Downtown Ottawa Transit Tunnel – statement of work
TUNNEL SERVANT AU TRANSPORT EN COMMUN AU CENTRE-VILLE – éNONCé DE
TRAVAIL
ACS2007-PTE-POL-0060 Rideau-Vanier (12), Somerset (14), Kitchissippi (15)
Appearing
before Committee to give a PowerPoint Presentation (copy on file with the City
Clerk) and to answer questions on the aforementioned item were the following
staff members:
·
Nancy
Schepers, Deputy City Manager, Planning, Transit and the Environment (PTE)
·
Vivi Chi,
Manager, Transportation & Infrastructure Planning, PTE
·
Peter
Steacy, Program Manager, Transportation & Infrastructure Planning, PTE
·
Alain
Mercier, Director, Transit Services
·
Helen
Gault, Manager, Transit Service Planning & Development, PTE.
In response to a question from Councillor Legendre, it was explained that the study area was expanded to accommodate a possible future interprovincial connection involving the MacDonald-Cartier Bridge, or a portal at the north end of King Edward Avenue.
In response to another question from Councillor Legendre, Ms. Chi assured the Committee that the tunnel EA progress would not be held up, should progress fall behind on other plans involving transportation initiatives occurring in the same area, due to the timing and purposes of the various projects.
It was also clarified by Mr. Steacy in response to a question from Councillor Legendre that, as part of the EA process, all alternatives must be examined (such as bus use in the tunnel), and that ‘electric’ and LRT-specific references were removed by Council from the original Committee motion.
Councillor Marianne Wilkinson made suggestions on how to reduce staff’s aforementioned 2-year projection for the EA’s completion, to which Deputy City Manager Nancy Schepers replied that the EA study is the cornerstone of the network; and taking time where needed will save time later in lieu of acting in haste. However, Ms. Schepers offered that fastracking would be done where possible.
In response to Councillor Doucet’s request on the legitimacy of a motion at this stage to confine the EA to an electric service only, Legal Services representative McArthur recommended that all options will be examined, by virtue of EA legislated requirements.
The Committee then heard from the delegations:
David Jeanes,
Transport 2000 noted
that a tunnel option for LRT downtown has been consistently urged by many
groups, including the downtown businesses, City Council, the Mayor’s task
force, Urbandale, etc. The Friends of
the O-Train’s original suggestion of replacing Albert and Slater Street bus
service with surface LRT and Toronto-style transfer stations should be
evaluated as an alternative in the EA, he opined. Mr. Jeanes went on to add that selection and protection of tunnel
and corridors is critical, and with major projects already planned for in their
prospective vicinity, it is urgent that the EA address these issues upfront and
recommend measures with these in mind.
Mr. Jeanes further stated that there is no
benefit in extending the complexity and duration of the EA to include a bus
tunnel. To establish his point, Mr.
Jeanes provided numerous examples worldwide where key issues, such as proper
ventilation for such tunnels, has become a predominant issue. Even if only hybrid buses were to be used in
the tunnel, National Research Council data reveals that hybrid buses on
transitways and limited stop type routes don’t achieve fuel savings, despite
their high costs not to mention transporting their flammable fuel still creates
safety issues.
Should the City pursue the tunnel option, an
LRT tunnel under downtown Ottawa need not exceed 2km, with 4 stations, and
should use existing surface transitway alignments west of Bronson to Bayview,
and south of Laurier to Hurdman, and that can easily interface to all the bus
networks, including STO, continued Mr. Jeanes.
With modern tunneling techniques, the tunnel’s construction would have
much less surface impact than the north-south light rail would have had
downtown.
In conclusion, Mr. Jeanes urged Committee to
proceed with an LRT-specific tunnel EA, and that:
A copy of Mr. Jeanes’ presentation is on file
with the City Clerk.
