On Canada Day, parts of Ottawa’s unfinished western LRT extension looked less like a railway and more like a river.
Muddy water surged through sections of the guideway with enough force to wash away the crushed stone beneath newly installed tracks. In the Kichi Zībī Mīkan tunnel, water rushed through the trench. At Moodie Station, it climbed metres up concrete walls, leaving behind a brown stain well above the heads of councillors who toured the site weeks later.
Videos captured during the July 1 storm showed water racing across the tracks like rapids.
The damage is now threatening to add another delay to an already-behind-schedule project that Ottawa has spent years waiting for. And for some councillors, one question has been difficult to shake: What if the trains had already been running?
This story is only available for members. Unlock this and other City Hall Insider stories.
We’re building the future of local news, producing in-depth, hyper-local journalism and not clickbait content. As a mostly reader-funded publication, we cannot write the stories you read without your help. Become a member today and unlock additional membership perks.
Save 21% off a membershipJoin 2,600+ Lookout members who get:
- Exclusive City Hall Insider newsletter
- Access to all paywalled stories
- Early access to Lookout events
- Invest in local journalism and the Ottawa journalists who write our stories
- Risk free: Cancel anytime and get a 100% refund
