Category: DOTT

Albert St, DOTT, LRT, Scott street

DOTT plans affect west side residents (v): when the transitway ends at Tunney’s

Westsideaction

The first phase of the LRT system extends as far west as Tunneys Pasture. It may always terminate there, or may be extended further west as phase two of the LRT system. Until it is extended, a major transfer facility is required at Tunney’s for bus users from the west who need to transfer onto the LRT vehicles for the continued journey through the downtown. (The design of that station will be subject of another post.) Most of the users of the 95 and similar buses from the west will get off their vehicles at the new transfer station to … Continue reading DOTT plans affect west side residents (v): when the transitway ends at Tunney’s

Albert St, Bayview, DOTT, LRT

DOTT plans affect west side residents (iv): closing the transitway during construction

Westsideaction

The new LRT line runs along the existing transitway alignment, with some slight variations. During the construction period of 3-5 years that transitway will have to be closed to buses to permit construction of the new LRT stations and tracks. Where will the buses go? Earlier plans by the city to move all the transitway buses onto Scott and Albert, starting at Tunney’s Pasure, have been abandonned. Thankfully. The additions of 1000 buses per day per direction on Albert and Scott would have horrendous social and environmental impacts. Instead, the City is proposing to totally rework the bus routes that … Continue reading DOTT plans affect west side residents (iv): closing the transitway during construction

Booth St, Dalhousie, DOTT, LRT

DOTT plans affect west side residents (iii): Albert Street widening planned

Westsideaction

tailback of cars on Booth going to Gatineau, evening rush hour at 3pm tailback of cars extends back to Gladstone, every single vehicle had only one person in it The intersection of Booth / Albert fails for several hours a day. Mostly this is due to our city policies of catering to single occupancy vehicles. Drive them by the thousands,  and we will widen the roads for you! Right now the “tailback” or long queue of vehicles trying to get onto Booth to go to Gatineau extends back to Preston on the west (often blocking that intersection) and back to Empress … Continue reading DOTT plans affect west side residents (iii): Albert Street widening planned

Dalhousie, DOTT, LRT

DOTT plans affect west side residents (ii): Tunnel entrance

Westsideaction

 The new LRT  LeBreton Station is to be located roughly where the current transitway station is at Booth. The entrance to the tunnel portion of the new LRT service under the downtown core will be immediately east of the station. Its location and design is in accordance with the Escarpment Plan that outlines how the adjacent lands are to be developed. During the tunnel construction period of 2-3 years, tunnel boring machines will eat their way through the limestone bedrock six to ten stories down under the street level of the core. All this chewed up rock has to come … Continue reading DOTT plans affect west side residents (ii): Tunnel entrance

DOTT, LeBreton Flats, little Italy, LRT, Preston street

DOTT plans affect west side residents (i): Preston St

Westsideaction

The city will hold an open house on Monday afternoon for the “final” recommended plan for the downtown Ottawa transit tunnel and LRT line from Tunney’s to Blair. It has a number of modifications and changes from previous editions of the plan. As somewhat expected but never expressed in previous versions of the plan, it has proven too difficult to keep the Booth/transitway intersection open during the construction period. Recall that the new station will be directly under Booth Street. The new Booth  will be elevated onto an overpass that crosses the LRT line and the aquaduct. It is simply not … Continue reading DOTT plans affect west side residents (i): Preston St

DOTT, LRT

Underground City Not Premature, its DOA

Westsideaction

“The feeble business response to the city’s plan to create an underground shopping plaza along the proposed downtown rail tunnel is mainly due to lingering doubts about the $1.7-billion project,” — Ottawa Citizen, quoting expert. There are two possible issues here, and I dont know what was in the city’s tentative RFP. (And yes, they should be guaging interest now, even with conceptual LRT plans, rather than once the project is costed with assumptions of connections and revenue). The first issue is whether the city is looking at what buildings/landlords want to be connected to the LRT system. Here are my … Continue reading Underground City Not Premature, its DOA

Chinatown, chinatown arch, Dalhousie, DOTT, LRT

Baird on the Ottawa Transit Tunnell

Westsideaction

Last evening there was a banquet in Chinatown. It had several purposes. It was a birthday celebration for the 60th Anniversary of the current ruling regime in China, and the Chinese ambassador was present. It was a fundraiser for the new archway that will grace Somerset St at Cambridge later this year, and for that welcoming beacon and sign of the Chinese-Asian presence in the Dalhousie neighborhood of Ottawa, significant funds were raised. The final arch design was revealled: it is a royal arch, because Ottawa is a capital city, as is Beijing, which is contributing to the archway here. … Continue reading Baird on the Ottawa Transit Tunnell

