Construction crews have officially began installing track along the O-Train East Extension in the city's east end. This is Stage 2 of Ottawa's light rail transit project. The extension connects 95 percent of residents in the east-end communities of Orleans, Blackburn Hamlet and Beacon Hill within five kilometres of rail.
Link2Build Ontario states that the O-Train East Extension will travel mainly within the median of Highway 174 between Blair Road and Trim Road. It will include:
- 12.5 kilometres of new rail
- Five new stations to the city's existing light rail network
"Stage 2 LRT will forever change the way we move around Ottawa by extending the benefits of the O-Train network farther south, east and west. The new O-Train East Extension will be a simple and convenient travel option for residents in Ottawa's rapidly growing eastern communities. It will also provide transit improvements to major centres of employment, shopping and education and improve connectivity to encourage more active transportation."
Mayor of Ottawa | Jim Watson
Crews will begin installing track between Montreal and Jeanne d'Arc stations and continue west. Final installation will be from Blair Station to Montreal Station.
Stage 2 LRT will expand the reach of light rail transit that connects to:
- Ottawa's major employment centres
- Post-secondary institutions
- Shopping
- Recreation
- Arts and culture destinations
When Stage 2 is complete, the entire light rail line will be able to carry 24,000 people in each direction per hour at peak capacity. The network is expected to reduce one sixth of Ottawa's total vehicle kilometres travelled and save commuters time and money.
The project will also reduce greenhouse gases by 110,000 tonnes and contaminants such as carbon monoxide, nitrous oxides and sulphur oxides by 3,000 tonnes over a 25 year period.
Ottawa Construction News reports that the $4.66 billion project is being jointly funded by the federal, provincial and municipal governments.
The East-West Connectors Consortium is building the LRT project through a Design/Build/Finance (DBF) contract model. Construction will be completed by a consortium of Kiewit, Eurovia and Vinci (KEV), while WSP and Canada Inc. and Hatch Ltd. are providing design and engineering services.
Construction on the western side, however, from Tunney's Pasture to Moodie Drive is having a scheduling set-back.
"At this time, we are still analyzing the schedule. We've got some geotechnical issues, as well as some other supply issues. We've got an issue with getting enough manpower. So, we are bringing in a lot of carpenters and labourers from other provinces to help out with that. On the east side, we're having a hard time getting some of our supplies out of different areas, supply chain problems that we're seeing - we're working through those as they come. But all things considered, we look to be on time on the east side."
Senior vice-president at Kiewit Corporation | Chris Loeffler
Even with the supply issues, the consortium still expects the work to be completed on the eastern side on schedule in 2024.
