Lees station

Last updated
Lees
O-Train Line 1 with white border.svg
O-Train station
Lees Station Platform, November 2022.jpg
Lees Station LRT platform
General information
Coordinates 45°24′59″N75°40′13″W / 45.41639°N 75.67028°W / 45.41639; -75.67028
Owned by OC Transpo
Platforms2 (O-Train), 2 (Bus)
Tracks2
Construction
Structure typeTrench (LRT station)
Platform levels2
ParkingNo
Bicycle facilitiesYes
Other information
Station code3022
History
Opened1983 (Transitway)
September 14, 2019 (O-Train) [1]
ClosedDecember 20, 2015 (Lower/transitway level only)
Rebuilt2015–2019
Services
Preceding station O-Train icon.svg OC Transpo Following station
uOttawa Line 1 Hurdman
toward Blair

Lees station is an OC Transpo light rail station in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It had previously been a Transitway station, which closed in January 2016 and was converted into an O-Train station. [2]

Contents

Location

It is located south of the Highway 417 just to the west of the Rideau River. It serves the Lees Avenue and Sandy Hill Heights communities, as well as the Lees Campus of the University of Ottawa.

History

The transitway station has had quite a notorious history for serious incidents. Soon after the station was constructed, coal tar began seeping into the station and it was closed for two months. It was soon discovered that this industrial waste was under much of the Lees Avenue area, necessitating a $6 million cleanup operation. [3]

The station was also the site of a deadly accident on July 18, 1994, when a 30-tonne transport truck plunged off the exit ramp of Highway 417 onto the transitway, killing two women and leaving a nine-month-old with permanent brain damage. The driver was later found guilty of dangerous driving. [4]

In July 2003, an eastbound bus approaching the station lost control due to a mechanical breakdown, and slammed into the station. No one was seriously injured, but it took months to repair the station[ citation needed ].

In December 2015, the Transitway from Lees station to Blair station was closed; it reopened on September 14, 2019, when Confederation Line service began. [5]

Layout

Lees station is a side platform station located at grade in a cutting. Above the platforms, the station's entrance building contains the ticket barrier and gives access to a plaza on the north side of Lees Avenue.

The station's artwork, Transparent Passage by Amy Thompson, features a series of forest designs on the station's glass platform walls, backed by sculptures of birds in flight along the retaining walls behind them. [6]

Service

The following routes serve Lees as of October 6, 2019: [7]

O-Train Line 1.svg O-Train Line 2.svg O-Train Line 4.svg O-Train
 E1 Shuttle Express
 R1  R2  R4 O-Train replacement bus routes
 N75 Night routes
 40  11 Frequent routes
 99  162 Local routes
 275 Connexion routes
 303 Shopper routes
 405 Event routes
 646 School routes
Additional info:
StopRoutes
West O-Train O-Train Line 1.svg
East O-Train O-Train Line 1.svg
A Lees Avenue, Southwest 10  N39  N45  56  85  N105  R1 
B Lees Avenue, Northwest 10  56  85 

Notes:

References

  1. Watson, Jim (August 23, 2019). "Line 1 opens on Sept. 14". octranspo.com. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  2. "OC Transpo - On Track 2018 April 24 Service Change". OC Transpo. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  3. Canadian Press (1986). "Ottawa-Carleton region offices raided in probe of coal-tar leak". Toronto Star. p. A21. Retrieved 2019-10-17.
  4. Lemieux, Julie (1994). "Un camion chute: deux morts". Le Droit. Gatineau. p. 1. Retrieved 2019-10-17.
  5. OC Transpo (2015-10-14). "Transit Service Adjustments during Confederation Line Construction" (PDF).
  6. "O-Train Confederation Line". City of Ottawa. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  7. "Lees | OC Transpo" . Retrieved October 15, 2019.