Alexandre Pouliotte’s commute from Navan to Gatineau takes about an hour and a half each way. In the morning, he catches the 28 bus to Blair Station, then spends another 45 minutes on the O-Train and a bus to Gatineau, before finally arriving at work.
So he’s hoping OC Transpo will meet its timeline for completing the LRT Line 1 extension to Trim Road by the end of 2025. The extension should shorten travel times and improve reliability for those who face demanding commutes.
The extension includes 12.5 kilometres of rail and five new stations along the highway median of Regional Road 174. These locations are meant to make connections easier with realigned bus routes and provide convenient stations for residents in Orléans, Blackburn Hamlet and Beacon Hill.
The project is part of the city’s broader plans for the O-Train including Line 3, which will extend west from Tunney’s Pasture to Moodie Station and a Line 1 west extension from Tunney’s Pasture to Algonquin Station.
Pouliotte, who uses Line 1 twice a week is a senior project officer in Place du Portage, Gatineau.
“I’m confident. I think they’ve learned a lot of lessons from the initial launch of the trains and I think they’re testing it pretty extensively, pretty thoroughly. I’ve seen it go up and down the station a few times,” said Pouliotte. “I’m hoping it will positively impact my commute.”
He also hopes for an effective bus line from his Navan home to Trim Station. “[Right now], it’s really going through a lot of neighbourhoods to try and pick up as many people as possible and resulting in a very long commute.”
East-end bus routes will adjust to connect with the O-Train, according to OC Transpo, giving riders more convenient access to stations from local areas.
However, not all commuters share Pouliotte’s optimism. In the coming months, commuters such as Elina Ellis, a Carleton University student commuting from Beacon Hill, will be closely watching the extension’s progress.
“[The Line 1 extension] would definitely help me get to campus quicker, but I think the timeline is realistically not going to look like what they’ve been telling us,” said Ellis.
Ellis drives to campus and pays for parking to avoid the long bus trip. Once the extension is complete, she hopes to switch to public transportation.
“For now, I cannot justify spending an hour and 45 minutes getting to school and back,” said Ellis. “I’m going to choose to drive, even if it does leave a dent in my wallet.”
Vera Agbor is a co-op student who depends on the O-Train to get to her placement and is excited about this extension. “[Line 1] is really quick and easy and it gets me from one point to another,” said Agbor. “But the buses are another story.”
She doubts the opening of the O-Train extension will fix problems with local bus routes. “I’ve missed [the bus] multiple times. It just cancels or just doesn’t come at all,” said Agbor.
OC Transpo has completed system testing on the east-end extension, construction and a full performance test with 23 Alstom Citadis Spirit trains under service-like conditions.
The next step is trial running to assess system safety and reliability.
Orléans East-Cumberland Coun. Matthew Luloff said he is optimistic about the extension’s timeline.
“The only information I can rely on is the information provided to us by professional staff,” said Luloff. “I’ve seen a couple of the stations myself, either complete or very close to completion.”
Luloff is focused on the changes it will bring to the community and the lives of residents. One change will allow east-end commuters to avoid buses going west that get stuck in the same traffic as cars, discouraging people from using public transit.
“What’s the point in sitting on a bus in traffic if you can just sit in your car in traffic?” said Luloff. “Sitting in traffic is a giant waste of time. That’s time that you’re taking away from your studies or your family. It’s wasted human potential.” Luloff said the train will provide a dedicated, traffic-free way for people to get places like downtown more quickly and reliably.
“I think it will be transformational,” said Luloff.
