Mayor Jim Watson has reconfirmed Ottawa’s Light Rail Transit is on schedule and on budget.
Amarjeet Sohi, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, John Fraser, Member of Provincial Parliament, Ottawa South, and Mayor Jim Watson visited the construction site for the future Tremblay Station on Wednesday, to showcase the progress of the O-Train Confederation Line LRT project.
Watson said the LRT tunnel will be fully excavated by this summer. He also told reporters that 3.5 kilometres of track had been installed across the city.
The Tremblay station, which is scheduled to be complete by winter 2017, is one of 13 stations popping up around the city. Watson said all 13 will begin construction by the end of this year.
Once complete the Confederation Line will run from Blair Rd. to Tunney’s Pasture.
Ideally, the city said it would have liked to see LRT extensions to the airport and Trim Rd.
Watson said those extensions would require funding from the provincial and federal government.
"We're looking for 100 per cent from the other two orders of government," he said. "The Airport has indicated that they would help fund the construction of the station at Airport as well."
Ottawa South MPP John Fraser said while the province had not yet committed any funding for the Airport extension, it was on his radar.
“The project for me is a priority and I’d like to see that move forward quicker,” Fraser said.
Mayor Watson said LRT trains are being assembled, and will begin testing by the end of this year.
