Ottawa's new east-west LRT plan faces many hurdles: report

The City of Ottawa has released a new transportation master plan worth nearly $5 billion that includes light rail to the east, but there are still many hurdles before it can be built, according to a new report.

The new plan released Monday at city hall, following public consultations, recommends that the first phase of the city's proposed light rail system include 12 kilometres of track linking Tunney's Pasture just west of downtown to Blair Station in the city's east end. It would pass through downtown via a tunnel.

The city's rapid bus Transitway would also be expanded by 10 kilometres in the east, west and south of the city and nine kilometres of "supplementary" bus transit would also be added.

The rail and bus investments together would cost $1.7 billion.

In the second phase, the city would spend $900 millionon 18 kilometres of LRT track south to South Keys station and west to the Baseline.

And in the third phase, which would be completed by 2031, another 10 kilometres of rail would be added connecting South Keys to Riverside Town Centre, and another 14 kilometres of rapid bus corridors would be built.

No link to airport

The plan eliminates rail links to the Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport and the Ottawa Hospital General Campus, which were deemed too complicated for this stage of the transit, considering the low ridership for those corridors.

No timeline was given for construction of the new transit lines, and auditors from KPMGtalked abouta list of hurdles and risksfor 30 minutes alone, said CBC's Chad Pawson from city hall.

The city still needs to conduct environmental studies, secure funding, find contractors to build the new transit lines and provide the trains and meet federal regulations for building rails and roads, the report said.

Funding expires in 2014

In addition the auditors expressed concerns that:

• The city won't be in a position to use its federal transit funding before it expires in 2014.
• Using NCC land for the western corridor wouldn't be viable and alternative routes along Byron and Carling Avenues would be two to fives times more expensive to build.
• A change in the government could affect the stability of transit funding.

Mayor Larry O'Brien said more stable funding may have to come from private partnerships.

In addition to the transit expansion, the Transportation Master Plan includes: $666 million for road projects during the early part of the transit plan, down $84 million from the list originally proposed in September.

Also included are the proposed new cycling paths and facilities recommended in the city's June 2008 cycling plan. In addition, a pedestrian plan is to be tabled at city council in 2009.