Carling Ave, City Hall, DOTT, LeBreton Flats, LRT, NCC, O-Train, oc Transpo5 Comments

LRT Technical Session

Westsideaction

The City hosted a technical session on Saturday, June 20th for all those people who delight in spending a summer Saturday listening to streetcar vendors. About 100 of the public showed up, and at least 30 staff and consultants and vendors. The stated purpose of the meeting was to examine technical issues such as low floor vs high floor LRTs, dedicated vs shared rights of way, driverless vs on-board staff, etc. But I think the unstated purpose of the meeting was to educate the bloggers and transit hobbyists and community activists, so as to raise the tone of the debate … Continue reading LRT Technical Session

DOTT, Library, LRT, Ottawa5 Comments

Library Location Location Location

Westsideaction

While heading back from City Hall via the Library the other day, I noticed how few potential sites there are for a new Library. Recall that the new site is supposed to be on land now used for a parking lot, in the area bounded by Wellington-Bronson-Gloucester-Canal. That isn’t a very large area. And I suspect the library people will want a fairly sprawling building rather than trying to fit one onto a tight site, given their desire for public visibility, easy access, and desire for a multi-purpose building with meeting rooms, etc. So as I walked I speculated on … Continue reading Library Location Location Location

Albert St, Bayview, Bayview Otrain, Carling Ave, condos, DOTT, O-Train, oc Transpo, Phoenix DCR Developments5 Comments

Leadman’s DOTT meeting May 26th

Westsideaction

Leadman’s ward bumps up against Somerset Ward where I live, almost on the border of the two, which is why this blog is named West Side Action, since I try to cover events that happen on the west side of the downtown, regardless of fiefdom. Anyhow, I joined the big turnout for her forum Tuesday evening on the DOTT. Her presentation and meeting themes covered two things: the DOTT in the downtown area, and the first-phase LRT in her ward terminating at Tunneys Pasture. She was accompanied by Renfrew Morrison, a transportation consultant that we recall was Clive Doucet’s hired … Continue reading Leadman’s DOTT meeting May 26th

Bayview, DOTT, interprovincial transit study, LeBreton Flats, NCC, O-Train, oc Transpo2 Comments

Interprovincial Transit Ideas

Westsideaction

I attended a few hours of the interprovincial transit study meeting last Thursday. I heard lots of suggestions for improving interprovincial transit experience. Here are some of them: 1. Use the Prince of Wales Bridge. This rail bridge from Bayview Station to Gatineau is a favorite solution to most problems. Many felt it need not be double tracked right away, but could operate for the first years as a single track with passing tracks at each end and maybe at Lemieux Island. 2. Most attendees want a rail solution (LRT or O-Train) not a bus solution or bus on transitway … Continue reading Interprovincial Transit Ideas

DOTT, interprovincial transit study, NCC, Preston street2 Comments

Inter-Provincial transit study – some observations

Westsideaction

I went to the Open House held Thursday about the interprovincial transit study. The study should identify problems with transit going between the two cities, user problems, and suggest solutions. I signed up for a round-table exercise. It was the first one I think I have attended, and it wasn’t as bad as I feared. First, the moderators at each table were well informed and not too rigorous about keeping the participants on topic. This was important, because the topics, defined beforehand by the sponsors, were very narrow. Basically, they were looking for expressions of what the problems were. In … Continue reading Inter-Provincial transit study – some observations

Albert St, Bayview Otrain, DOTT, LRT, NCC, O-Train, oc Transpo

One train/one tunnel vs many trains in one tunnel

Westsideaction

The downtown transit tunnel will have two tracks, one for each direction. This would be fine if the trains only went east and west. However, desire for travel is also north and south. It is possible to force everyone on the future southwest LRT, and future southeast LRT, and future link to Gatineau LRT, to transfer to the east-west line. Transfers would occur indoors, be comfortable, but would still increase trip time significantly. This would be significant for those who already had to take a local bus to the BRT to the LRT transfer … etc. Recall too that IF … Continue reading One train/one tunnel vs many trains in one tunnel

Albert St, Bayview Otrain, DOTT, LeBreton Flats, LRT, O-Train, oc Transpo1 Comment

Kanata to downtown direct bus service ?