Hume Rogers, Downtown
Coalition spoke on
behalf of 35 building owners and managers, representing any of the office
buildings and hotels in the downtown core of the city. The Downtown Coalition membership represents
over twelve million square feet of office space, and 2,500 hotel rooms and is
supported by the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce, as well as the Ottawa-Gatineau
Hotel Association, added Mr. Hume, noting that their membership also accounts
for approximately 10% of the property tax collected by the City of Ottawa. They are delighted that a tunnel is now
considered a cornerstone of the transit network, and they are pleased to see
that there seems to be a consensus on the need to resolve the problems in the
downtown, in order to make our public transit system more efficient. As a key stakeholder group and as a working
member of both technical and public study consultation groups for this EA, we
look forward to working with staff and Council to develop a plan that resolves
the existing problems in the downtown and provides a solution for the future,
said Mr. Rogers.
Mr. Rogers continued to state that the
Coalition is concerned that the list of projects presented as near-term
investment options will use the money promised by other levels of government
for the previous North-South LRT proposal, meaning we might complete the EA
study for a downtown tunnel and then find the resource are no longer there to
do the work. As the tunnel EA will take
a number of years to complete, and as Albert and Slater Streets are currently
operating at or near capacity, he asked the Committee to reaffirm its motion of
November 2nd, 2005, in which staff were asked to monitor and report
back to Council on Albert and Slater Streets ongoing congestion levels. As a reminder, he read the motion, moved by
Councillor McRae, which states the following:
Be it resolved that staff be directed to
monitor traffic on Albert and Slater streets and report back to the Committee
and Council on an annual basis and informally on bi-annually basis, i.e. twice
a year through a verbal report.
In response to a question from Councillor
Legendre on a previous request for members of the Coalition to contribute to
the costs of an underground facility, Mr. Rogers replied that a number of
Coalition members did offer to participate and help offset the costs, providing
that those stations attach to their buildings; Mr. Rogers also noted that at
that time, an electric or bi-mode LRT was on the table, and not a bus tunnel,
adding he urges that as much contact be made with the Coalition as early as
possible throughout the planning process.
A brief discussion continued between the Councillor and Mr. Rogers.
A copy of Mr. Rogers’ presentation is on file
with the City Clerk.
David Gladstone David Gladstone, Founder, Friends of the O-Train (FOTO) spoke on behalf of an agreed position of FOTO. As David Jeanes mentioned, FOTO too wants very much to have the surface LRT considered as an alternative, which are the words used in the EA process. He believes that it definitely needs to be looked at, is definitely viable, and could offer value for money benefits over an underground loop. The issue of buses in the tunnel has been brought up a number of times, there is no rationale or viable way we can have buses underneath our downtown functioning the way the buses currently do on Albert and Slater Streets, he stated. In terms of a process, he noted that he was at a consultation meeting yesterday evening on the EA for the Interprovincial Crossings and there are certain options that were raised. The urgent need to reduce the congestion and use of the downtown portion of the Transitway; the current O-Train is already doing that, so expanding the O-Train will do that even more, said Mr. Gladstone, further elaborating that expanding the O-Train across the Ottawa River to Gatineau will divert people who are currently forced to use the downtown transitway. As a way of dealing with the congestion on the downtown transitway for the next several years, getting our existing railway lines back into service is an excellent way to proceed, stated Mr. Gladstone.
Ytza B. Schachtler felt there is a lack of leadership from the City on this issue. He felt the plan is not a feasible one and does not serve much of the public well with respect to access to various locations. He suggested there is no reason to spend more time arguing on this and create further delays, and that electric light rail is the way to go. He was not in favour of a tunnel. He also suggested that diesel buses create health hazards and that the City should bear in mind that a person could sue the City for any negative impacts on personal health caused by inhaling diesel fumes.
Stephen Fanjoy, Ward 2, Friends of the O-Train, National Capital Transit Coalition presented his viewpoints, as follows:
At this time, Councillor McRae noted the Committee quorum would soon be an issue, and read the following three motions on the table:
Moved by Councillor J. Legendre:
That the Tunnel EA Statement of Work be amended to
remove:
·
Incorporation of interprovincial transit services
·
The portion of the study area which includes the
Lowertown/Market area
and that
staff be directed to expend approximately the same effort considering
bus-options underground as they propose to spend on the do-nothing option.
