Lees station
Lees | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Coordinates | 45°24′59″N 75°40′13″W / 45.41639°N 75.67028°WCoordinates: 45°24′59″N 75°40′13″W / 45.41639°N 75.67028°W | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Owned by | OC Transpo | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Closed | 20 December 2015 (Lower/transitway level only) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rebuilt | May 2018 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Lees station is a OCTranspo bus station and future LRT station in Ottawa. It consisted of a former bus transitway station, which closed in January 2016 as it will be converted into an O-Train station.[1] It is located south of the Queensway just to the west of the Rideau River. It serves the Lees Avenue region and the Sandy Hill Heights community.
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 12 million-dollar cleanup operation.
The station was also the site of a deadly accident on July 18, 1994 when a 30-tonne transport truck plunged off the Queensway exit ramp into the transitway, killing two women and leaving a nine-month-old with permanent brain damage. The driver was later found guilty of dangerous driving. In July 2003, an eastbound bus approaching the station lost control due to a mechanical breakdown, and slammed hard into the station. No one was seriously injured, but it took months to repair the station.
As of January 2016, the Transitway from Lees Station to Blair Station has been closed as it will be upgraded to form the new Confederation Line in 2018. Due to the current closure, most routes now travel via the Queensway and bypass certain stations. Effective April 24, 2016, the Transitway closure will be extended north from Lees Station to the end at Laurier Station. During that period, a nearby bus stop to Lees Transitway station will only serve Downtown Routes 16, 85, 95, 98, and 97 (after 10pm only) in the eastbound or southbound direction only. All other routes will be re-routed onto the Nicholas Street expressway and the Queensway, thus bypassing both Lees and Campus Station.[2]
Services
The following routes serve Lees station:
Rapid Routes: 95 97* 98
Frequent Routes: 16 85
Local Routes: 56 101 103
Event Routes: 401
Notes
- Route 5 is available nearby at the corner of Main and Lees.
- Route 97 only serves Lees station after 10:00pm.
References
- ↑ "OC Transpo - On Track 2018 April 24 Service Change". OC Transpo. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
- ↑ "OC Transpo - Campus Station Closure April 24". OC Transpo. Retrieved 7 April 2016.