Two west-end councillors who toured the LRT ‘s Moodie Station said they were shocked by the extent of the damage caused by flooding on July 1.
College Coun. Laine Johnson and Bay Coun. Theresa Kavanagh toured the station with City of Ottawa and transit officials on Aug. 10 and shared their impressions of the extensive damage in separate social-media posts.
“What I saw, and what I heard, shocked me,” Johnson wrote. “It’s truly a disaster. We are all anxiously awaiting the assessment to know what the impact will be.”
In an interview, Johnson said the nearby Stillwater Creek wetland was overwhelmed by flooding from the intense Canada Day rainstorms as water backed up into Corkstown Yard and the transit station, and also washed out a section of the Queensway.
“It’s amazing the pathway that the water carved, the stone it moved and displaced, the strength of the water,” she said. “It’s very visible from what has been washed away how powerful that current was.”
The extent of the damage caused by the Canada Day floodwaters has cast doubt on the anticipated summer 2027 opening of the LRT west extension, which will include 11 new O-Train stations west of Tunney’s Pasture, with Line 1 extending to Algonquin Station and a new Line 3 running west to Moodie Station.
OC Transpo general manager Rick Leary told council on July 17 that flooding from the July 1 storm had damaged “a significant amount of the electrical systems and equipment, ballast sections of the track, as well as troughs and cabling” that would require repairs before construction could continue.
Johnson and Kavanagh both pointed out the station was designed to handle flooding, and was equipped with an underground holding tank and a pumping station to divert water away from the building and track infrastructure.
Those measures were not enough “to deal with the volume of water that rushed in on July 1,” Kavanagh wrote. “Seeing the damage up close really drove home how intense the storm was and just how much water rushed through the station in a short period of time.”
Johnson posted several photos of the Aug. 10 tour group and pointed to one that showed a brown line on the wall over their heads, indicating the level the flood water reached above the track.
“So it’s not as if stormwater mitigation had not been considered in the construction of this station, but this particular historic storm absolutely overwhelmed what was there,” Johnson said. “And it’s the same story really for all of the neighborhoods that were affected on July 1.”
The water “had nowhere to go” and pooled in the guideway, Johnson said. “And that was around six feet high, so it was a very significant amount of water in a very short amount of time.”
Ballast stone, which helps hold tracks and ties in place, was largely washed away, Johnson said, and much of the remaining stone will need to be replaced. The tracks will need to be replaced, as will sections of the overhead catenary system that powers the O-Train, Johnson said.
Electrical equipment was damaged and will also need to be replaced, Johnson said, which will take time to manufacture and ship to Ottawa.
Months of work were “undone” by the flooding, she said.
The city’s transit services department issued a memo to councillors on Aug. 5 outlining some of the damage to the west extension and said, “No determinations have been made regarding the repairs that may be required.”
The west extension stations and the 15-kilometre length of new track were being inspected “to determine impacts following the July 1 extreme weather event,” according to the memo from Richard Holder, director of the city’s rail construction program.
“This includes examining infrastructure such as electrical equipment, rail switches, ballast and sections of the track,” Holder wrote. “As shared at council (on July 15), preliminary information does indicate that a section of the line in the Moodie Station area will require repairs to electrical equipment, sections of track and ballast and other infrastructure.”
Holder said his team had conducted on-site visits and was meeting regularly with construction consortium East-West Connectors on the repair work and the “progress towards completion.”
The city has hired an external consultant to assess the overall schedule for the Stage 2 west extension, with a full update expected in early 2027. Councillors are to be updated at the next transit committee meeting on Sept. 10.
Johnson and Kavanagh each said they had asked transit officials for regular updates and both suggested exploring a “staged” opening for the west extension.
“I have asked to have the rest of the western extension (stations) open when they’re done, and staff are reviewing what they can do,” Johnson said.
“I’m also pushing for alternative approaches to opening the west extension, given the extensive work that will be needed in this section,” Kavanagh wrote.
The city’s consultant will be “looking at many ways to mitigate project timelines, including the potential for a staged opening,” Holder said. “However, this is still a very preliminary option that must be fully examined and any conclusion to this effect is premature.”
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