Send review of Urbandale LRT plan to council, staff tells committee

Warns that cost of downtown tunnel likely to be higher than projected

(Wednesday, November 14, 2007 by William Lin, Ottawa Citizen) -- City staff has recommended that a review of a developer's light-rail proposal that includes a downtown tunnel be sent to city council, but added that the tunnel's costs could be higher than the company's estimate.

In mid-August, Urbandale Corp., an Ottawa development company, piqued the interest of the joint transportation and transit committee, which includes Mayor Larry O'Brien, with its light-rail plan.

At the time, the joint committee directed city staff to report back by October.

The staff report - which was dated Nov. 6, but not available until last night - said Urbandale's proposal seeks to reduce the scope of the original north-south light-rail project. The  the savings could then be used to partially offset the cost of constructing other light-rail sections, including the  downtown tunnel and an extension to the VIA station.

However, the report said Urbandale's cost-saving estimates were difficult to confirm because the company provided few details as to how the numbers were calculated.

It appears that the proposal is missing some important elements, such as cost escalation and the twinning of the track from the maintenance facility to River Road, the report said. Also, other project costs, such as those dealing with property and utilities, were not considered.

For example, the proposal assumes that there will be no major utility relocation costs if a downtown transit tunnel is built.

"It is premature to assume this, as there is likely to be utility costs," such as for the downtown portal tunnel accesses, the downtown station accesses and changes in LeBreton Flats and at the maintenance facility, among others."

The concept of a downtown tunnel, which the report said will be the  "most fundamental component of the network," goes hand-in-hand with council's recent decision to start an environmental assessment study.

The report also said a more detailed analysis is needed of the projects, including a revised ridership study and run-time simulations.

"The federal and provincial agencies will not agree to fund this newly scoped project until due diligence takes place through the completion of the detailed analysis," the report said.

© Ottawa Citizen 2007

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