OC Transpo to suspend east-end LRT service tonight as inspections continue at St. Laurent station

OC Transpo will suspend service at the east end tonight to complete rehabilitation work on the damaged concrete roof slab that has kept St. Laurent station closed since Friday, but is confident that service will return to normal on Wednesday.

In a memo to city council Tuesday, OC Transpo said Line 1 service would be suspended between Blair and Hurdman stations after 10 p.m. tonight until the end of service because it would take additional time to repair damage to the concrete roof slab above the platform.

R1 service will operate between Blair and Hurdman stations and train service will operate in both directions from Tunney’s Pasture to Hurdman station.

“Crews will continue to work in the station today to complete remaining remediation work and final inspections to confirm that all hazards associated with the concrete roof slab and suspended ceiling have been fully remediated,” Renee Amilcar, OC Transpo’s general manager of transit services, and Tammy Rose, general manager of infrastructure and water services, said in the memo.

“The final inspection may require further remedial work. Cleaning of the station will also begin today to support the reopening of the station.”

In an earlier memo Monday, OC Transpo said workers needed to remove suspended ceiling panels above the platforms and inspect the tunnel concrete after a routine visual inspection Friday found signs of corrosion on the panels and possible damage to the concrete.

Rail service will continue to operate on a normal schedule, with trains running from Tunney’s Pasture to Blair Station, skipping St. Laurent Station. Shuttle buses will run between St. Laurent and Cyrville stations.

It is unclear if the station will reopen in time for Wednesday service, but passengers will be given an update at a press event with OC Transpo and city councilors on Wednesday.

Amilcar and Rose add that further inspections will take place in the other tunnels of Line 1.

“Given the condition of the suspended ceiling infrastructure at St-Laurent Station, out of an abundance of caution, OC Transpo has requested Rideau Transit Maintenance (RTM) to conduct proactive inspections of the suspended infrastructure at Parliament, Rideau and Lyon stations. Further details on the timing and impact of these inspections will be provided once plans are finalized,” the memo added.

This is the second time this year that the tunnel has caused problems for public transport.

East End councillors are frustrated

City councillors in the east are frustrated by the ongoing problems on that side of the border.

Beacon Hill-Cyrville City Councilor Tim Tierney said, “We have so much traffic and through traffic on the east side of town right now. The highway is closed, the roads are congested, and a solution needs to be found on the east side.”

Regarding the current problems in St. Laurent, Tierney said: “I am beyond frustrated at this point. My colleagues from the East, (Catherine) Kitts, (Matt) Luloff and (Laura) Dudas, are also frustrated.”

Tierney, who sits on the transportation commission, says there are more problems at the east end of the line than at the west end.

“East End residents are very concerned. If you have to keep getting on and off buses and trains to get to your destination, it doesn’t work,” he said. “And imagine: it’s -42 degrees and we’re doing the same thing. There’s no way to get people to get out of their cars and use public transport.”

It’s not just councillors in the east who are concerned. Wilson Lo, a Barrhaven East councillor and member of the city’s transportation commission, wants to know more about why these problems keep cropping up and says he’s concerned about the durability of the bus turnaround loop above the tunnel.

“We’ve said this so many times now… It’s disappointing and upsetting. But I want to look into the question of what’s going on above the tunnel,” he said Tuesday. “The tunnel was renovated when the light rail was built. I don’t know exactly how that was done or what exactly was done, but the fact that the bus turnaround loop remains above, and particularly when the issue raised by Renée (Amilcar, OC Transpo general manager) was water ingress, raises a lot of questions to me about the longevity of the tunnel.”

In January, a section of the eastern O-Train line was closed after a structural inspection discovered pieces of concrete on the tracks at St. Laurent Station.

Employees discovered that concrete had spalled from the main slab in the tunnel, and workers conducted “probe and assessment” work to remove small pieces of concrete that had come loose from the main slab.

The operation of line 1 was able to return to normal after a seven-hour closure.

–With files from Leah Larocque of CTV News Ottawa