St-Laurent closure extends until at least Wednesday

Good morning!

Welcome back to the Lookout. Hope everyone had an enjoyable long weekend. We certainly did here at headquarters, where the boy has discovered the joy of going to the park. Riding the swing is one of his new favourite activities, while we’re not quite sure yet about going down the slide.

In any case, it’s nice to spend time with family when the weather is fine.

We’ve got lots to get through today, including the latest on the LRT problems at St-Laurent Station.

So, let’s get to it.

— Robert Hiltz, managing editor

WEATHER

Wednesday: 29 🌡️ 18 | ⛈️

Thursday: 28 🌡️ 14 | 🌦

Friday: 28 🌡️ 14 | ☀️

TRANSIT

St-Laurent Station closed until at least today for repairs

What happened: The St-Laurent O-Train Station has been closed since Friday after inspectors found more concrete damage to the station’s ceiling. To accommodate repairs and further station inspection, the east end of the LRT was closed at 10 pm last night. OC Transpo will announce “early” this morning when the station could reopen, according to a city memo.

• Keep up to date with the status of the LRT via OC Transpo’s Twitter support account.

In the meantime, the LRT is running as normal between Tunney’s Pasture and Hurdman stations, with replacement bus service ferrying passengers to all the stations in the east.

What started it: Inspectors noticed the overhead panels were showing signs of damage. After closing the station and removing some of the panels, they found leaking water had corroded some of their’ support structure. There was also damage to the outer layer of concrete, which was peeling away.

• Earlier this year, pieces of concrete were found on the tracks and other parts of the station were inspected and repaired thanks to similar water leaks and concrete delamination.

Service levels: For most of the running time since Friday, stations in the east end were open, with trains simply bypassing St-Laurent. But because work needed to be done around the line’s electrical cables, service needed to be completely stopped for trains running east of Hurdman.

What’s next: Inspectors are now fanning out across other underground LRT stations to inspect areas above other suspended ceilings to ensure there isn’t other yet-to-be-discovered damage. The city expects most of the repairs to be done today, but a final round of inspections might lead to further repairs.

• OC Transpo and other city officials will hold a press conference at 1 pm today. They’ll also host a session for councillors to get an update and ask questions. You can find the city council live stream here on YouTube.

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OTTAWA BY THE NUMBERS

📉 2.7%: The national inflation rate last month fell to this much compared to April of 2023, dropping from 2.9% in March. Grocery inflation slowed to 1.4% year over year. [Reuters]

☎️ 42%: Accidental calls to 911 dropped by this much in the first three months of the year, after an update to Android devices led to fewer unintended calls to the emergency line. [CTV]

🏎️ 160 km/h: The speed a driver was caught doing on the 417 on Monday evening after trying to escape police. Police identified the driver by their licence plate, and posted a daytime photo of the vehicle pulled over at police headquarters. [CTV]

🚒 150: This many customers were without gas service Tuesday after a leak forced fire crews to shut off a portion of the line near Innes Road. [Ottawa Fire Services]

🏠 37%: Housing starts in Ontario dropped this much year-over-year in April. High interest rates and high construction costs are major factors in the steep decline. [CBC]

OUTSIDE DOWNTOWN

🏀 Thanks to a complaint from the garbage contractor Miller Waste Systems, about a half dozen Stittsville residents got tickets from Ottawa Bylaw Services for basketball nets that faced the street. [CTV]

🚨 Three people were killed and five more were injured in a horrific boat crash in Kingston over the long weekend. A speedboat and a small fishing boat collided Saturday night. OPP are investigating. [CTV]

👶 A new subsidized child care centre is opening in Kanata with 71 new spaces. There are 500 people on the waitlist for the location. [CTV]

🔥 Former neighbours of the man now charged with murder in an Overbrook arson at a Donald Street highrise are alarmed by the recent fire. One child was killed, and several other people were seriously injured. The man had been previously convicted of setting two fires in a Sandy Hill apartment building. [CBC]

🏚️ A man who owns farmland with a derelict farmhouse near North Gower had an audit by the City of Ottawa dropped after his councillor intervened. The property was going to be subject to an audit under the Vacant Unit Tax. City staff are working on possible new exemptions to the tax for rural properties that are uninhabitable. [Ottawa Citizen]

🔋 A new battery storage facility in Edwardsburgh-Cardinal and a gas plant expansion in Napanee were approved by the province. [CBC]

📜 A home that Sir John A Macdonald lived in for about a year in Kingston that serves as a museum reopened. Now with new exhibits to explore the country’s first prime minister’s role in the creation of Residential Schools, the museum offers an expanded look at his effect on Indigenous people. [CBC]

HOUSE OF THE WEEK

It’s been a little while since we’ve featured a waterfront home, so we thought, what the heck. This home on the Rideau River sits just west of the airport. Featuring its own private river access, this three-bedroom two-bathroom home boasts some stellar views, and even a hot tub. But this one’s all about the river access.

