Lees station

Lees is an OC Transpo light rail transit 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]

For other uses, see Lees (disambiguation).
Lees
O-Train station
Lees Station LRT platform
Coordinates45°24′59″N 75°40′13″W
Owned byOC Transpo
Platforms2 (O-Train), 2 (Bus)
Tracks2
Construction
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 OC Transpo Following station
uOttawa
toward Tunney's Pasture
 Line 1 Hurdman
toward Blair

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.

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 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
See also: OC Transpo routes

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

Key
O-Train
 98   39  Rapid routes
 40   11  Frequent routes
 55   173  Local routes
 298  Connexion routes
 406  300s: Shopper routes
400s: Event routes
600s: School routes
Stop Routes
West O-Train
East O-Train
A Lees Avenue, Southwest  16   N39   N45   55   56   N97   R-1 
B Lees Avenue, Northwest  16   55   56 

Notes:

  • Routes  N39  and  N45  heading towards Rideau station do not serve this station.

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.
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