Sun, March 26, 2006
Whole new train of thought
Universities eye light-rail projects
By LAURA CZEKAJ, OTTAWA SUN
                       
The city's plans to expand the north-south light-rail transit system could lead to multimillion-dollar capital projects at both local universities.
Discussions with Carleton and the University of Ottawa regarding the role they would play if the proposed expansions are approved are ongoing, said Rejean Chartrand, the city's director of economic development and strategic projects.
City officials are meeting this week to weigh bids from three companies vying for the $725-million project.
Carleton University is considering building a 200,000-sq.-ft. structure that would straddle the train station at an estimated cost of $60 million or more.
Last year, council directed staff to extend the transit plan from the Rideau Centre across Waller St. onto the University of Ottawa campus. The proposed train station site is currently a parking lot south of Stewart St.
"Effectively, we are trying to iron out the business terms and the conditions upon which this could happen," said Chartrand. "Both universities are totally thrilled and very co-operative in trying to make this happen. It's really part of their vision as well, and in fact connecting the two universities together creates a stronger vision for both the city and the universities."
Carleton president David Atkinson said the next stage is to create construction plans for the part of campus that runs parallel to the train tracks.
"The city came to us and asked us whether we would incorporate a train station into any new building that we would construct on campus," he said. "This would allow us basically to build over the tracks so that the O-Train would go right into the building."
The proposed building would provide room for expanded graduate programs and enable the university to pursue funding through a provincial government investment initiative. The university is also asking the city for money to build the station, which is expected to cost more than $1 million.
Claudio Brun del Re, the U of O's assistant director of planning and programming, said there is still a lot of technical and infrastructure issues to be dealt with. The university is also considering whether it would need to build a structure on the site as part of the project.