I am getting a bit worried as to how this project is turning out. Now the catchment area is:
Which has a fair amount of its area covering the Parliament Precinct and the Ottawa River. Moving the Rideau Station east actually seems like a good idea for a number of reasons, but it does leave the Downtown-east Station being the only real option for most of the CBD - and Downtown-east is quite north.
Since the decision has been made to have the tunnel aligned under one street across the downtown, maybe they should re-think which street it is under. By moving the tunnel under Slater, the route is more central. At the east end of Slater (at Elgin) the tunnel could – if there were political will – be curved under the new Lorne Building. Yes I realize that the foundation for that building is already designed, but it would be cheaper to build the change originally than tunnel later.
The idea is to move the tunnel closer to where people need it, provide a station access right at the corner of Bank, and add the 'missing' third station to service Confederation Square.
