[1overcosc]

What? it's like 3 minutes from the Transitway Smyth Station. How much shorter can it be? And where would this new access road be placed.

Its got a giant overpass that goes over Riverside, the SE Transitway, and the train tracks. The curve at the top of the white line provides access to Riverside Drive. There's bus ramps that provide a fast link from it to Hurdman. Preliminary construction started a few months ago, I think it's supposed to be done in 2016. It's going to have two lanes per direction, one for buses & emergency vehicles and another for general traffic.

It's being built primarily to cut down on ambulance travel time to and from Highway 417.

 

[Markster]

A bit more on the plans for the North/South Trillium Line:

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/preferred-o-train-extension-includes-airport-link

Preferred O-Train extension includes airport link

As part of its ongoing environmental assessment (EA) study on plans to extend O-Train service from Greenboro Station to Riverside South, the city is expected to unveil next week a preferred option that includes a new spur to the Macdonald-Cartier International Airport and the EY Centre.

...

An earlier incarnation of the plan had the airport spur travelling south of Alert Road, near the Hilton Gardens Hotel, but Simpson said the proposed alignment has now changed to travel north of the EY Centre, which would also be served by a station.

The preferred station location at the airport is between the terminal building and the parking garage.

“It would come around on a big sweeping curve on an elevated platform and it would rise up to the third floor of the parking garage,†Simpson said.

...

During peak hours, trains would primarily serve Riverside South with every second or third train going to the airport; during off-peak hours, such as during the day and in the evening, that would be flipped, so most of the trains would go to the airport and fewer trains would go to Riverside South, he said.

 

[1overcosc]

Barring an emergency I'll be attending that openhouse next week, so I'll have plenty of deets

 

[cyruskafaiwu]

2015 Winter Construction

Coventry Pedestrian Footbridge / Passerelle pour piétons Coventry
What will construction activities look like in each of the three segments – East, Central, and West – along the construction corridor during the winter months?

East Segment

Hurdman Station

Construction of the new Hurdman Station, including elevated guideway work, will be ongoing.

Highway 417

Construction activities such as sewer and light pole installation and rehabilitation of the median lanes continue. Girder installation is currently ongoing at Hurdman Bridge. The installation at the median span is ongoing through January/early February and will be followed by deck work.

Significant progress has been made at the Coventry Pedestrian and Cycling Bridge. Final railing installation and completion of the ceiling is taking place in the coming weeks. Final works such as landscaping are scheduled to begin in spring. The opening date of the bridge to pedestrians and cyclists will be announced in the coming weeks.

Belfast Yard

Works continue at the Belfast Yard Administration and Maintenance Building and includes masonry, panel and glazing installation for the building envelope, as well as roofing on the shed.

Central Segment

As part of the Rideau Station preparatory works, additional support is currently being added to the Rideau Centre Pedestrian Footbridge to allow for underground Rideau Station cavern excavation to begin. The additional support is expected to be completed in January.

The Scotiabank building continues. It is anticipated that the building’s demolition will begin in late January. This will be the future location of one of the Confederation Line Rideau Station entrances.

West Segment

The Preston Street detour will continue throughout 2015. This detour allows transit, commuters, pedestrians and cyclists to use Preston Street from Albert Street to Sir John A. MacDonald Parkway during the Booth Street closure. The detour will accommodate the Booth Street bridge construction, which is part of the Confederation Line Pimisi Station works, scheduled to begin as early as this January.

Upcoming construction in 2015

Jawbreaker (the roadheader currently in the West Portal) is scheduled to be relocated to the East Portal in late January. Construction will also occur at the Hurdman, Tremblay, St. Laurent, Cyrville and Blair stations throughout 2015.

Excavation and support work will be underway for all of the downtown tunnel stations – Rideau, Parliament and Lyon.

Widening of Highway 417 continues and is scheduled to be completed in the summer of 2015 to allow OC Transpo buses (from Blair Station to Hurdman Station) to be detoured onto the highway during Light Rail Transit (LRT) construction.

2015 will be a busy construction year for the Confederation Line. The public will see an increase of ground level activity and a significant amount of progress will occur. Stay on-track with us to receive updates on this exciting project and how it is transforming our city.

the fun is coming

 

[innsertnamehere]

the real fun will come in 2017.. But it is enjoyable to watch progress to that point

 

[cyruskafaiwu]

http://www.confederationline.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Confederation-Line-Newsletter.pdf

Looks like they are going fancier on their news operations. ^^^

 

[gweed123]

We'll start to see some surface work being done along the western part of the route this month. The Booth St detour (using Preston St) is now in service, and construction on the new Booth St bridge, which will be integrated into Pimisi Station, will begin this month.

Also, later this month the roadheader at the western portal will be moved to the eastern portal. My guess is one of the roadheaders at the eastern portal will dig the cavern for Rideau Station while the other will dig the running tunnel from Rideau to Parliament.

