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Ottawa Transit Developments

Can they even upgrade the Trillium Line without shutting it down? The likely plan is to build out Phase 3 to Barrhaven which would substantially help with any Trillium Line shutdown. It's probably a billion dollar project to twin track, electrify the whole corridor and interline Line 4 till Bayview. Not happening till at least 2040.
 
kEiThZ said:
Can they even upgrade the Trillium Line without shutting it down? The likely plan is to build out Phase 3 to Barrhaven which would substantially help with any Trillium Line shutdown. It's probably a billion dollar project to twin track, electrify the whole corridor and interline Line 4 till Bayview. Not happening till at least 2040.
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The tunnel and the bridge could probably be done with limited shutdowns. They rehabbed the Rideau River bridge not too long ago, so in all likelihood they would build a parallel bridge immediately next to it. The biggest thing would be it would basically require draining Dow's Lake to widen the tunnel.
 
gweed123 said:
The biggest thing would be it would basically require draining Dow's Lake to widen the tunnel.
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I don't know anything about the engineering that would be required, but I think that's a lot more straightforward than it sounds!

I think the biggest thing would be the trench widening from the Dow's Lake tunnel to Beech Street since that would require a lot of rock blasting. I could see it done with weekend closures over several months given enough money and political will, since most of the prep work could still be done while the line is running, and chunks of rock being blasted and cleared during limited closures... but that's a guess.
The bridge widenings at Walkley, Heron, Carling, and Beech will also be trouble.
 
OCCheetos said:
I don't know anything about the engineering that would be required, but I think that's a lot more straightforward than it sounds!
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Oh no doubt. Dow's Lake is an extremely shallow lake though (there actually used to be a road cutting through the middle of it), and the Canal can be drained to a point where they could in essence build a cut and cover tunnel (or widen the existing one using that method). I would think that would be easier than trying to actually tunnel it. Theoretically they could widen the tunnel in segments by building dykes around the section they're widening.

OCCheetos said:
I think the biggest thing would be the trench widening from the Dow's Lake tunnel to Beech Street since that would require a lot of rock blasting. I could see it done with weekend closures over several months given enough money and political will, since most of the prep work could still be done while the line is running, and chunks of rock being blasted and cleared during limited closures... but that's a guess.
The bridge widenings at Walkley, Heron, Carling, and Beech will also be trouble.
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That's a good point. But yes, I would think that shaving a metre or so off of each side of the trench could be done without shutting the line down for an extended period of time. For the bridges, we'd need to see what the side clearances would be if the line was double tracked.
 
gweed123 said:
I think the name of the game for Line 2 is "incremental improvements". Yes, the changes currently being undertaken are by far the biggest since the line opened in 2001, but they have also added more sidings over the course of the line's history (I believe 2015ish? But don't quote me on that). It's quite interesting seeing two completely different approaches being taken with Line 1 vs Line 2. Line 1 was "built it out big right away", and Line 2 is the exact opposite.
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For the Trillium Line, OC Transpo is a bit hamstrung by the fact that the line is, and must remain, an active railway line. I'm sure that they would much rather tear everything out and build using the same technology as the Confederation Line, but that's simply not an option. (As it is, they've already had their peepee smacked a number of times by Transport Canada for not reconnecting the line over the bridge.)

Keep in mind too, that the whole premise of the Trillium Line was simply as a "will this work in our context?" exercise. The answer has been a resounding yes - and thus why the improvements are necessary.

Dan
 
smallspy said:
For the Trillium Line, OC Transpo is a bit hamstrung by the fact that the line is, and must remain, an active railway line. I'm sure that they would much rather tear everything out and build using the same technology as the Confederation Line, but that's simply not an option. (As it is, they've already had their peepee smacked a number of times by Transport Canada for not reconnecting the line over the bridge.)

Keep in mind too, that the whole premise of the Trillium Line was simply as a "will this work in our context?" exercise. The answer has been a resounding yes - and thus why the improvements are necessary.

Dan
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There aren't any freight customers still on the line, are there? I was under the impression that the reason for that designation was the at-grade crossing with the VIA line, which is being removed as part of the upcoming works.
 
gweed123 said:
There aren't any freight customers still on the line, are there? I was under the impression that the reason for that designation was the at-grade crossing with the VIA line, which is being removed as part of the upcoming works.
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No I don't think so, but I think they made a deal with CP that if they ever needed it again, they had to have access.
 
ARG1 said:
No I don't think so, but I think they made a deal with CP that if they ever needed it again, they had to have access.
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Gotcha. Yes that may limit the electrification aspect of it, but that shouldn't limit the ability to double track the entire line and effectively transform it into a diesel-based metro line.
 
gweed123 said:
There aren't any freight customers still on the line, are there? I was under the impression that the reason for that designation was the at-grade crossing with the VIA line, which is being removed as part of the upcoming works.
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The only customer on the line right now is the NRC Surface Vehicle Test Facility, which receives test vehicles by rail. The last vehicle they recieved was a Siemens prototype car for their US States order, shortly before the line closed for construction. When the car was returned, it was moved by truck to Walkley Yard this summer.

With the VIA grade separation, there will still be a level crossing at the Walkley diamond after the upgrades.
 
The election in 2022 could be interesting there are 6 very far left on council now with a push to get more to run which could be very good for light rail.
 
@Clinton Desveaux

If you're going to keep spamming this thread with advocacy for non-existent projects, can you limit your posts and the use of large, bolded font?

This thread is about Ottawa Transit Developments. Most of us come here to read about that. Not fantasy ideas.
 
kEiThZ said:
@Clinton Desveaux

If you're going to keep spamming this thread with advocacy for non-existent projects, can you limit your posts and the use of large, bolded font?

This thread is about Ottawa Transit Developments. Most of us come here to read about that. Not fantasy ideas.
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Multiple elected politicians, businesses, community groups, university's, and government agencies have spoken in favour of the idea - that's not spam, sorry!

see quotes
clintondesveaux.medium.com

Ottawa Community Leaders Support Bank Street O-Train Tunnel

Ottawa City Councillor Shawn Menard is part of a growing list of Ottawa community leaders who support the idea of a Bank Street O-Train…
clintondesveaux.medium.com clintondesveaux.medium.com

and

clintondesveaux.medium.com

Bank Street O-Train Tunnel Linked to Food & Accommodation Security, Employment, and Being…

The 4.5 km Ottawa Bank Street O-Train Tunnel, a concept many in the city are discussing; would run from Parliament Station Confederation…
clintondesveaux.medium.com clintondesveaux.medium.com
 
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