Mayor Jim Watson vows to take west LRT standoff to John Baird - Action News
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Ottawa

Mayor Jim Watson vows to take west LRT standoff to John Baird

Mayor Jim Watson says he'll be taking Ottawa's "profound disappointment" over the NCC's decision about the western LRT extension to John Baird, the federal minister who oversees the commission.

John Baird, MP responsible for NCC, will hear about city's 'profound disappointment,' mayor says

John Baird, the federal minister responsible for overseeing the National Capital Commission, says the government has not received a request to cover the cost of a tunnel to bury the entire contentious stretch of western light rail. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

Ottawa's mayor is planningto take his "profound disappointment" over the National Capital Commission's rejection of a partially-buried stretch of the planned western LRT extension to the federal minister who oversees the commission.

"I just received a very strong mandate to go forward with phase two of light rail transit," said Jim Watson on Monday. "And obviously we'll be getting in touch with Minister [John] Baird as well to meet with him, to express our profound disappointment."

The NCC announced on Nov. 21 that it would not allow the city to bury only part of its proposed line along the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway.

Instead, the NCCoffered the city a portion of its Rochester Field lands, through which the line could be diverted.Theother option would be to dig a deeper tunnel along the current proposed route, the commissionadded.

The city had previously proposed a 500-metrebelow-grade trench that would run along the parkway,butNCCrepresentatives said that wasn't good enough to protect the riverfront.

The city's western LRT extension is scheduled to begin after 2018, once the initial Confederation Line is expected to be completed.
When Baird was asked Monday if the federal government would consider coveringthe cost of a tunnel to bury the entire contentious stretch, the minister only said he had "not received an application yet."

NCC wants "unimpeded, continuous access"

Last June, the NCC's board passed a motion calling for "unimpeded, continuous access" to both the parkway and the Ottawa River shoreline.

The city has said that running trains through Rochester Field would be too costly, arguing that the project's bill could increase from$980 million to $1.7 billion if that route were chosen.

Construction on the western light rail extension is expected to get underway after 2018, once work on the Confederation Line which will connect Tunney's Pasture station in the west to Blair stationin the east is completed.