No. H131/12
For release - December 5, 2012
OTTAWA – Mayor Jim Watson, together with Premier Dalton McGuinty and Royal Galipeau, Member of Parliament for Ottawa—Orléans, were on hand this morning for the announcement that City staff will be recommending to Council that the international consortium known as the Rideau Transit Group be awarded the contract to design, build, finance and maintain the Ottawa Light Rail Transit (OLRT) project, which includes the building and financing of the Highway 417 widening project from the Nicholas Street on ramp to the split with Highway 174.
“Today is an exciting milestone for this important project,” said Premier McGuinty. “It will create jobs, help the environment by taking cars off the road and contribute to a better quality of life for the people of Ottawa.”
“Our government is pleased to invest in this important job-creating project for a new light rail corridor that will make public transit faster and more efficient for Ottawa residents,” said MP Galipeau. “This project demonstrates the Government of Canada’s commitment to working with municipal and provincial partners to support infrastructure improvements and transit solutions for the 21st century.”
“Council set a strong direction for this procurement to deliver an excellent light rail system that comes in on time and on budget. I am proud to say that we have succeeded,” said Mayor Watson. “Given the importance of this project to Canada’s national capital and its close relationship with our sesquicentennial celebrations in 2017, I am also pleased to announce that the City will be naming this system the Confederation Line.”
Rideau Transit Group’s proposal outlines a construction schedule that will see project construction substantially complete by the end of 2017 and in service by 2018. Moreover, the Rideau Transit Group has agreed to a fixed price contract of $2.1 billion, meaning the City and Ottawa taxpayers will not be financially responsible for cost overruns related to construction.
Funding for the Confederation Line is being provided by the Government of Canada, the Government of Ontario and the City of Ottawa. The Government of Canada is contributing $600 million through the Building Canada Fund. The City will also allocate up to $192 million of its federal Gas Tax Fund transfers to this project. The Government of Ontario is contributing $600 million. In addition, the City will allocate $287 million of Provincial Gas Tax receipts to the capital infrastructure. The remaining project budget funds will come from development charge revenues and transit reserves.
The report and Rideau Transit Group’s designs and construction schedule are available on the OLRT project website www.ottawalightrail.ca. In addition, the City will be hosting a number of design showcases for Ottawa residents to see Rideau Transit Group’s proposals first hand and have their questions answered by project staff.
The staff recommendation will be reviewed by the Committee of the Whole on December 12 and then by Council on December 19.
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Contacts:
Geneviève Sicard
Press Secretary
Office of the Honourable Denis Lebel
Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities Ottawa
613-991-0700
Media Relations
Transport Canada, Ottawa
613-993-0055
David Salter
Minister’s Office
Ontario Ministry of Transportation
Toronto
416-327-1815
Bob Nichols
Communications
Ontario Ministry of Transportation
Toronto
416-327-1158
City of Ottawa
Media contact 613-580-2450
Public inquiries 3-1-1
Transport Canada is online at www.tc.gc.ca. Subscribe to e-news at www.tc.gc.ca/e-news or stay connected through RSS, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Flickr to keep up to date on the latest from Transport Canada.
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