Moved by Councillor C. Doucet:
Whereas
reproducing the surface congestion and pollution in an underground tunnel will
not solve Ottawa’s problems of core congestion;
Whereas
there are no examples of underground bus tunnels successfully being introduced
anywhere more than over very short distances because of capacity and pollution;
Whereas
Ottawa’s new bus tunnel would be at least three kilometers;
That the
Environmental Impact on the transit tunnel be revised to complete the EA within
12 months (i.e. by the end of 2008) and that staff be directed to not use TMP
and Interprovincial Integration Study to hold up any aspect of the study.
Councillor Legendre spoke on his motion noting that it removes the link with the Interprovincial Transit Study and makes the EA study more tunnel-focused, and focused on grade separation issues downtown. A brief discussion ensued on elevation.
Speaking on his Councillor Doucet reflected on how the whole system would be used in the development of his motion, as well as being conscious of the tunnel’s impact on Gatineau-Ottawa transportation and the east-west system.
Councillor Wilkinson explained the crux of her motion was expediting the study, with hopes of seeing a consultant on the job for January.
Deputy City Manager Nancy Schepers assured the Committee that unreasonable options would be screened out as soon as possible, reminding the Councillors that dictating the solution in advance of a thorough assessment of the network, risks compromising the study. She stated that a two-year deadline is not excessive or unreasonable, and would provide an EA that would stand up to any challenges.
Councillor Cullen reflected on the scope and duration of the project thus far, noting that haste makes waste. He urged his colleagues to follow standard process by approving the staff recommendations and to reject all three amendments.
Councillor Bédard concurred that a prudent approach made the most sense, and expressed desire to see the project move forward as is.
Councillor Leadman expressed support for the motions in general and espoused that where six months had already been wasted since the earlier 2007 motion on the tunnel, no additional time should be monopolized by deciding how to proceed.
The Committee then considered the following motions:
Moved by Councillor J. Legendre:
That
the Tunnel EA Statement of Work be amended to remove:
·
Incorporation
of interprovincial transit services
·
The
portion of the study area which includes the Lowertown/Market area
and that staff be directed to expend
approximately the same effort considering bus-options underground as they
propose to spend on the do-nothing option.
LOST on a tie vote
YEAS (4): Councillors R. Bloess,
M. Wilkinson, L. Legendre, C. Leadman
NAYS (4): Councillor A. Cullen, G. Bédard, C. Doucet, M. McRae
Moved by Councillor C. Doucet:
Whereas reproducing the surface
congestion and pollution in an underground tunnel will not solve Ottawa’s
problems of core congestion;
Whereas there are no examples of underground
bus tunnels successfully being introduced anywhere more than over very short
distances because of capacity and pollution;
Whereas Ottawa’s new bus tunnel
would be at least three kilometers;
LOST
YEAS (1): Councillors
C. Doucet
NAYS (7): Councillors
R. Bloess, M.
Wilkinson, A. Cullen, G.
Bédard, J. Legendre, C. Leadman, M. McRae
That the Environmental Impact on the transit tunnel be revised to complete the EA within 12 months (i.e. by the end of 2008) and that staff be directed to not use TMP and Interprovincial Integration Study to hold up any aspect of the study.
LOST on a tie vote
YEAS (4): Councillors
R. Bloess, M. Wilkinson, J. Legendre, C. Leadman
NAYS (4): Councillors
A. Cullen, G. Bédard, C. Doucet, M. McRae
The Committee then considered the report recommendation as presented.
That the Joint
Transportation and Transit Committee approve the Statement of Work for the
Downtown Ottawa Transit Tunnel Environmental Assessment as detailed in
Document 1.
CARRIED
After a brief discussion on Statements of Work not requiring Council’s approval, the Committee further considered the following motion:
Moved by Councillor J. Legendre:
That the Statement of Work
for the Downtown Ottawa Transit Tunnel Environmental Assessment rise at Council
at its meeting of 28 November 2007.
CARRIED