The city says it has been blindsided by the National Capital Commission’s demand that transit planners reconsider the proposed route for western expansion of LRT.
At a Friday news conference convened minutes after Mayor Jim Watson and other senior city officials had been advised of its position, the NCC told reporters that Rochester Field on Richmond Road in Westboro, which it owns, is a better option for light rail than along the Ottawa River.
If, alternatively, the city is determined to have the light rail route run alongside the river, it should dig a deep tunnel for the trains, the NCC said.
The NCC said it supports the city’s western light rail transit project, but the two sides remain at odds over the 1.2-kilometre section of the proposed $980-million Richmond Underground line that would cross NCC land along the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway.
The city wants to run the line through a trench, only 700 metres of which would be partly covered. But the NCC board declared in June 2013 that it would not approve the line unless it allows unimpeded access to the Ottawa River shoreline and has a “minimal visual impact” on the parkway corridor landscape.
At the same time, the board asked the city to present a detailed proposal for placing the entire 1.2-kilometre portion between Dominion and Cleary stations underground.
Now, based on what the NCC says is an “in-depth analysis” of data provided by the city in January, the NCC has concluded that the partially buried option on the parkway, which was put forward by the city for its ongoing environmental assessment study, doesn’t meet two conditions.
The NCC’s CEO, Mark Kristmanson, says the Rochester Field route provides a “comparable option” to study in the environmental assessment and would be similar in price to the city’s preferred option.
“The cost calculations come out roughly comparable based on the city’s own analysis,” he said.
However, it appears that the NCC hasn’t taken into account where the train would go after leaving the field.
There are only two options for that part of the route: the train would have to either run along Richmond Road or the Byron Linear Parkway, both in the heart of Westboro, which would be unpalatable to the community.
Click to enlarge graphic below.
NCC offers two choices for the western LRT
When the city studied the Rochester Field option in the past, it looked at running the train underground — the only option nearby residents would have accepted — and estimated the cost to be $1.7 billion. The city also found a tunnel along the river would vastly exceed its budget for the project.
NCC chair Russ Mills spoke with Mayor Jim Watson before Friday’s announcement, while Kristmanson phoned city manager Kent Kirkpatrick.
But city officials were not invited to the morning media briefing at the NCC’s Elgin Street headquarters and at least one city employee was turned away at the door.
Keith Egli, who chairs the city’s transportation committee, said later the city wants the NCC to share the analysis on which the board based its decision.
He added the city has a “clear mandate” to proceed with western light rail expansion.
“The people in Ottawa very clearly sent the message, ‘We want light rail, we want it out the west end, so we have to find a way to get there and in order to do that, we have to continue to talk with the NCC, but they have to share,” Egli said. “They have to tell us where they’re coming from, what their focus is, what their lens is in order to come to what they said, and we just don’t know that.”
When asked if there were possible political undertones to Friday’s surprise announcement by the NCC, Egli admitted the process was “out of the ordinary.”
The NCC board held an in-camera meeting this week, relied on information the city hasn’t seen to make its decision, then held a media event with little notice, Egli said, adding city staff had been planning to meet with the NCC in January to discuss the file. Friday’s announcement appears to have circumvented that.
“All bureaucracies have political masters, and you have to think that maybe that was part of the discussion,” Egli said.
But a spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird — who is also an Ottawa MP and the senior minister for the National Capital Region — says politics isn’t at play.
“The NCC has an important responsibility to protect our nation’s capital and its green space. The city’s job is public transit,” said Adam Hodge in an email.
“We remain confident that both the NCC and the City of Ottawa can come to a decision that is beneficial for the people of Ottawa.”
Watson was in Toronto for meetings Friday. In a statement, the mayor said key issues affecting the city should not be discussed “at a secret meeting of an unelected, unaccountable body like the NCC.”
“We were promised a chance to appear before the NCC board in early 2015 to present a progress report. The NCC simply ignored their commitment to this and held a closed door meeting, jeopardizing our city’s transit plans,” Watson’s statement said.
Kristmanson dismissed suggestions the NCC blindsided the city, saying, “There will be lots of time to talk to the city about this,” he said.
If funding comes through, Phase 2 of the LRT would not be complete until 2023.
With files from Joanne Chianello
