(Posted
5:30 p.m., Aug. 23)
Light rail project remains on track, especially in the east end
By Fred Sherwin
Orléans Online
If
you are one of the thousands of commuters who drive past
the Gloucester Centre transitway every day and the work
that’s being done on the light rail transit line, you
may be wondering when all that work is going to be completed
and you can hop on a train rather than get stuck in traffic.
The
good news is that it is still on schedule to be completed
in 2018. The bad news is that no one knows for sure yet
when it will be completed in 2018.
According
to Pat Scrimgeour, the director of transit customer systems
and planning for OC Transpo, there are still a number
of intangibles that could delay the opening anywhere from
a couple of weeks to a couple of months.
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The
Blair Road Station from the inside looking
out towards the Split (above); and an LRT
train is tested along the eastern part of
the Confederation Line (below). Fred Sherwin
and OC Transpo Photos
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Beacon
Hill, Cyrville Ward councillor Tim Tierney is hoping light
rail will be given a green light sometime in the spring.
It’s almost certain it will be open before Ottawa residents
head to the polls for the municipal election in November.
The
work has already been completed on the dual railway track
and overhead wires from St. Laurent to Blair Road, and
the trains are already being tested.
The
remaining work, at least in the east end, needs to be
done on the stations themselves.
The
Blair Road station is still in need of an escalator and
elevator; the concrete drop off area still needs to be
poured and the wall and ceiling panel installations remain
to be done.
The
same work also needs to be done at the Cyrville Road station.
Scrimgeour
says the LRT route will become operational only after
it is operational and all the bugs have been worked out
of the system.
“We
will test it as many times as it takes to make sure their
are no major issues when we start taking on passengers,”
says Scrimgeour.
That
approach is fine with Beacon Hill- Cyrville Ward councillor
Tim Tierney who wants things to run as smoothly as possible
on Day 1 whenever that day arrives.
“I
know some people are anxious and they want to know when
they will able to make the switch to light rail, and I
can appreciate that. I’m anxious too to see it going,
but it’s imperative that we undergo the proper testing
to make sure everything is in proper working order,” says
Tierney.
Once
light rail does officially get rolling, east end commuters
will take their local express route to the Blair Road
station and board the train which will run every five
minutes and carry up 600 people.
Scrimgeour
says they do not anticipate there will be any bottlenecks
during the rush hour.
“The
riders will be able to get off their bus walk a short
flight of stairs and get on their train,” says Scrimgeour.
The
same will be true when coming back from downtown in the
afternoon. Transit users will no longer have to search
for their specific route. Instead they will simply walk
onborad the next train and get of at either Cyrville Road
or Blair.
One
thing commuters must keep in mind is the fact that there
will be no park and ride lot at either east end station
and parking in the Gloucester Centre Mall parking lot
will be strictly enforced.
Scrimgeour
says commuters will have to park in the park and ride
lots at Trim Road and Place d’Orléans and take a bus to
the station.
Construction
is also continuing fur-ther west and downtown. And work
is continuing on the first of three rental towers just
to the west of the Blair Road station.
(This
story was made possible thanks to the generous support of our local
business partners.)
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