Ottawa to study grade separation at site of deadly bus-train crash
Feasibility assessments to be carried out at 5 level crossings
The City of Ottawa says it will study whether overpasses or underpasses are needed at five rail crossings, including the site of a fatal crash between a city bus and a Via Rail train in 2013.
The five rail crossings to be studied are located at:
- Woodroffe Avenue
- The Transitway
- Fallowfield Road
- Merivale Road
- Jockvale Road
On Sept. 18, 2013, six people — five passengers and the bus driver — were killed when an OC Transpo bus and a Via Rail passenger train collided at a level rail crossing near Fallowfield station in the south Ottawa suburb of Barrhaven. Dozens of other bus passengers were injured in the collision.
In its December 2015 review of the crash the Transportation Safety Board made four recommendations to the federal Department of Transportation and one to the city of Ottawa. It suggested council reconsider the need for grade separation at the Woodroffe Avenue, Transitway and Fallowfield Road level crossing.
On Friday the city announced it will launch a technical study to determine the feasibility of grade separation at those locations, as well as Merivale Road and Jockvale Road.
Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson called the TSB report a "catalyst" for the city to return to the question of whether at-grade rail crossings should be altered, and at what cost — but at the time added that Ottawa would likely need financial support from other levels of government to carry out meaningful changes.
Around 2004 the city looked into grade separation at several level rail crossings, but high costs, geotechnical issues and other factors led the city to decide against grade separation at those locations.
The Transportation Safety Board's four recommendations for the Department of Transportation are:
- Develop comprehensive guidelines for the installation and use of in-vehicle video monitor displays, in consultation with the provinces, to reduce the risk of driver distraction.
- Develop and implement crashworthiness standards for passenger buses to reduce the risk of injury.
- Require passenger buses to be equipped with dedicated, crashworthy event data recorders.
- Provide specific guidance as to when grade separation should be considered.