It’s not cheap, but it is on the water. Check the listing to see more.

House of The Week is a home selected by the Lookout team and is not a paid advertisement. All ads are labelled as such. If you’re a realtor who wishes to feature your home in our newsletter, please contact our sales team. 

GIG LISTINGS

Listings are provided by OttawaGigs.ca, the best place to discover live music in Ottawa. Check out Ottawagigs.ca for full listings across the city.

Kate Weekes, Thursday 8 pm:  Eclectic singer-songwriter mixing everything from ballads, to anthemic folk-pop, and instrumental waltzes. At Red Bird, 1165 Bank St. Tickets $30. 

Ghostly Kisses, Friday 8 pm: Dark indie electronica from the Quebec-based band. At Club SAW, 67 Nicholas St. Tickets $22.50. 

Andrés Vial Trio, Saturday 7:30 pm: Multi-instrumentalist with compositions inspired by jazz, pop, his South American heritage, and African and European traditions.  At GigSpace, 953 Gladstone Ave. Tickets $25.

Val d'Avalon, Saturday 7:30 pm:  Ottawa-based acoustic singer/songwriter leads a bill of three rising Francophone artists. At Live! on Elgin, 220 Elgin St. Tickets $10.

Simply Saucer, Saturday 9 pm: Prog veteranscombine the sounds of early Pink Floyd and the Velvet Underground, leading a full bill of psychedelic performers. At House of Targ, 1077 Bank St.Tickets $30 adv, $40 on door.

THE AGENDA

🗑️ The plan to limit waste collection to three items of garbage per pickup goes into effect Sept. 30. An item is considered a loose garbage bag, multiple bags inside a garbage container, or a large item like furniture. [CTV]

🚤 It was a busy weekend for fire crews on the Ottawa River. Crews were twice dispatched to the Deschenes Rapids to rescue kayakers and boaters. [CTV]

🐕 Across the country more and more independent veterinary clinics are being bought up by large corporations. Many vets worry this is degrading animal care and leading to higher prices as fewer companies hold a bigger share of the market. [CBC]

🚨 A new national strategy for combating auto theft was announced. It will rely on harsher sentences and increased information sharing between police forces and government agencies. [CTV]

🚔 Ottawa police expect to open their Rideau Centre outpost at the start of June. The force will also be deploying more officers to patrol nearby areas with higher crime rates, but also bringing in mental health and other teams to the area to deal with the “root causes of low-level crime.” [Ottawa Police Service]

✈️ Air Canada is expanding the number of flights to the Ottawa airport by about 60%. The airline is adding more flights to Calgary, Winnipeg, Quebec City, Vancouver and several other destinations. [CBC]

🧪 A leaking green liquid ooze of coolant from a Queen Street building’s HVAC system was contained by Ottawa firefighters. Crews had to set up a dike and layer on absorbent to clean up the leak and prevent it from going into the city’s sewer system. [CTV]

💐 Former Ottawa Business Journal editor Leo Valiquette has died five years after a cancer diagnosis. The magazine has a lovely obituary. [Ottawa Business Journal]

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

• CBC broadcaster Lawrence Wall will retire at the end of the month. He’s been at the broadcaster since 1979 and at CBC Ottawa since 1993. [CBC]

• 🌍 Geopolitics in <5 minutes? Get International Intrigue, the free global briefing crafted by former diplomats. [Sponsored]

• Thousands came out to the final day of the Canadian Tulip Festival during a weekend of perfect weather. [CTV]

• It’s goose nesting season, and with a tight real estate market, they’re popping up just about anywhere. [Reddit]

• The Sens hired Rob DiMaio as their new director of player personnel and scouting. [CTV]

• There were plenty of fireworks across the city over the weekend for Victoria Day. [Reddit]

• Want to have your announcement featured? Learn how here.

OTTAWA GAMES

Congrats to everyone who got last week’s Ottawa Wordle, the answer was SUNNY, like the weather all weekend.

Do you know where today’s Ottawa Guesser is? The first five people to respond get their names mentioned in the newsletter.