O-Train Line 1/3 [ Stage 2 | East Extension | Blair to Trim] | U/C

[J.OT13]

Rails installation has begun along the east alignment of the Confederation Line extension.


https://mobile.twitter.com/JimWatsonOttawa/status/1433495532777975820

[J.OT13]

Rails are now piled up east of Montreal station and east of Place d'Orleans station.

[Stacmon]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Rails installation has begun along the east alignment of the Confederation Line extension.


https://mobile.twitter.com/JimWatsonOttawa/status/1433495532777975820

This is so beautiful! I remember hearing about rail installation between Montreal and Jeanne D'Arc at a presentation given months ago and looking forward to that September date. With stations being gradually started and these rails being laid, it is feeling more and more "real" here in Orleans!

[RogueNacho]

Driving into work this morning from Orleans and noticed that the westbound 174 is now reconfigured to pass underneath the O-Train overpass near Blair.

Other observations:

- Jeanne D'Arc station is well under construction. The forms for the platform and staircase walls are up and currently being poured.

- Work is nearly done on pouring the foundation pillars for the catenary supports between Jeanne D'Arc and Montreal stations.

- The concrete side barriers abutting the highway have been constructed between Jeanne D'Arc and Montreal stations.

- Heavy excavation work is currently happening around Place D'Orleans station.

- Very little has been done within the highway median between Place D'Orleans and Trim stations.

- The concrete sound barrier wall along the north side of the 174 between Jeanne D'Arc and Tenth Line is nearly done.

- According to the construction schedule on the City website, they should be getting ready to lay down the first bit of track any week now.

[Stacmon]

Originally Posted by RogueNacho

Driving into work this morning from Orleans and noticed that the westbound 174 is now reconfigured to pass underneath the O-Train overpass near Blair.

Other observations:

- Jeanne D'Arc station is well under construction. The forms for the platform and staircase walls are up and currently being poured.

- Work is nearly done on pouring the foundation pillars for the catenary supports between Jeanne D'Arc and Montreal stations.

- The concrete side barriers abutting the highway have been constructed between Jeanne D'Arc and Montreal stations.

- Heavy excavation work is currently happening around Place D'Orleans station.

- Very little has been done within the highway median between Place D'Orleans and Trim stations.

- The concrete sound barrier wall along the north side of the 174 between Jeanne D'Arc and Tenth Line is nearly done.

- According to the construction schedule on the City website, they should be getting ready to lay down the first bit of track any week now.

Great updates and some of what you mentioned are things I have been noticing walking in the area. Routing traffic under the O-Train overpass near Blair is a big milestone based on how long people have driven in both directions on the South side of it.

Also excited when I first saw the rails show up to be stored for the imminent laying of tracks that you noted!

Still little done at my local station (Convent Glen) but I suspect that will be the last one judging how far along all the others are at this point!

[hwy418]

Originally Posted by RogueNacho

- According to the construction schedule on the City website, they should be getting ready to lay down the first bit of track any week now.

Can confirm they were starting to lay track just east of Montreal Station this morning!

[RogueNacho]

Originally Posted by hwy418

Can confirm they were starting to lay track just east of Montreal Station this morning!

I saw this on my way in this morning too! Definitely exciting to see!

Side question: How many lanes will the 174 be when all construction is finished? Will the bus lane remain or be converted into a third driving lane? And do they plan to pave a new lane alongside the concrete side barriers between the highway and the LRT tracks or will that remain a gravel shoulder?

[Stacmon]

Originally Posted by RogueNacho

I saw this on my way in this morning too! Definitely exciting to see!

Side question: How many lanes will the 174 be when all construction is finished? Will the bus lane remain or be converted into a third driving lane? And do they plan to pave a new lane alongside the concrete side barriers between the highway and the LRT tracks or will that remain a gravel shoulder?

On the bus lanes part of your question, I can't imagine them keeping a lane devoted to buses once the train is running (assuming they are confident it is reliable) because the volume of buses leaving Orleans will likely plummet once routes are reworked to feed the light rail stations for transit West to downtown and other parts of Ottawa.

