The City of Ottawa has launched the next phase of public consultation on the proposed expansion of the Trillium line commuter route, which includes the planned construction of a Gladstone rail station in Little Italy.
The extended Trillium Line would branch off the current O-Train line from Greenboro Station to Riverside South, and would add Gladstone and other stations, as well as a link to the Ottawa airport.
The city is currently conducting an environmental assessment of the plans and municipal officials invited public questions and expressions of concern during two recent open houses.
Colin Simpson, the city’s senior project manager of transportation planning, says it’s important to receive feedback and comments from the public and for people to be able to directly speak with members of the project team.
“There’s still lots of time to make adjustments and that’s exactly what we’re doing – trying to get feedback to make the plan even better,” he says.
However, not everyone seems to be on board.
John Sankey, president of the Hunt Club Community Organization and a former National Research Council of Canada employee, argues that the current expansion plan is not the most cost-effective option.
“Their mandate is, ‘Provide the best rail service to the airport,’ ” he says. “It’s either top-notch rail or nothing.”
Sankey says that there are more affordable options, such as expanding the current OC Transpo bus system, that are not being considered. He also says that he has personally advocated for cheaper transportation methods to the airport.
“There are less expensive ways of doing it. I’ve been arguing for a shuttle bus like they operate in several towns.”
Others, however, question why the expansion has taken so long to proceed.
Ottawa resident Doug Kirkland argued at one open house that the expansion plan should have been part of the initial O-Train construction and that it doesn’t make sense for the City of Ottawa to have taken this long to create rail link to the airport.
“Even before they announced the very first plan they should have done that,” he says. “I mean it makes absolutely no sense to have an airport as good as this one is, and you don’t have a rail link?”
However, Simpson says that he has personally been receiving generally positive feedback.
“There’s been a lot of support for this project. Not only for the main line, but for the airport extension as well.”
The ongoing environmental assessment is expected to wrap up this spring. On June 3, the final recommended expansion plan is scheduled to be presented to the city’s transportation committee for approval.
There will be another statutory environmental assessment process necessary for ministerial approval, which should take another four to six months.
Ottawa residents will be able to take the O-Train from Little Italy to the airport if the proposed plans are confirmed.
The current suggestion for the Gladstone station is just north of Gladstone, falling between the existing Bayview and Carling stations.
The north-south Trillium Line would ultimately add eight kilometres to its existing main line, as well as three kilometres added for the airport link. This is in addition to the east-west Confederation Line currently under construction in downtown Ottawa, highlighted by the tunnel being bored below the central business district.
The entire Stage 2 project will add 35 kilometres of rail and 19 new stations to the O-Train network, bringing almost 70 per cent of the city’s population within five kilometres of rail.
The Trillium Line is expected to be completed by 2023.