More Little-Known Giant LRT Mistakes Unfold

Safe to say that we can add two more giant untold LRT stories to the list prepared here recently.

This fact is little known but true. Perhaps the major reason light rail was not extended north from the Trillium Line across the Ottawa River by way of the former Prince of Wales Bridge was that the Bayview station junction between the Trillium Line and the Confederation Line is not big enough to handle any extra passenger volume.

To use the former P of W bridge would cost a number of levels of government chicken feed but it did not move forward because ex-mayor Jim Watson didn’t want it for some stubborn reason he did not clearly explain. Now we know that part of that reason is that Confederation Line abysmal planning didn’t envisage a large Bayview station to handle that traffic.

Transpo Touts Transit For Bluesfest

The other unknown, until now, fact is that Pimisi station, at least according to the Ottawa Police Service, is neither big enough, nor safe enough, to handle huge crowds. Ottawa at present is in the midst of big events at Bluesfest and Canada Day. Bad enough the line is unsafe but now at least one of the stations is unsafe at a critical point in the line where huge events occur. The Senators new ownership would be foolish in the extreme to count on LRT to successfully and safely bring people to its proposed arena either at LeBreton Flats, Bayview or somewhere downtown.

The stations on the Confederation Line were to win awards, former transit manager John Manconi told The Bulldog. One wonders what awards these stations would win now. Perhaps a booby prize.

Such is the legacy of Manconi, ex-mayor Jim Watson and former city manager Steve Kanellakos. Ottawans have spent billions to build an outstanding LRT system. Except it has horrible problems.

Taxpayers will lay out hundreds of millions, perhaps billions, to clean up the mess these three and others have left.

It breaks your heart to think how those billions could have been spent to build a better Ottawa and serve its citizens well.

LRT shows how the foible of ego can get into the way of good governance.

Ottawans provide billions of dollars of taxes so that our leaders can use that money wisely. LRT reveals that money could not have been spent more foolishly.

City Creates Open-Fire Tattle Line

The legacy of Watson is that he let residents down in so many ways, not the least of which was LRT.

The current administration of Mayor Mark Sutcliffe will fail miserably if it keeps relying on advice from members of the former Watson regime. Those people have a vested interest in keeping city hall in their grasp for their own personal agenda. They don’t want change. Change would disrupt the cosy situation these people have created. However, that arrangement didn’t work well for the residents of this city.

That’s like asking failure how to succeed.

Ken Gray

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