Quote:
I'm afraid newest rail plan is doomed
Canwest News Service
Friday, November 14, 2008
Re: Transit plan draws cautious praise, Nov. 11.
After attending the transportation master plan update on Monday, I realize that the city's plans for light rail are doomed.
This plan has changed so many times that it is little wonder there is mass confusion on any future direction. First, there was a north-south plan that was rejected, then a east-south plan that was cast aside and now an east-west plan is proposed.
After listening to the city officials make their pitch for this latest proposal, I was struck that their hearts weren't in it. The risk assessment was very pessimistic to say the least and the costs appear overwhelming, especially since the city still faces a serious lawsuit after the debacle of the cancellation of the north-south contract.
The city requires advance funding from both the federal and provincial governments which in these economic times offer no guarantee.
This is basically a 22-year plan and it was pointed out by the KPMG representative that there was a 50-per-cent chance that the costs would be at least 10-per-cent higher than the technical estimates of $4.7 billion and this even before the first shovel hits the ground.
And the National Capital Commission approval for use of the Ottawa River Parkway is required, contractors have to be obtained and the conversion period to light rail will be risky as will be the costs.
I also see serious political divisions among the councillors with lobbying for Carling Avenue and Riverside South routes.
There is a major mining excavation right downtown for a central tunnel at the same time the Ottawa Congress Centre is being built and the result will be chaos for any daily commute for years.
It's great to have a good transportation plan, but what I have seen so far sees a white flag being raised before anybody boards a light-rail train which the city manager says with the best-case scenario would not be ready until 2017.
Randy Gordon,
Ottawa
© The Ottawa Citizen 2008
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One has to wonder what the impacts of the litigation settlement will be on the city budget. What more will this city have to give up as a result? We have already spent $244,000 so far this year, defending the LRT contract cancellation, coincidentally, enough to have paid for a new swan house, that our mayor claims we cannot afford. This is but a drop in the bucket compared with the litigation costs that we will have to pay as the court case date approaches, and then there will be the settlement itself.
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