City officials have cancelled an open house originally scheduled for the end of month because of the transit strike.
The planning and environment department intended to reveal new recommendations for the Light Rail Transit system, giving the public a chance to share feedback.
But city staffers now say current strike conditions would make it too difficult for residents to attend the meeting. They've postponed it until further notice.
Somerset Coun. Diane Holmes calls it "just another disaster relating to the transit strike."
"This city is a city that's not functioning now because of the strike," she says.
Jasna Jennings, executive director of the Byward Market BIA, one of the public groups consulted about the project, says setbacks like this one are frustrating for business owners.
“At the end of the day, the business community would really like to see us move forward on a plan,” she says.
“With every delay and every waffle about where it should go, it’s delayed by that many more years. At this point, we just want them to make a decision.”
David Hopper, a consultant with Delcan engineering company, is project manager of the environmental assessment committee that was collecting material for the meeting. He had new recommendations ready to present.
“We think by having two (stations) in the downtown, plus one at the Rideau Centre and one at the University of Ottawa campus – that’s the right balance.”
He says the downtown west station should be around of Lyon and Kent streets. The downtown east station should be near Metcalfe and O’Connor streets. Another would be at Booth Street to serve the western edge of downtown.
Delcan was also responsible for an environmental assessment of an underground bus tunnel in 1988. The committee is using information from that study to complete their own research, especially details about ground conditions.
From the escarpment near Booth Street to east of the Rideau Canal there is limestone bedrock, good material for building tunnels.
Further south, the ground is sandier. Hopper says sandy conditions can make construction more expensive and time-consuming. Construction crews would have to cut through roads and utilities and then rebuild them after the tunnel is completed.
Jana Trembinski-Milburn, a spokesperson for the Infrastructure Services and Community Sustainability office at city hall says the planned schedule for the project isn't expected to be delayed.
Three options for the tunnel were to be chosen in February after the open house, recommended to the transit committee in March and brought before city council in April.
The earliest start date for construction would be 2017.