Ottawa’s new LRT to run shallower

Ottawa City Council has approved a revised plan for its new light rail transit line that is to be built east-west across the city. The project is slated to start construction in December.

In early July, the design was modified to place the 3-kilometre underground tunnel that runs through the downtown area at a shallower depth. The tunnel  will run below Queen Street, a block north of its original route along Albert Street, and will be bored at a depth of 16 metres instead of 40 metres. The change meant an estimated saving of $400 million on the $2.1 billion project.

The new LRT line runs 12 kilometres in total, including its 3-kilometre tunnel. The line will have 13 stations, from Tunney’s Pasture just west of downtown, to Blair Station in the east. 

Capital Transit Partners, a joint venture of STV Canada Consulting, URS Canada, Jacobs Associates and Morrison Hershfield, is doing the preliminary engineering and project management for the  project.