Right now it is only two lanes after Place D'Orleans, which I don't think there is any plan to change but others may be better informed. The third lane currently reserved for buses until Place may become available and may be useful if we need R1 buses for the added capacity (I would be surprised if they went down to two lanes with no bus lane up to Place but again maybe someone else knows more).

With the recent problems and the expected 3 week suspension of the line, I am more concerned about reliability and the need for infrastructure that can prioritize R1 buses than I have been up until this point!

[J.OT13]

If those bus lanes are converted to HOV/Electric, than R1/R3 buses should be able to get to and from downtown nearly as reliably as they do today.

It's important that they are not given to general traffic, both for potential bus replacements and to promote O-Train use. Traffic jams on the 174 with trains flying could be an important and effective tool to promote transit.

[Catenary]

Originally Posted by RogueNacho

I saw this on my way in this morning too! Definitely exciting to see!

Side question: How many lanes will the 174 be when all construction is finished? Will the bus lane remain or be converted into a third driving lane? And do they plan to pave a new lane alongside the concrete side barriers between the highway and the LRT tracks or will that remain a gravel shoulder?

The 174 will be paved right up to the guideway barrier. This should happen soon in some places. The lanes will then be shifted back inwards towards the guideway, and eventually the small widening added in places will be removed, leaving a paved shoulder where the bus lane was.

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

If those bus lanes are converted to HOV/Electric, than R1/R3 buses should be able to get to and from downtown nearly as reliably as they do today.

It's important that they are not given to general traffic, both for potential bus replacements and to promote O-Train use. Traffic jams on the 174 with trains flying could be an important and effective tool to promote transit.

I totally agree, they should have HOV/Green lanes on the 174. In a perfect world they would work with the MTO to have them continue onto the 417 until at least Nicholas.

The HOV lanes could also be used by the regional bus operators.

[Stacmon]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

If those bus lanes are converted to HOV/Electric, than R1/R3 buses should be able to get to and from downtown nearly as reliably as they do today.

It's important that they are not given to general traffic, both for potential bus replacements and to promote O-Train use. Traffic jams on the 174 with trains flying could be an important and effective tool to promote transit.

That's definitely a good way to keep the lane fairly free during peak periods if there is a sudden need to fill it up with R1/R3 buses while at the same time, allowing it to benefit non-transit users when the train is running smoothly and very few (if any) buses are actually taking the 174 towards downtown!

[Floppa]

Originally Posted by Stacmon

On the bus lanes part of your question, I can't imagine them keeping a lane devoted to buses once the train is running (assuming they are confident it is reliable) because the volume of buses leaving Orleans will likely plummet once routes are reworked to feed the light rail stations for transit West to downtown and other parts of Ottawa.

Right now it is only two lanes after Place D'Orleans, which I don't think there is any plan to change but others may be better informed. The third lane currently reserved for buses until Place may become available and may be useful if we need R1 buses for the added capacity (I would be surprised if they went down to two lanes with no bus lane up to Place but again maybe someone else knows more).

With the recent problems and the expected 3 week suspension of the line, I am more concerned about reliability and the need for infrastructure that can prioritize R1 buses than I have been up until this point!

It seems absurd to me to extend a transit line that isn't even working now!

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by Floppa

It seems absurd to me to extend a transit line that isn't even working now!

It seems absurd to me that you think that the Confederation line can’t be fixed.

[kmcamp]

Originally Posted by roger1818

It seems absurd to me that you think that the Confederation line can’t be fixed.

In a silver lining, since OC Transpo is under federal jurisdiction, I'm pretty confident the TSB investigations will be fruitful in fixing the line.


The other truth is that people's memories are short, eventually we'll forget about all this once things stop going wrong. Nobody's talking about the new TTC streetcars anymore even though that filled the airwaves for years when they had their inglorious start, or closer to home the Strandherd or Airport Parkway bridges.

[OCCheetos]

Originally Posted by kmcamp

In a silver lining, since OC Transpo is under federal jurisdiction, I'm pretty confident the TSB investigations will be fruitful in fixing the line.


