A long-discussed O-Train station at Gladstone Avenue may finally become reality if Kitchissippi Coun. Katherine Hobbs has her way.
Hobbs asked city staff last month for a cost estimate for the station, which would be located a short distance from The Gladstone Theatre to either the left or the right of the existing rail tracks. At the same time, she urged the city’s transportation committee to consider the proposal.
“Fifty-nine million dollars have already been allocated to improve the O-Train and it only makes sense to add the long-discussed station at Gladstone,” says Hobbs.
Passing tracks are being laid next to the existing rails along the O-Train route as part of the city’s recently approved multi-million dollar investment to reduce wait time from 16 to eight minutes.
“The new rails make space for a new station at Gladstone. It will reduce travel time for residents considerably and if I am successful, Gladstone Station will open by 2014," Hobbs says.
Adding a station to the O-Train line between Preston Street and Loretta Avenue has long been a priority of the Centretown Citizens Community Association, but despite Hobbs’s efforts to put the matter on the political agenda, the association won’t start celebrating just yet.
“We have had this discussion for many years now, but unfortunately any prize seems to be too high for the City of Ottawa. I have learned never to overestimate the city’s ability to turn plans like these down. I want to see the station before I believe it,” says association president Charles Akben-Marchand.
Because of the uneven terrain around Gladstone Avenue, a future station will have to be equipped with an elevator, which would increase the construction cost to between $1 and $2 million, Hobbs estimates.
But that money could very well be spent elsewhere, argues Gladstone resident Gary Moore.
“Carling Station is just a 10-minute walk down the road and I honestly believe that a station here at Gladstone is a waste of tax money,” Moore says.
However, another Gladstone resident says the proposed station is “money well spent."
“It is tough getting around and I would appreciate a station here at Gladstone,” says Chris Allan.
An exact estimate of the total cost of the station at Gladstone will be available later this fall.