View source for Lees station

{{short description|Transit station in Ottawa, Canada}}
{{confused|Lees (Manchester) railway station|Lees Station, Tennessee}}
{{Refimprove|date=June 2015}}
{{Infobox station
| name          = Lees
| style         = OC Transpo
| symbol_location = ottawa
| symbol = 1big
| image         = Lees Station Platform, November 2022.jpg
| image_size    =
| image_caption = Lees Station LRT platform 
| address       =
| coordinates   = {{Coord|45|24|59|N|75|40|13|W|region:CA-ON_type:railwaystation|display=inline,title}}
| line          = <!-- line information is detailed under "services" -->
| other         =
| structure     = Trench (LRT station)
| platform      = 2 (O-Train), 2 (Bus)
| depth         =
| levels        = 2
| tracks        = 2
| parking       = No
| bicycle       = Yes
| baggage_check =
| opened        = 1983 (Transitway)<br>September 14, 2019 (O-Train)<ref name="open2019">{{Cite news |url=https://www.octranspo.com/en/news/article/line-1-opens-sept-14/ |title=Line 1 opens on Sept. 14|last=Watson|first=Jim|date=August 23, 2019 |access-date=August 23, 2019 |website=octranspo.com}}</ref>
| closed        = December 20, 2015 (Lower/transitway level only)
| rebuilt       = 2015–2019
| electrified   =
| accessible    = Yes
| code          = 3022
| owned         = [[OC Transpo]]
| zone          =
| former        =
| passengers    =
| pass_year     =
| pass_percent  =
| pass_system   =
| mpassengers   =
| services      = {{adjstn|system=OC Transpo|line=1|left=uOttawa|right=Hurdman}}
| map_locator   =
}}
'''Lees station''' is an [[OC Transpo]] [[light rail]] station in [[Ottawa]], Ontario, Canada. It had previously been a [[Transitway (Ottawa)|Transitway]] station, which closed in January 2016 and was converted into an [[O-Train]] [[Metro station|station]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.octranspo1.com/routes/on_track_2018 |title=OC Transpo - On Track 2018 April 24 Service Change |publisher=OC Transpo |accessdate=7 April 2016}}</ref> 

==Location==

It is located south of the [[Ontario Highway 417|Highway&nbsp;417]] just to the west of the [[Rideau River]]. It serves the [[Lees Avenue (Ottawa)|Lees Avenue]] and [[Sandy Hill, Ottawa|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.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://nouveau.eureka.cc/Link/unimont1/news%c2%b719860829%c2%b7TTA%c2%b719860829-4826762|title=Ottawa-Carleton region offices raided in probe of coal-tar leak|last=Canadian Press|date=1986|work=Toronto Star|access-date=2019-10-17|page=A21}}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://nouveau.eureka.cc/Link/unimont1/news%c2%b719940719%c2%b7LT%c2%b7001|title=Un camion chute: deux morts|last=Lemieux|first=Julie|date=1994|work=Le Droit|access-date=2019-10-17|location=Gatineau|page=1}}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> 

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{{source needed|date=October 2019}}.

In December 2015, the Transitway from Lees station to [[Blair station]] was closed; it reopened on September 14, 2019, when [[Line 1 (O-Train)|Confederation Line]] service began.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mainstreeter.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Lees-Station.pdf|title=Transit Service Adjustments during Confederation Line Construction|last=OC Transpo|date=2015-10-14}}</ref>

==Layout==

Lees station 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 (artist)|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. <ref name="ottawa-ca-confederation-line">{{cite web |title=O-Train Confederation Line |url=https://ottawa.ca/en/residents/transportation-and-parking/oc-transpo-and-public-transit/o-train-confederation-line |publisher=City of Ottawa |accessdate=17 September 2019 }}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

==Service==
{{See also|OC Transpo routes}}
The following routes serve Lees as of October 6, 2019:<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.octranspo.com/en/our-services/stations1/lees1|title=Lees {{!}} OC Transpo|access-date=October 15, 2019|archive-date=May 12, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512193755/https://www.octranspo.com/en/our-services/stations1/lees1/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
{{OC Transpo key}}
{| class="wikitable"
!Stop
!Routes
|-
|'''West''' O-Train
|{{rint|ottawa|1}}
|-
|'''East''' O-Train
|{{rint|ottawa|1}}
|-
|'''A''' Lees Avenue, Southwest
|{{rbox|10||#{{octc|frequent}}}} {{rbox|N39||white;border:1.5px solid #{{octc|frequent}}|#{{octc|frequent}}}} {{rbox|N45||white;border:1.5px solid #{{octc|frequent}}|#{{octc|frequent}}}} {{rbox|56||#{{octc|local}}}} {{rbox|85||#{{octc|frequent}}}} {{rbox|N105||white;border:1.5px solid #{{octc|frequent}}|#{{octc|frequent}}}} {{rbox|R1||white;border:1.5px solid #{{octc|1}}|#{{octc|1}}}}
|-
|'''B''' Lees Avenue, Northwest
|{{rbox|10||#{{octc|frequent}}}} {{rbox|56||#{{octc|local}}}} {{rbox|85||#{{octc|frequent}}}}
|}

Notes:
* Routes N39 and N45 heading towards Rideau station do not serve this station.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.octranspo.com/images/files/maps/station_layout/LEE.pdf Lees station page]
*[http://www.octranspo.com/images/files/maps/area_map/LEE.pdf Lees area map]

{{OC Transpo}}

[[Category:1983 establishments in Ontario]]
[[Category:2015 disestablishments in Ontario]]
[[Category:2019 establishments in Ontario]]
[[Category:Line 1 (O-Train) stations]]
[[Category:Line 3 (O-Train) stations]]
[[Category:Railway stations in Canada at university and college campuses]]
[[Category:Railway stations in Canada opened in 2019]]