Ottawa’s western light rail transit corridor: National Capital Commission proposes Rochester Field option

Following its Board meeting this week, the National Capital Commission (NCC) has requested that the City of Ottawa include the Rochester Field–Richmond Road alignment in its ongoing environmental assessment study for the building of Phase 2 of the western light rail transit corridor.

“From the outset, the NCC has firmly supported the City of Ottawa’s light rail transit project,” said Dr. Mark Kristmanson, Chief Executive Officer of the National Capital Commission. “We have prioritized and completed 100 land transactions in record time in order to enable the construction of the first phase from ** _ Tunney’s _ ** Pasture to ** _ Blair _ ** Station.”

It is in the same spirit that the NCC Board of Directors, after a review of data provided by the City, has decided to make available its Rochester Field lands for the western light rail transit alignment.

Based on an in-depth analysis of the data, the NCC concludes that the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway partially buried option, which was put forward by the City for the environmental assessment study, cannot meet the two conditions set by the NCC’s Board of Directors:

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unimpeded continuous access to the corridor lands and Ottawa River shorelines, and

 * 
minimal visual impact on the corridor landscape quality and the user experience of this corridor.

The NCC is encouraged that the City may consider a completely buried tunnel under the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway in order to protect this important national asset. The Rochester Field alignment provides a comparable option to study in the ongoing environmental assessment.

As steward of federal lands in Canada’s Capital Region, the NCC protects and preserves the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway green corridor. This corridor is part of the Capital’s heritage. It provides the Capital with a sense of place and identity, and it reflects our relationship with the historic Ottawa River.

“There are 22 kilometres to be built for both phases of the light rail transit, currently requiring approximately 8 kilometres of federal land. It is the 1.2 kilometres slated for the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway that we expect the City to reconsider,” said Dr. Mark Kristmanson. “We anticipate that the Rochester Field alignment could benefit regional transportation, while protecting a treasured national asset.”