Westsideaction

I read on Real Grouchy’s blog that he and Marianne Wilkinson expected direct BRT service from Kanata to downtown to continue after the LRT system is opened from Tunney’s to Blair. When the DOTT study began, its terms of reference were from Bayview to Blair. It was a somewhat dubious proposition to force all west end commuters to transfer to the LRT at Bayview when they were already in sight of the downtown. They therefore proposed continuing BRT service from the west into the core. Since the transitway would be converted to LRT, the buses would exit the transitway at … Continue reading Kanata to downtown direct bus service ?

DOTT, LRT3 Comments

How Many LRT Stations are Needed Downtown?

Westsideaction

I am a bit mystified about the mini-controversy about how many stations should be in the downtown core. The DOTT plan calls for two, as was shown in the Feb. open houses. I have heard a number of suggestions we might need 3. I disagree. Each station will be a entire block long – the “long” blocks in the downtown, ie the east – west blocks (the north south blocks are much shorter). Each station will have at least two exits, most likely near each end. The stations themselves will be very deep down. Unlike Toronto, where the subway is … Continue reading How Many LRT Stations are Needed Downtown?

Albert St, Bayview, Bayview Otrain, Booth St, DOTT, LeBreton Flats, LRT, O-Train, oc Transpo

Transit tunnel success …

Westsideaction

The City today announced its preferred LRT routes and station configurations. Good news: the major transfer station from buses-on-the-transitway-west will be at Tunney’s Pasture, built on the grassy vacant area north of the current station. Good news: the configuration at Bayview will permit same train access from the (future) southwest transitway / O-Train alignment to the downtown. This means that we can attract larger conventions to the new convention centre downtown as we will have no-transfer-required service direct from the airport to downtown. The configuration at Bayview permits much greater flexibility in train routing. Bad News: the LeBreton Station is … Continue reading Transit tunnel success …

Bayview Otrain, Bayview-Carling CDP, bike path, Carling Ave, CDP, City Centre, cycling in Ottawa, DOTT, Dows Lake, LRT, O-Train, Preston street, somerset street, streetscaping2 Comments

Somerset Viaduct (Bridge) over the OTrain Line

Westsideaction

Somerset west of Preston rises up and over the OTrain Tracks, near the City Centre Building. At the height of the crest, the bridge itself is only about 20′ long; the rest of the road is simply a fill between retaining walls. The road was designed long ago and the angle of the slope means that motorists cannot see what’s on the road (for eg, a parked car) over the crest. This creates a stopping-in-time problem. The solution selected by the City is to narrow the road to two lanes for vehicle traffic. The road is wide enough for a … Continue reading Somerset Viaduct (Bridge) over the OTrain Line

cycling in Ottawa, DOTT, Eric Darwin, LRT, Ottawa, Transit1 Comment

DOTT – Tunney’s Pasture Transfer Station

Westsideaction

DOTT refers to the Downtown Ottawa Transit Tunnel project. I sit on the public advisory committee, with a particular interest in the LRT project from Bronson to Tunney’s. Under the current plan, Tunney’s will be the main place for bus users from the west to transfer to the LRT trains which will run roughly along the current transitway alignment to Bayview, LeBreton, and the downtown. Eventually the LRT train service will be extended further west to Lincoln Fields. The City has come up with two concepts for how the bus users will transfer to the LRT trains. Keep in mind … Continue reading DOTT – Tunney’s Pasture Transfer Station

801 Albert, Bayview Otrain, CDP, City Centre, condos, cycling in Ottawa, DOTT, Eric Darwin, LRT, Ottawa, Phoenix DCR Developments2 Comments

For Lack of a CDP – Community Development Plan

Westsideaction

There is a deliberately vague planning environment for the two 30-storey condo towers proposed by Phoenix DCR for 801 Albert Street (the vacant lot beside the City Centre tower and opposite Tom Brown Arena and the Bayview OTrain Station ). The City has signalled that it wants development to be significantly better than the industrial zoning common along the Bayview to Carling rail corridor. Yet it lacks a comprehensive plan for developing the area. A Community Development Plan (CDP) was begun several years ago, and considerable progress was made. The Phoenix development in a number of respects honours the incomplete … Continue reading For Lack of a CDP – Community Development Plan