 

[Markster]

Barring an emergency I'll be attending that openhouse next week, so I'll have plenty of deets

So did you make it out? Or are you going to the one tonight?

http://ottawa.ca/en/city-hall/public-consultations/transit/open-house-january-13-and-15-2015

Thursday, January 15, 2015
6 to 8 p.m. (presentation at 7 p.m.)
St. Anthony's Banquet Hall
523 St. Anthony Street (at Preston)
OC Transpo routes 14, 85 and the O-Train
Free parking is available

They don't have anything posted online yet.

 

[1overcosc]

So did you make it out? Or are you going to the one tonight?

http://ottawa.ca/en/city-hall/public-consultations/transit/open-house-january-13-and-15-2015

They don't have anything posted online yet.

Went to the one on Tuesday, didn't have a chance to post until now.

The EA is indeed looking at two spurs... the Trillium Line (existing O-Train) will split at South Keys into two, one going to Bowesville Road along the previously approved 2006 LRT ROW, another going to the airport.

The issue is that the Trillium Line 'trunk'--the section north of South Keys where the two spurs merge--is only a single track with a few passing sidings. Because of the large number of structures, it would cost close to $500M to double track it, which is more than what Phase 2 is able to allocate to the project. And with its current setup, only 9 minute frequency is possible. Splitting the line into two spurs would mean each spur south of South Keys would only have 18 minute service. To get around the problem, they're implementing a shuttle system. One branch will have all trains going on that branch, with the other branch forming a shuttle that ends at South Keys.

It's quite a complicated and annoying system they've proposed:
-During rush hours, all trains go Bowesville-Bayview. The airport spur will operate a separate shuttle service from Airport to South Keys with a timed cross-platform transfer (like the one at Don Mills for the Sheppard LRT & subway) at South Keys. Both this airport spur and the mainline will be at 9 minute service.
-During weekday mid-day, the two spurs switch: the mainline goes to the airport, with the Bowesville branch doing a shuttle to South Keys. Both at 9 minute frequency
-During evening & weekends, they'll do a traditional spur system, with trains alternating to Bowesville & Airport. 9 minute frequency on the mainline, 18 minute frequency on the spurs.

The whole thing might not even happen anyway. Only funding for the Bowesville spur is available. The airport service will happen only if the airport authority is willing to pay for the cost of airport spur. I didn't hear how much it will cost.

Oh, and there's two new infill stations being added to the existing section of the Trillium Line--one at Gladstone Av. and another at Walkley Rd. And Confederation Station is going to be relocated north to create a better interface with Heron Road.

The first phase of the expanded Trillium Line service, the deployment of the new trains and increasing the frequency from 15min to 9min, is expected to happen next month, on February 21st. The airport & Bowesville spurs, subject to airport authority funding for the airport spur, will tentatively be complete around 2021.

 

[1overcosc]

Oh, and all the road crossings needed for the southern extensions will be grade separated. The entire O-Train system is thus confirmed to be fully separated from road traffic in Phase 2.

 

[1overcosc]

On the Confederation Line front, at the site of the future eastern entrance to Rideau Station, they're doing demolition work. The Scotiabank is being demolished to make way for the entrance, this got underway last week. The construction fencing surrounding the building is plastered all around with Confederation Line ads, showing maps of the route, diagrams of the tunnel, pictures of construction progress (including a few inside-the-tunnel photos), and renderings.

 

[gweed123]

Thanks for the update! I was unable to make the open houses, but I'm glad you provided a nice summary. That spur shuttle system sounds pretty complicated. Perhaps once the spur is built and the rest of the Phase 2 work is completed, that it will generate enough support to double track and electrify that line to run a full time proper split.

The Confederation relocation is also interesting. Personally, I'd like to see the underpass at Heron widened, with the station straddling underneath the street. That way, to access EB or WB buses, all one has to do is walk to one end of the platform or the other. I've missed a WB bus a few times there because I was stuck on the other side of the street waiting for the light to turn.

 

[1overcosc]

The new Confederation Station will have its platform just north of Heron but will have station exists on both sides of Heron via a below grade pedestrian crossing (essentially a pedestrian pathway adjacent to the tracks). This is important because the Baseline BRT is going to be going through there on-street.

 

[1overcosc]

On the topic of the Baseline BRT, the EA is now underway. So far the city has indicated it's going to use a median-BRT arrangement, in its direct words "akin to the VIVA Rapidways in the Toronto area". They're an inspiration now, be proud York Region

 

[gweed123]

On the topic of the Baseline BRT, the EA is now underway. So far the city has indicated it's going to use a median-BRT arrangement, in its direct words "akin to the VIVA Rapidways in the Toronto area". They're an inspiration now, be proud York Region

That's rather bizarre, considering that the new dedicated bus lanes over the Heron bridge and the couple of queue jump lane intersections (Baseline & Clyde for example) were all done using curb side BRT lanes. Glad to hear the EA is now underway, as I take the 118 to work every day (as part of my trip, anyway).