Bank Street O-Train: Phase 2?
“We need to get rid of the 2 transfers from the airport to downtown because the existing plan makes the whole city of Ottawa look Mickey Mouse.” - Ottawa South Resident Glenn Clark
Ottawa South resident Glenn Clark tells me he “was there in 2006 with a large group of other people when the Ottawa O-Train Trillium Line announcement was made. It was a total disaster…”
I’m shocked to hear Glenn tell me, “it’s been a slap in the face, we (advocates for Ottawa Bank Street O-Train) are blamed for 2006’s transit master plan disaster.”
“We would have generated more new ridership on Bank Street compared to Trillium Line 2. What we have ended up with is less buses servicing the core and Ottawa South and more trains servicing the suburbs in the east and west…the biggest critics of the Ottawa Bank Street O-Train live East and West of the downtown out in the suburbs.”
“We need to get rid of the 2 transfers from the airport to downtown because the existing plan makes the whole city of Ottawa look Mickey Mouse.”
The anger in his voice is clear for everyone to hear, “the Bank Street O-Train idea was always ignored because of the perceived costs, it was viewed as untenable when these discussions of Bank Street first started.”
Now Glenn is really worked up, “the fact is that we pulled off the East /West Confederation Line 1 despite what the critics said about that project; it proved the Bank Street O-Train Tunnel could happen; it makes Bank Street a viable option that we always knew it was.”
“Trillium Line 2 nor Confederation Line 1 service the core or Ottawa South properly. Bank Street is the most important corridor in this city. We can’t keep making these mistakes; where we build projects out in the suburbs - that drives car traffic outside of the city like with the Senators in Kanata.”
Glenn has lived and worked in Ottawa South for over 40 years and tells me “there is a tremendous need for rail transit in Ottawa South, and THAT project, Trillium Line 2 doesn’t service the core or Ottawa South properly. Trillium doesn’t take people where they want to go!”
Glenn’s voice continues to soar, “NOW is the appropriate time to get Bank Street on the list of future projects in this city - Billings Bridge is only going to address the urban core population which is very important, but we need it to connect beyond, we all question if Billings Bridge is far enough. We need to eventually connect it to South Keys as Phase 2.”
I ask him to further explain, “I understand making the 1st phase Billings Bridge. We need to also look at South Keys as Phase 2, to deal with the airport issue, because that’s a really bad look for Ottawa this multi-transfer nonsense to get you downtown. A tram down Bank Street is the other idea that is wrong, it’s wrong, there is a failure to understand how difficult it is to build correctly after mistakes are made. Trams on Bank are a bad costly idea that will be very difficult to correct.”
“We are already seeing more development on Bank Street and the Ottawa South communities - a Bank Street O-Train line would make this development more attractive and it would happen even faster. South Keys is attractive for a Bank Street O-Train.”
“It’s not ideal to have a diesel train on Trillium Line 2 - they cancelled the whole deal in 2006; now we are stuck with diesel on the Trillium when we could have had it electrified. Trillium doesn’t go downtown. That line will never be downtown, it’s not a transit destination! It’s not the core of the city.”
“Carleton University is a transit destination, but that’s it. No one is going to take Trillium Line for getting downtown. I call it ‘the student train’, people go to and from Carleton University with that line.”
“A Bank Street O-train would make it more practical to have more events at Lansdowne. The buses are not a direct route to downtown. A Bank Street subway takes you right downtown and gets you in and out of the city faster.”
Speaking of buses on Bank “the idea of buses and trams on Bank makes it more dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists, you are taking your life into your own hands as it is now. A Bank Street subway fixes this.”
On a side note in the last 3 months I’ve discovered a 60 page online discussion group with a far reaching debate of what steps are required to plan the Bank Street O-Train Tunnel which you can follow at this link: https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=233126&page=56
Clinton Desveaux is an accredited writer for Troy Media he can be reached at ClintonDesveaux@gmail.com
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