Ottawa’s Light Rail Transit Project advances to preliminary engineering

Ottawa’s Light Rail Transit (OLRT) project continues to hit major milestones.
Following approval of the Provincial Environmental Assessment, the City of Ottawa has now received formal authorization from both the federal and provincial governments to move to the next stage of the project. This allows the City to engage Capital Transit Partners, a joint venture of consulting engineering firms with extensive LRT infrastructure and tunnelling experience, to deliver the Preliminary Engineering component of the project.
Both the Federal Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities and the Provincial Minister of Infrastructure have provided the City of Ottawa with Approval-in-Principle letters for the OLRT project. This enables funding of project costs, up to 1.2 billion dollars in combined provincial/federal funds.
“The widespread support for our innovative, world-class transit plan is very clear,” said Mayor Larry O’Brien. “Three levels of government have delivered, and now that we have Capital Transit Partners onboard, I am excited to see our bold vision become reality.”
Councillor Alex Cullen, Chair of the Transit Committee, agrees. “This project continues to advance, on time and on budget. With the collective expertise we’ve brought on board, we will deliver a world-class transit solution.”
Capital Transit Partners includes Morrison Hershfield Limited, Jacobs Associates, STV Canada Consulting Inc, and URS Canada Incorporated. Selected after a rigorous competition conducted earlier this year, their previous projects include the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART), Hudson-Bergen Light Rail on the New Jersey Gold Coast, and the Sound Transit University Link in Seattle, WA.
Ottawa resident Bill Taylor, Senior Principal for Morrison Hershfield Limited, is enthusiastic about what this project will bring to the City.
“It’s not just about convenient and reliable public transit. The jobs, the economic growth and sustainable development that accompany LRT have been demonstrated consistently around the world. I’m proud my firm will now help bring those benefits to my hometown. Ottawa’s a great city that’s about to become even greater.”
The Preliminary Engineering work will advance the OLRT design to allow a more refined project cost estimate and prepare specifications for final design and construction. Preliminary Engineering will also include a value engineering process that will investigate options to manage project costs. Preliminary Engineering will commence immediately and be completed in early 2012
The $2.1 billion Ottawa Light Rail Transit project is the crucial first step in Ottawa’s Transportation Master Plan, which calls for more than 40 km of new light rail to be built over the next 20 years. Once in operation, the line from Tunney’s Pasture to Blair Station will provide reliable cross-town transit, alleviate congestion downtown and save OC Transpo up to 100 million dollars in annual operating expenses. The project’s website, ottawalightrail.ca also touts the many economic and environmental benefits expected to accompany LRT.

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