Lees is an

OC Transpo OC Transpo, officially the Ottawa-Carleton Regional Transit Commission, is the public transit agency for the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It operates an integrated hub-and-spoke system including light metro, bus rapid transit, conventional ...

light rail transit station in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, Ontario, Canada. It had previously been a

transitway Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...

station, which closed in January 2016 and was converted into an

O-Train The O-Train is a light metro transit system in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, operated by OC Transpo. The O-Train system has two lines, the electrically-operated Confederation Line (Line 1) and the diesel-operated Trillium Line (Line 2). Since May 20 ...

station.

Location

It is located south of the Highway 417 just to the west of the

Rideau River The Rideau River (french: Rivière Rideau) is a river in Eastern Ontario, Canada. The river flows north from Upper Rideau Lake and empties into the Ottawa River at the Rideau Falls in Ottawa, Ontario. Its length is . As explained in a writin ...

. It serves the

Lees Avenue Lees Avenue is both a road and a neighbourhood in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The area lies in the narrow stretch between the Rideau Canal and Rideau River south of Sandy Hill and the Queensway and is part of Old Ottawa East. The neighbourhood ...

and Sandy Hill Heights communities, as well as the Lees Campus of the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ottawa ...

History

The transitway station has had quite a notorious history for serious incidents. Soon after the station was constructed,

coal tar Coal tar is a thick dark liquid which is a by-product of the production of coke and coal gas from coal. It is a type of creosote. It has both medical and industrial uses. Medicinally it is a topical medication applied to skin to treat psoriasi ...

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. 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 Exit(s) may refer to: Architecture and engineering * Door * Portal (architecture), an opening in the walls of a structure * Emergency exit * Overwing exit, a type of emergency exit on an airplane * Exit ramp, a feature of a road interchange ...

of Highway 417 onto the transitway, killing two women and leaving a nine-month-old with permanent

brain damage Neurotrauma, brain damage or brain injury (BI) is the destruction or degeneration of brain cells. Brain injuries occur due to a wide range of internal and external factors. In general, brain damage refers to significant, undiscriminating t ...

. 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 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 Blair is a station on Ottawa's transitway and O-Train located at Blair Road and Regional Road 174. It is a major transfer point for commuters within urban Gloucester and Orléans. Location This station is adjacent to the Gloucester Centre sho ...

was closed; it reopened on September 14, 2019, when

Confederation Line The Confederation Line (french: Ligne de la Confédération), also called O-Train Line 1 (french: Ligne 1 de l'O-Train), is a light rail line operated by OC Transpo in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, as part of the city's O-Train light rail system. I ...

service began.

Layout

Lees is a

side platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platforms ...

station located at grade in a cutting. Above the platforms, the station's entrance building contains the

ticket barrier A turnstile (also called a turnpike, gateline, baffle gate, automated gate, turn gate in some regions) is a form of gate which allows one person to pass at a time. A turnstile can be configured to enforce one-way human traffic. In addition, a t ...

and gives access to a plaza on the north side of Lees Avenue. The station's artwork, ''Transparent Passage'' by

Amy Thompson Amy Thompson (born 28 July 1994) is a Luxembourger international footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American f ...

, 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.

Service

The following routes serve Lees as of October 6, 2019: Notes: * Routes and heading towards Rideau station do not serve this station.

References

External links

Lees station pageLees area map
{{OC Transpo Rapid Transit Confederation Line stations 1983 establishments in Ontario Railway stations in Canada opened in 2019 2019 establishments in Ontario 2015 disestablishments in Ontario