The other truth is that people's memories are short, eventually we'll forget about all this once things stop going wrong. Nobody's talking about the new TTC streetcars anymore even though that filled the airwaves for years when they had their inglorious start, or closer to home the Strandherd or Airport Parkway bridges.

The TSB can't really do anything to fix it, they can just expose malpractice if it exists, which is still worth something of course.

[Stacmon]

Originally Posted by Floppa

It seems absurd to me to extend a transit line that isn't even working now!

I can appreciate your thinking on that, but the process was far along even before the line was transferred to the city and a lot of the physical infrastructure is already under construction now, just after these two recent derailments.

Recall that the line's reliability improved a lot in the last year and a half or so, and if these issues can be identified and fixed, we may be back to a long period of good reliability again by the time the extensions are tested and launched.

I suspect the city will also be much more stringent with testing the expanded lines (especially the redone Trillium line) before accepting the work based on the nightmare they experienced this first time!

[DEWLine]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Rails are now piled up east of Montreal station and east of Place d'Orleans station.

I did not see this during my weekend travels around the Place d'Orléans area! Good to know!

[J.OT13]

Matt Luloff post on Facebook:

The realignment of Trim Road, for light rail construction, has created a physical disconnect between the segments of Trim Road north and south of the Highway 174. As a result, there was a need to re-name the portion of Trim between the Highway and Petrie Island.
I’m pleased to share that the road has been officially named Tweddle Road, in recognition and appreciation of Al Tweddle, a long-time community volunteer who has dedicated more than 50 years of his life to serving the Orléans community.
Donner le nom d'Al à cette route est une de mes suggestions depuis de nombreuses années. Je ne peux pas penser à quelqu'un qui mérite plus cette reconnaissance.
En tant que l'un des premiers résidents de Queenswood Heights, Al a joué un rôle important dans le développement du quartier, en contribuant à la création de plusieurs nouveaux parcs, d'une site de glissade et de terrains de tennis. Il a joué un rôle essentiel dans l'expansion des patinoires extérieures de Queenswood Heights et a contribué à leur entretien au cours des 50 dernières années.
Al is also a founding member of the Friends of Petrie Island, the organization that developed and maintained the island’s original public beach, established nature trails, and protected the island’s habitat.
I’m honoured to share such a warm and collaborative working relationship with Al, and I am proud that Orléans is home to such a dedicated community leader.
Félicitations Al !

So we have 3, 4 or 5 Trims still, depending on how you look at it:

1. From Navan, north past Millenium and Innes to Cardinal Creek Park;
2. Turn left on to Trim go north to the second roundabout, where we can go straight on Trim to the 174 dead-end or turn right on Trim;
3. Right on Trim around the Park and Ride, across the highway to an intersection where you can turn right on Trim or left on Inlet Private, both of which should be Jeanne d'Arc.

The one Trim with a new name will eventually be connected to the original-ish Trim, so it's the one that should actually keep the name out of the last two since it will eventually re-connect.

This City is just terrible with duplicate/triplet/quadruplet+ road names. I can kind of understand the first two (Navan to Cardinal Creek, and Cardinal Creek to Petrie's Landing), but the one around the PnR and the stump between Jeanne d'Arc and Inlet, ridiculous.

https://www.google.com/maps/search/trim+road+closure/@45.474427,-75.4595964,15.54z

https://www.google.com/maps/search/trim+road+closure/@45.4959647,-75.4834046,15.54z

[RuralCitizen]

I think They should keep the name Trim from Navan to Cardinal Creek Park and stop there.

If they are to extend Frank Kenny to the Park, They should rename the Trim portion from the park to the highway to Frank Kenny. This allows it to become one continuous road with the same name.

The new Trim bifurcation around the new LRT station should be renamed Taylor Creek as a continuation across the roundabout.

And the road connecting to the Petrie Landing towers should just be Jeanne d'Arc.

I think Tweddle Rd. is appropriate for the Petrie Island access road since it doesn't have any connection to Trim anymore.

This is way more intuitive and simple.