is cool:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Rbv_806_jM

[Aylmer]

Originally Posted by BigGuy

This is cool:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Rbv_806_jM

• Video Link

[Acajack]

Le Train-G.

I can just see the jokes with Point-G coming from a mile away.

Point-G = G-Spot.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by BigGuy

This is cool:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Rbv_806_jM

It seems like a bit of a waste to take the Plateau line down St-Raymond towards the river and to double up the service through Val-Tétreau along Taché. That area won't have significantly more demand than the others, so I don't see why they'd need (theoretically) double the service.

It's also a missed opportunity to not serve the area of Hull on the east side of Gatineau Park known as Wrightville, either via the Gamelin corridor or some other one.

[J.OT13]

Just like Ottawa, they are looking for the cheapest route. I'm interested to see how they will cross to Ottawa with that philosophy if the PoW ends up needing to be demolished and re-built. Are they (all levels of government working together) willing to build a tunnel from the NAG to Rideau? Or rebuild the PoW? We'll see.

I hope they stick with the O-Train moniker for the Aylmer Line. STO can still build and operate it, but keep the branding and identity so that it is one metropolitan metro system.

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by BigGuy

This is cool:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Rbv_806_jM

It is cool, though it doesn't look like it is coming from an official source, so I wouldn't count on the exact route being accurate.

[lrt's friend]

I just hope we do this right to create a proper interprovincial rapid transit connection rather than doing this the cheapest way possible.

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

I just hope we do this right to create a proper interprovincial rapid transit connection rather than doing this the cheapest way possible.

It depends what you mean by doing it right. I doubt if it will be grade separated but I do think it could be done well without breaking the bank. It is more about implementation choices rather than cost.

[J.OT13]

It looks a lot like MP Greg Fergus' plan. End of the day, it's the municipality that makes the decisions, but he could have influence on the project.

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by roger1818

It depends what you mean by doing it right. I doubt if it will be grade separated but I do think it could be done well without breaking the bank. It is more about implementation choices rather than cost.

I hope the feds will contribute a bit more than normal so that it serves both Gatineau residents coming to Ottawa and Ottawa residents going to Gatineau. I will not be happy with a system that only has one stop in Ottawa. It serves no one really well. I am not so concerned about full grade separation. I don't think we can expect Gatineau or Quebec to fund that and I have no objections to having streetcars on our downtown streets with 75 to 90% of the buses gone as long as they operate in their own lane. It would actually be cool even if it is not the ideal.

[Kitchissippi]

Here's a fantasy build out of the idea I posted earlier:



It skips the low density areas and golf courses in southern Aylmer in favour of the still malleable future development in the Plateau. It connects Gatineau's three sectors and funnels them into downtown Hull to hopefully spurring redevelopment and densification. It would virtually connect all of Gatineau's major commercial areas within walking distance from the bifurcated line.

[OtrainUser]

Originally Posted by Kitchissippi

Here's a fantasy build out of the idea I posted earlier:



It skips the low density areas and golf courses in southern Aylmer in favour of the still malleable future development in the Plateau. It connects Gatineau's three sectors and funnels them into downtown Hull to hopefully spurring redevelopment and densification. It would virtually connect all of Gatineau's major commercial areas within walking distance from the bifurcated line.

This makes way too much sense for our political leaders to do and this would put me a 5 min walk to an LRT station

[FFX-ME]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Le Train-G.

I can just see the jokes with Point-G coming from a mile away.

Point-G = G-Spot.

Had the same reaction... but hey it's on its way to the bit O

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by FFX-ME

Had the same reaction... but hey it's on its way to the bit O

Who says this region isn't sexy??????

[agl]

Originally Posted by Kitchissippi

Here's a fantasy build out of the idea I posted earlier:



It skips the low density areas and golf courses in southern Aylmer in favour of the still malleable future development in the Plateau. It connects Gatineau's three sectors and funnels them into downtown Hull to hopefully spurring redevelopment and densification. It would virtually connect all of Gatineau's major commercial areas within walking distance from the bifurcated line.

Not to throw cold water on the suggested route, but all of northern Aylmer and Le Plateau are low density, whereas the greatest potential for high density is along the rue Principale/Aylmer road/ Taché corridor, including the multi-tower plan by Brigil (if it comes to fruition as planned). I would think at some point down the road we will also lose one of the golf courses to development.

The Aylmer road corridor is also the most direct route downtown, whereas forcing western Aylmer transit users along a meandering route through the Plateau and Hull before turning south will add considerable time to their commute.

Ideally we have two routes, one along Aylmer Road and one into Le Plateau that either heads south on St Raymond or east through Hull as you suggest, though I suspect there will not be the budget, nor population size to justify, any tunnelling or other grade separation unless it’s cheap to implement (ie. running south of UQO or beside highway 5, where possible).

[OtrainUser]

Originally Posted by agl

Not to throw cold water on the suggested route, but all of northern Aylmer and Le Plateau are low density, whereas the greatest potential for high density is along the rue Principale/Aylmer road/ Taché corridor, including the multi-tower plan by Brigil (if it comes to fruition as planned). I would think at some point down the road we will also lose one of the golf courses to development.

The Aylmer road corridor is also the most direct route downtown, whereas forcing western Aylmer transit users along a meandering route through the Plateau and Hull before turning south will add considerable time to their commute.

Ideally we have two routes, one along Aylmer Road and one into Le Plateau that either heads south on St Raymond or east through Hull as you suggest, though I suspect there will not be the budget, nor population size to justify, any tunnelling or other grade separation unless it’s cheap to implement (ie. running south of UQO or beside highway 5, where possible).

Potential and existing density are entirely different. His proposed route that you are throwing cold water on is actually better since it will be near higher density areas. Putting LRT on tache is going to create a traffic nightmare unless the widen tache by a lot.

I hope someone in Gatineau city council see his idea since it is similar to one of their proposed routes and this will serve more people.

[lrt's friend]

No matter what route is chosen in Gatineau, we are foolish to depend only on the Confederation Line for cross downtown service. If anything happens that stops service on the Confederation Line, the whole transit system on both sides of the river comes to a halt.