STO presents three options to improve public transit in Aylmer

The STO unveiled three scenarios to improve rapid transit in the west of Aylmer during a public forum on September 21 at the Doubletree Hilton in Aylmer. More than 100 guests attended the anticipated event where several experts took the stage.

Eric Champagne, University of Ottawa public administration professor, Mario Gauthier, l'Université du Québec en Outaouais social science professor, Catherine Marchand, head of planning at the City of Gatineau, Paul Lewis, dean and planning professor from l'Université de Montréal, and Vincent Ermatinger from the engineering firm WSP all made presentations during the free forum, organized as part of the sustainable mobility week in Outaouais, I’m on board.

 

Sandrine Poteau, STO project manager, also presented the three options the STO is looking at to equip the west of Gatineau with a rapid transit system. The first is to improve the current network by adding new routes and prioritizing bus lanes on municipal roads. The second is to add transit infrastructure on Aylmer Road and the last option is to add transit infrastructure on Allumettières Boulevard.

The type of technology the STO will favour to get Aylmer residents to Hull and to Ottawa remains undetermined or undisclosed at this point.

Poteau is responsible for the rapid transit project for the west of Gatineau. For the past three years, she has been working as a project manager in the Strategies and Development department. Prior to that, she worked in the fields of transport planning, transit and road safety.

The STO will continue the consultation online starting on October 17 until November 13 and will continue to answers questions from the public.

The STO is also hosting two public consultation sessions on October 19 and 20 in the west of Gatineau. The October 19 session will take place at the Centre communautaire du Plateau at 145 de l'Atmosphère Street in Hull and the October 20 session will be held at the Centre communautaire Front at 175 Front Street in Aylmer.

These sessions will help the STO broaden their outlook as they finalize their study estimated at $546,000; 75% of which is paid by the ministry of Transport, Sustainable Mobility and Transport Electrification.

After the public consultation, the STO aims to table a report of their study to the provincial government at the beginning of 2017. The next step for the STO will be to obtain an agreement in principle with the province to finance the project, followed by a detailed study on the preferred option. Once complete, the STO will need to elaborate the construction plans and specifications before obtaining the final agreement from Quebec City to fund the project and going to tender.