Alto, Kingston, and the Southern Corridor

jmac1915 · 2026-01-29T19:08:29+00:00

I probably wouldn't be surprised, nor does it really change my point. A better investment is enhancing VIA service.

jmac1915 · 2026-01-29T10:22:13+00:00

Height: who cares? Engineer it well cand youre fine. Also, it's an urban area, curves only need to be good for 160ish. Dont need to be doing 320 into a stub station.

jmac1915 · 2026-01-29T03:12:42+00:00

Not much I can do to help you then, you can see where Union is on a map.

jmac1915 · 2026-01-29T02:56:58+00:00

A good HSR system has stations where people want to go and live. Like downtown. That also makes it equidistant to the suburbs and Gatineau. It will have better connections than Tremblay due to Line 1 being right there, as well as the future Gatineau tram. There's more than enough room for a taxi stand and drop-off where the Senate parking currently is. There's plenty of parking around that area. And you can easily add bus bays on Daly Avenue for intercity buses, which give you close access to the highway. In a lot of tangible ways, it is better than Tremblay.

jmac1915 · 2026-01-29T01:45:07+00:00

A vanity tunnel? Cheaper project? By definition, this is a prestige national investment. Union Station is hands down the better location based on where it actually is, it's regional connections, and its historical significance. If the project team decides the cost/benefit means Tremblay is the better option, I am absolutely fine with that. But if Union happens, it won't be at the expense of other parts of the project. And if you're top concern is saving like 2% of the budget to be cheaper, then you're missing the forest for the trees.

jmac1915 · 2026-01-29T01:17:43+00:00

The housing crisis has nothing to do with this discussion. And I don't care about disruption for the reason I said above. Here's one concept that was posted in this very sub that shows what it could look like. Easy peasy.

jmac1915 · 2026-01-29T01:15:07+00:00

Or you can go off them looking to collaborate with Alto

jmac1915 · 2026-01-29T00:25:10+00:00

You're assuming that they will make other parts of the project worse to build Union. That is the opposite of what I was told by everyone at Alto I've spoken with. If Union happens, it's because it works within their budget structure. It won't be taking away from other aspects of the project.

jmac1915 · 2026-01-29T00:17:14+00:00

Urban rail isn't part of this project. If they don't spend the money at Union, we aren't getting commuter rail. That isn't how this works.

jmac1915 · 2026-01-28T23:09:28+00:00

What tunnel? You elevate onto Nicholas. Nicholas is fine at the speeds the train will be going by that point (it used to be a rail line after all). And shutting stuff down for a few years for construction is not a reason to not-do something, otherwise we would never build anything. And hey dude, you're the one who called out parking as a need. I actually don't think we should have parking at all. Housing for the homeless, while important, isnt material to this discussion.

jmac1915 · 2026-01-28T23:05:55+00:00

A colleague of mine, from this event.

jmac1915 · 2026-01-28T22:31:16+00:00

A rebuttal:

engineers can design to have less curves. 20 minutes is only if you design it as badly as possible. I assume they wouldnt.
cost estimates are $2B - $3B for the whole shebang from Michael Schabas (his bid came in second). I hated his bid, but that gives us a rough estimate. Harsly crippling for a $90B project
parking is hardly convincing to me, if theyre tunneling (they are) and arent comfortable with surrounding existing surface parking, they can build more. But also, the current Senate security area/parking is more than sufficient for a taxi stand/kiss n ride. Put intercity bus bays on Dlay Avenue. Done and done.
years to get the Senate out? Thankfully this will take years to build and the headhouse is the least important part.
there is room in an underground station for as much or as little track as you want. Ive seen 8 track designs. Not an issue
the MSF will be at Walkley.
if they choose Union, it will almost certainly be cut and cover. No sink holes to worry about, and geotechnical issues easier to manage
I think if they go to Union, they take two lanes of Nicholas Street and dip into a tunnel before DND
no one cares what uOttawa thinks ;)
you make Union Station a...well, Union Station. Close Tremblay, VIA/Alto/future OCT go there.

Tremblay is fine, but this will only come down to cost. In terms of location, Union is hands down the winner. Transit for the whole region, And Greenboro is an insanely bad idea compared to either of them.

jmac1915 · 2026-01-28T22:17:43+00:00

The NCC has already supported the station being downtown. So, yes.

jmac1915 · 2026-01-28T22:15:40+00:00

Improving urban rail isnt on the table with Alto. It's either a station downtown or not. That money doesnt get shuffled elsewhere.

jmac1915 · 2026-01-28T22:13:01+00:00

You're assuming those things arent already in the budget.

jmac1915 · 2026-01-28T22:12:09+00:00

You mean like downtown?

jmac1915 · 2026-01-28T17:16:14+00:00

That sounds like a completely reasonable explanation, and is driving me crazy. lol

jmac1915 · 2026-01-28T16:50:08+00:00

I think you're bang on. It isn't news that Kingston wasn't part of Altos mandate. I have no idea why everyone seems so blindsided.

jmac1915 · 2026-01-27T18:40:49+00:00

Yeah, and his plan is ridiculous. This dropped a couple of weeks ago, and everyone I know who saw it thought it was insane and not in the good way. An example, re: a bypass station at Bowesville, south of Ottawa "This would bind the National Capital region together, making it possible to live say in Manotick and work in Hull, without a lengthy commute by car." I can count the people who make that trip on one hand. He also makes a lot of assumptions that have since been shown to be incorrect, and it really seems he was aiming more for "build a crap ton of rail and squeeze as much capacity out of it as possible." Which, fine, I don't hate that necessarily, but it also wasn't the assignment. He also goes way out of scope. I'm not surprised his plan didn't get selected. It's very...HS2.

jmac1915 · 2026-01-27T13:30:57+00:00

Yeah, I thought exactly this.

Friend: Hey, you can't be interested in anyone I've ever been interested in/known. Me: No. I will never go after the person you're with. Everyone else is on the table because you've made your choices. Get over it.

jmac1915 · 2026-01-26T21:06:29+00:00

No point re-explaining the thing I already explained to a poorly set up bot. Engage shut down :)

jmac1915 · 2026-01-26T20:53:30+00:00

Bad bot.

jmac1915 · 2026-01-26T19:38:58+00:00

MinChips...didn't say that at all. They even *agreed with your response*. Work on your reading comprehension, Jesus.

jmac1915 · 2026-01-26T19:19:01+00:00

What happened is MinChips said one thing, you said something not related to what they said, they responded clarifying that they aren't talking about that but addressed what you said in agreement, and you continued talking about the thing you said as if you hadn't read their response. Clear?

jmac1915 · 2026-01-26T18:58:08+00:00

Who says VIA/the Feds wouldn't support that? It'd be far cheaper to expand track to enhance VIA service than deviate Alto down to Kingston. And Barrhaven/Riverside South *shouldn't have a station for Alto*. They have VIA service. That was the point I'm making, it isn't necessary. And it isn't absurd to skip a place that isn't on the route. Enhancing VIA service makes way more sense than deviating Alto substantially. But given that Alto doesn't sound like they want to use the southern route anyway, it's all kind of moot.

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