Ottawa: Light Rail Project Approved by City Council
by Michael Graham Richard, Gatineau, Canada on 07.17.06
The city council of Ottawa, Canada, has a approved 14 to 7 a CAN$780 million light rail public transit project. "The plan would see a 29.7-kilometre, 23-station LRT line run from the University of Ottawa in the north to Barrhaven in the southwest, snaking through many neighbourhoods." Even better, the mayor of Ottawa is already working on a second project for a East-West line: "I've always said that the minute north-south is approved, east-west [from Stittsville to Cumberland] will be my immediate priority, and it is," he said. "I think it's important to express my vision for east-west and how we expect to achieve it, so that we can move forward with that as the new No. 1 transit priority." With gasoline already around CAN$1.10/liter (~$4/gallon US) in the Ottawa region and no end in sight to the increase in oil prices (peak oil), it's nice to see some leadership in future-proofing the city. Now what we need is more bike paths, bike racks and eventually a congestion charge like in London. ::Ottawa council gives green light to rail project, ::Mayor quickly sets sights on light-rail, Part II, ::Ottawa council approves light rail project
This is a step in the right direction but it misses the mark in so many ways. Instead of creating a more cohesive downtown Ottawa, this light rail project simply seeks to expand Ottawa. The new system will connect downtown Ottawa with a neighbouring suburban nightmare called Barrhaven. This cookie-cutter suburb, which sits alone among farmers fields several kilometres outside of Ottawa proper, is the bane of sustainable urban planners’ existence. So, instead of uniting Ottawa’s downtown neighbourhoods, this project will simply provide the car-lovers one more reason to relocate to Barrhaven…a completely unsustainable insult to environmentally sound urban planning. As for the fact that the light rail line “snakes through many neighbourhoods”, those neighbourhoods are already serviced by the Transitway, the backbone of the OC Transpo system, that provides express service north-south and east-west on a separate bus-only route. There are so many other ways this money could have been spent that would have reaped far greater benefits for Ottawans.
Shaun is exactly correct. There will be no reason for residents who currently bus (or drive) to work from Barrhaven to take the train as it will actually take much longer to get downtown. The phrase "snakes through many neighbourhoods" is patently ridiculous. The train from Barrhaven will go 10km south of the airport, which is already well outside of the city. In coming into the city, it will avoid housing in an attempt to use old track, making the distance to the rail too great for most commuters to walk.
The most frustrating component of this rail project is that the LRT's first destination community to service will be Riverside South, a suburb yet to be built outside of Ottawa's green belt.
As well, the current LRT will have to be taken off-line for more than a year as the tracks are retrofitted for the new train.
It is a shame that when the new council is elected in December that this project will likely be cancelled, costing Ottawa citizens millions of dollars in contract fines as a result and likely putting a potentially great project like this on hold for years.
As a Ottawan myself I dissagree with Shaun's commnets. Ottawa has experenced explosive growth over the past 10 years, and is projected to increase its population by 30% in the next 15 years. The bus tranportation is not designed for that volume of people moving around. Rail is the cheapest (believe it or not at an estimated 1 billion cost it is cheap by comparison) and most effective way of delivering a high volume of people efficiently. Other cities accross the globe have been using rail for years- its about time Ottawa grew up. This should have been done 20 years ago, but was delayed- they built the transitway (dedicated bus corridor) intead. It cost a Billion dollars, people protested- but I don't see anyone complaining now. On top of that there are dozens of new economic benefits for the city, as new businesses will spring up around the rail line to service its travelers.
About the sprawl, I agree its disgusting. But we live in the real world and those homes cannot just be destroyed or moved. So you do the best you can to plan for the next 50 years- make rail available and hopefully the homes will accumulate around it. Dont forget that rail will also take thousands of cars off the road- costing the city less, and saving the planet in the process.
Its hard to see sometimes how the present cost can define a future gain, but I belive this will be a good thing for Ottawa.
Now if only the city decided to power it with green energy...
The attached map shows the first line planned to be installed. It goes south to the airport and west to Barrhaven. Unfotunately, once you get past the Greenboro station, you are into Ottawa's greenbelt. Once at the proposed Leitrim station, you are out in the country. Last week I went past there and counted 4 homes within 1km of the proposed stop. The issue isn't whether Ottawa needs an LRT or not. The LRT is needed desperately. However, it is needed between Kanata and Orleans (Ottawa's two major *current* bedroom communities). This LRT line will likely be needed in 15-20 years, but to affect commuters lives' now, the plan is dreadfully off-mark.
Ed- great post! I could not agree more about the east - west track.
Nice job.
One question the Ottawa Mayor has never answered is with the power shortages and lack of capacity on the power transmission system, will the grid hold up to power this light rail transit line?
The people of Ottawa should be happy to get a light rail system. If you come to Boston you will see a transit system that is dirty and broken down.
Tim