Western LRT (part iii) Richmond-Byron Options

If the western LRT does not go via Carling Avenue, there is a whole set of options in the Richmond-Byron corridor, shown below: The Churchill-Richmond option had a fatal flaw: too sharp a turn at the corner of Richmond and Churchill. The McRae-Richmond option required redoing the Westboro Station and then entering a short sharp S turn, something that engineers love — NOT. Another McRae option put a President’s Choice station at Loblaws and then turned west under Byron. That tunnel section would have emerged just west of the Westboro Station condo development. Here’s what is left: The Churchill-Byron option digs cut and … Continue reading Western LRT (part iii) Richmond-Byron Options

Western LRT (part ii)

The study team considered many options for getting from Bayview to Lincoln Fields (and eventually to Colleqe Square, shown in the drooping panhandle line on the far left, which is common to every option). The city study team has now ruled out a number of the options shown above. First, they sought out “fatal flaws” in the potential corridors. This could include pinch points were the corridor becomes too narrow, or turns are too sharp. While the flaws of some corridors were achingly obvious right from the beginning, they were all studied, which prevents someone coming along at a much … Continue reading Western LRT (part ii)

Western LRT (part i)

Last week, city staff offered some briefings on the western LRT options. Recall that the current downtown Ottawa transit tunnel study, now renamed  Ottawa Light Rail Transit/Tunnel (OLRT), covers that portion from Blair Road in the east to Tunney’s Pasture in the west. However, the first components of the LRT system includes a service from Tunney’s to Lincoln Fields, but under a different Environmental Approval process. The western portion might be completed at the same time as the downtown portion, or shortly thereafter. City council directed that staff consider various options running west from Bayview Station (Council selected Bayview in order to include the O-Train corridor … Continue reading Western LRT (part i)

Rearranging dirt

  The NCC has started construction on the Firefighters Monument on LeBreton Flats. They scraped off the topsoil first. They stacked the topsoil in a pile, either the better to truck it away, or to store it for reuse later around the monument. But what will they be doing with all the dirt underneath? I would hope they could use it to fill in the bomb crater front yard of the 200 Lett Street condos. At the recent all-candidates debate, it was right to describe the development as flawed. But equally obviously, lots of people DO want to live in buildings … Continue reading Rearranging dirt