Section of the Transitway permanently closing in Ottawa's west end for LRT

It is the end of the road for a section of the Transitway in Ottawa's west end this weekend, as the transit-only lanes close to make way for Stage 2 of the light-rail transit project.

The city of Ottawa says the Transitway will permanently close between Pinecrest and Bayshore stations on Sunday for construction of the Stage 2 O-Train extension to Moodie Drive.

"For me, it's exciting," said Transit Commission chair Allan Hubley. "Because it means the LRT is that much closer to Kanata."

The finance and economic development committee will receive an update on construction of the LRT project next Friday.

"Through COVID, the consortium that's been working on the east-west line has done really good at keeping to its schedule," Hubley said.

Transit riders are looking forward to the day the train replaces the bus along the transitway.

"I'll be happy when it makes it to Kanata," Michelle McLeod said.

“Hopefully they’ll make Park and Rides to accommodate the amount of cars and the amount people who need to get downtown, and then people will be happier to go downtown and go back to work, I think.”

The Bayshore and Pinecrest stations will remain open for buses; however, there will be changes to the routes.

WESTBOUND

• All bus routes will be detoured to travel along Hwy. 417 from Pinecrest Road to Bayshore Drive. Routes that currently serve Pinecrest and Bayshore stations will continue to serve the stations.
• OC Transpo says when the Hwy. 417 westbound off-ramp at Pinecrest re-opens on May 8, westbound routes 63, 64, 66, 67, 406, 454 and westbound Connexion routes will serve Pinecrest Station.

EASTBOUND

OC Transpo says eastbound routes will be detoured in one of two patterns

• Routes 61, 62, 303, and 660 will maintain direct connections to Bayshore and Pinecrest stations, travelling on Hwy. 417 between Holly Acres Road and Greenbank Road.
• Routes 63, 64, 66, 67 and eastbound Connexion routes will bypass Pinecrest and Bayshore stations and instead serve bus stops on Holly Acres Road and the eastbound Highway 417 on-ramp at Greenbank Road respectively.

As part of Stage 2 of the LRT expansion, the O-Train will run to Moodie Drive using a section of the Transitway on the north side of Hwy. 417.

The $4.6 billion Stage 2 construction project will see the Confederation Line extended to Tenth Line Road in the east end and Moodie Drive and Algonquin College in the west end. The Trillium Line will be built from Bayview Station to Riverside South.