Lees station is an

OC Transpo OC Transpo is the primary Transit district, public transport agency for the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, operating bus rapid transit, light rail, conventional transit bus, bus routes, and door-to-door paratransit in the nation's capital regi ...

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

station in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

, Ontario, Canada. It had previously been a Transitway station, which closed in January 2016 and was converted into an

O-Train The O-Train is a light rail system in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, operated by OC Transpo. The O-Train system consists of three lines, all of which are fully Grade separation, grade-separated. As of March 2025, one line is currently being extended an ...

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

Location

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

Rideau River The Rideau River (, ) 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 writing by Samuel de Champl ...

. 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 i ...

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

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

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 psoria ...

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

brain damage 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 trauma-induced damage. A common ...

. 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 station is a station on Ottawa's O-Train and Transitway (Ottawa), Transitway systems located at Blair Road (Ottawa), Blair Road and Regional Road 174 (Ottawa), Regional Road 174. It is a major transfer point for commuters within urban Glo ...

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

Confederation Line Line 1 (), also known as the Confederation Line (), is a light rail line operated by OC Transpo in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, part of the city's O-Train system. It opened on September 14, 2019, and is O-Train's second line. It operates on an east� ...

service began.

Layout

Lees station 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 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 turnstile c ...

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

Amy Thompson Amy Lan Thompson (born 28 July 1994) is a Luxembourgish international footballer who plays as a forward for Swift Hesperange Football Club Swift Hesperange (, ) is a association football, football football club, club, based in Hesperange, in ...

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

References

External links

Lees station pageLees area map
{{OC Transpo 1983 establishments in Ontario 2015 disestablishments in Ontario 2019 establishments in Ontario Line 1 (O-Train) stations Line 3 (O-Train) stations Railway stations in Canada at university and college campuses Railway stations in Canada opened in 2019