City council should scrap its Transitway improvement projects and support a plan bringing light rail to the city’s suburbs, with routes extending to Riverside South, Kanata and Orleans within the next decade, say Capital Coun. Clive Doucet and Kitchissippi Coun. Christine Leadman.

“We want to serve all parts of our city, not just some parts,” said Doucet. “Our plan brings in Orleans, brings in Kanata and brings in Riverside South.”

Doucet and Leadman unveiled their plan at the Gladstone Theatre on Monday, Nov. 17, a design calling for a line going west on Carling Avenue instead of the route recommended by city staff along the Ottawa River Parkway.

The councillors planned to introduce the LRT project to council at a joint meeting of the transit and transportation committee on Wednesday, Nov. 19.

City staff is recommending an LRT route from Blair Station to Tunney’s Pasture travelling through a downtown tunnel during the first phase of a $4.7 billion project.

Passengers won’t be riding the rails until after 2017, said city manager Kent Kirkpatrick, and light rail won’t come to the suburbs until after 2031.

 
COMPARING PLANS

Doucet and Leadman’s LRT project will bring:

• Light rail from Blair Station to Baseline Station in five years.
• A route to Kanata, Riverside South, Barrhaven and Orleans by 2019.
• A southern route from the proposed downtown LRT tunnel to Hurdman station and then Riverside South.
• Downtown tunnel.
• Light rail to Gatineau.
• $5.93 billion cost.

The city’s recommended plan calls for:

• Light rail to Kanata, Orleans and Riverside South by 2031.
• Using the Ottawa River Parkway instead of Carling Avenue for the western route.
• Downtown tunnel.
• $4.7 billion cost.

CARLING ROUTE

The Carling line, running between Bayview station to Lincoln Fields, will have seven stops and cost about $378 million, according to the plan, compared to the estimated $138 million cost of the preferred Parkway route.

Building an LRT line on the Parkway will not increase ridership, said Doucet, and requires permission from the NCC, which could take several years.

The Carling route passes through residential and commercial areas, including shopping centres, schools, the Royal Ottawa Hospital and the Civic campus of the Ottawa Hospital.

Doucet said only three underpasses are needed to run under major intersections.

But some of his colleagues on council are disputing Doucet’s numbers.

“It’s not a track that council will be going down,” said Bay Coun. Alex Cullen. “It introduces new costs, it’s unreal in terms of its timeline, and it does not propose the best route for the western corridor.”

Doucet said he doesn’t understand Cullen’s objections.

“We’re delivering more rail to more parts of the city for the same money,” he said.

The suggested Carling route will cost three times more than the city’s preferred Parkway line, added Cullen, as well as increase travel time by 20 minutes.

The city can’t secure enough funding from the federal and provincial government to keep pace with the Doucet and Leadman LRT option, he said.

“It’s not a feasible proposal,” Cullen said. “Couns. Doucet and Leadman have been throwing rocks from the sideline and it’s time to put this one to bed.”

Doucet said he was confident he had enough support on the joint transit and transportation committee to pass his plan, but is worried about getting final approval.

“Council will be tough,” he said.

Kanata South Coun. Peggy Feltmate said she probably won’t support the Doucet-Leadman LRT project.

“I have a lot of concerns,” she said. “It sounds good, and I’m sure it sounds good to Kanata residents, but their plans may be over-optimistic in terms of cost.

“If we go down that line and they can’t deliver then Kanata is really out in the cold.”

Kanata North Coun. Marianne Wilkinson said the Carling route is much slower than the Parkway option – a difference of over 13 minutes in travel time, not two minutes as claimed by Doucet.

“Their numbers are not consistent with what staff numbers,” she said. “What we need is a fast system.”