City council took one step closer to approving a 3.2-km tunnel under the downtown core, but it will still be at least another year before construction starts.
Council approved the functional design for the city’s light rail east-west corridor from Tunney’s Pasture to Blair Station.
The approval will enable the city to go ahead with property procurement and an expedited environmental assessment of the corridor.
The project is estimated to cost $2.1 billion, with the tunnel making up the biggest share of the cost at $735 million.
$600 million has already been kicked in by the province and the city is expecting the federal government's share in the coming months.
Construction will be focused on the Lebreton Flats, where the tunnel’s entrance will be bored into the escarpment wall west of Bronson Avenue and east of Booth Street.
To dig the tunnel the city will be using a tunnel-boring machine that will transport dirt from under downtown and dump it at Lebreton Flats to be hauled away by trucks.
Somerset Ward Coun. Diane Holmes said she is concerned about the impact the construction will have in her ward by increasing heavy truck traffic and creating unsightly piles of debris.
Despite her concern, Holmes voted in favour of the functional design and urged council to join her in supporting the LRT plan.
“Let us have a vision for the city. Let us have the transportation system this city deserves, get Albert Street out of the fume- and smoke-infested world they are in and make the downtown beautiful,” said Holmes.
Capital Ward Coun. Clive Doucet voted against the motion.
“This is the wrong project at the wrong time,” he said. He argued that the city should spend the money on surface rail which would be cheaper and quicker to build.
The motion does not commit the city to building the tunnel or the light rail transit corridor. Council has supported another step forward in developing its light rail plan.