The city says Phase 1 of Light Rail Transit in Ottawa is on time and on budget. “ We are exactly where we want to be,” says Steve Cripps, Director of the Rail Implementation Office.
The 2.1 billion dollar project, called the Confederation Line, will take light rail trains from Tunney's Pasture near Hintonburg to Blair Road in the east end.
Cripps confirmed construction is underway in all 13 stations of the line, and that excavation of the underground tunnel should be complete this summer. He says, “2016 is going to be an excellent year for this project. Within the next month tunnel excavation will be complete, we are going to see light rail vehicles on track this summer, we are going to see the implementation of the final detour.”
According to Cripps, there have been no major delays, but “there are always challenges on a 2.1 billion dollar project.” He says one challenge is the soft ground that they are excavating near the Rideau Centre. “Almost all of the two-and-a-half kilometer tunnel is in good solid bedrock, but there is softer ground near the Rideau Centre, so that slows down their project, it is something they knew about and had to schedule for.”
But Cripps insist, “They are perfectly on schedule for completion In spring of 2018.”
However, some commuters in Kanata feel they are still left out of rapid transit and say it is unfair LRT may not come to the far west end till at least 2031.
“I guess it is rather unfair, this is a pretty popular area, Centrum itself there are a lot of jobs and stores around here,” says commuter Jordan Cherbonneau. Chase Morency says, “It would make my way here a lot easier, every day, because I have to take the bus and wait and sometimes it’s late.”
The City say the last of the detours for Phase 1 of the Confederation Line will be from Tunney’s Pasture to Merton Street and is set to begin the end of June.
