Baseline Transit Corridor - Bayshore to Billings- Design/Planning Transit Connectivity

completed

Design: The Baseline Bus Rapid Transit Corridor is a strategic transit project that will expand and connect Ottawa’s existing and planned Transitway and Light Rail Transit (LRT) network, providing a “crosstown” transit corridor from Bayshore to Confederation Heights, without having to pass through the downtown. It connects to the City’s Confederation Line (Bayshore-Baseline) to the Trillium Line as well as the Southeast Transitway. Along the 13.8 km route, the median transit facility will include 24 new bus stops to maximize the connectivity to the communities they serve. The project also includes 20 km of new concrete sidewalks, 3.2 km of multi-use pathways, 20 km of separated cycle tracks, and 1.5 km of shoulder bike lanes. Once constructed this arterial corridor will be a multi-modal "Complete Street". Today’s 6,500 daily ridership is expected to grow to more than 10,000 riders a day by 2031, with additional capacity to enable continued travel growth into the future as the corridor redevelops and ridership flourishes. Efforts will be made be made to complete the work as quickly as is practicable but this is a large project with complex designs and multiple stakeholder engagement and approvals. The project will also support the planned future detoured bus routes during Stage 2 construction near the Baseline corridor via acquisition of at least one new 40-foot diesel bus (more if possible), which may then operate along the planned future Baseline bus rapid transit corridor once completed.