City councillor wary of overpass 'maze' at Orlans LRT station - Action News
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Ottawa

City councillor wary of overpass 'maze' at Orlans LRT station

Orlans West-Innes Coun. Laura Dudas is calling plans for an overpass at the future Convent Glen LRT station a safety risk and a recipe for gridlock in her community.

Laura Dudas says a redesign of the overpass at Orlans Boulevard is unsafe

A bus on an overpass.
An OC Transpo bus passes the construction zone on Orlans Boulevard at what will become the Convent Glen LRT station. Local councillor Laura Dudas has criticized the design of the overpass, calling it unsafe. (Jean Delisle/CBC)

An Ottawa city councillor is calling plans for an overpass at a futureOrlans LRT station a safety risk and a recipe for gridlock in her community.

Orlans West-Innes Coun. Laura Dudas said she's been flooded with emails from concerned residents after making social media posts detailing what she sees as flaws with the design for Orlans Boulevard at the new Convent Glen station.

"I think that, as a whole, the design is faulty," Dudas said in an interview.

She said residents were initially presented with a very different design, with space for buses to pull out of traffic.

A rendering of an overpass with an area for buses to pull over.
The original design of the Orlans Boulevard overpass at the LRT line at Highway 174. (City of Ottawa)

The new design dispenses with that.

It foreseesjust two traffic lanes one in each direction which Dudas warns would force cars to queue roughly every eight minutes as buses stop at the station.

"Everyone who's travelling through this area is going to get jammed," she said.

A rendering of an overpass with two traffic and bicycle lanes and no area for buses to pull over.
A new design for Orlans Boulevard overpass at the LRT line at Highway 174 proposed in January 2023. (City of Ottawa)

City trying to 'cram' everything in

Congestion is only one of her worries.

Dudas said the design sticksbike lanes directly through the path of pedestrians exiting buses, calling it a "disaster waiting to happen."

The new plan creates a "maze" of people and vehicles, she said.

"They're trying to cram everything into one small space. And at the end of the day nobody benefits from it."

Residents first saw the new design in January, Dudas said, though in her view it was "buried" in a mountain of other details about the project.

She said she shared her worries with city staff, OC Transpo and contractors without getting anything more than assurances that they'd take her concerns back for consideration.

Dudas said she's also forwarded residents' concerns to OC Transpo, and is planning a meeting to look for solutions like potentially concentrating the bike lanes on one side of the road, or finding a way for buses to pull out of traffic.

A woman in a mask looks down at her laptop while sitting at a desk behind plexiglass.
Orlans West-Innes Coun. Laura Dudas at a city meeting in April 2022. (Francis Ferland/CBC)

Meets safety, accessibility standards: city

In a statement to CBC on Sunday, the City of Ottawa said the current design meets its standards for accessibility and safety.

A traffic analysis found the proposed configuration would only create "minimal impacts to motor vehicle traffic," said Michael Morgan, director of the city's rail construction program.

Orlans Boulevard overpass

1 year ago
Duration 0:44
A view of the Orlans Boulevard overpass as construction of the Convent Glen LRT station continues.

"While the possibility exists to make modifications to the design of the bridge at this time, it would be a costly variation that would impact the project schedule and conflict with the results of previous public consultation efforts," Morgan said in the statement.

"Notwithstanding the status of the project, we have committed to reviewing and assessing various design iterations as well as safety and traffic concerns with the councillor."

A transit station over a highway, from above.
The Convent Glen light rail station at Highway 174 in east Ottawa under construction May 29, 2023. This photo was taken with a drone. (Raphael Tremblay/Radio-Canada)

'Very messy'

Even so, a lot of residents are angry about the design, saidMireilleBrownhill, president of the Convent Glen-Orlans Wood Community Association.

Some of the concerns she's heard from the community revolve aroundtraffic congestionnear the stationand she's personally worried that collisions between drivers, cyclists and pedestrians could increase.

"I think it will be very messy," Brownhillsaid.

A man on a bike next to a van on a road.
A cyclist passes over the overpass of Orleans Boulevard at what will become Convent Glen O-Train station. (Jean Delisle/CBC)

While she's happy to see cycling and pedestrian infrastructure included in the design, Brownhill isn't convincedany major changes will ever take place.

"It's exceedingly irritating that we keep going through this again," she said. "They present a design, people are upset about it, but [the city is]not actually going to change it."

Dudas also wants the original design to be revisited, but with construction well underway, she worries it might be too late.

Still, the outpouring from thoseopposingthe design has been almost unanimous, Dudas said.

"At the 11th hour, as this is being built, we need an actual proposal that reflects the needs of the community," she said.

With files from Kimberley Molina

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