Mayor Jim Watson said "it’s premature at this point to make the connection to LRT, although that could very well be a possibility" during a press conference Wednesday afternoon. He noted the tunnel work is "substantially below" where the water main break happened, and the tunnel hasn’t been affected.

Crews were working in the tunnel at the time of the collapse and all safely evacuated. The City of Ottawa confirmed there are no injuries and said the "infrastructure failure" will affect water service in the area and has closed nearby roads. The site is being secured and Emergency Services are on-site.

The mayor said work on the tunnel for the Confederation Line will be suspended while contractor Rideau Transit Group (RTG) stabilizes the situation and investigates.

Earlier that morning Watson, alongside Karen McCrimmon, MP for Kanata-Carleton and local Ward councillors, announced that the City of Ottawa will begin the planning work that is needed to extend light rail transit (LRT) from Bayshore to Kanata.

City of Ottawa staff will be preparing the first stage of the Environmental Assessment for Bayshore Station to Palladium Drive over the summer, so that the Statement of Work will be ready for Transportation Committee this September.

"After the North-South LRT project was cancelled a decade ago, many residents thought they wouldn’t see LRT in their lifetime. But, since that time, successive Councils have made light rail transit the City’s number one priority – and we have made sure that our federal and provincial partners know that Ottawa is ready for rail," Watson said.

"With the close co-operation of all three levels of government, the Confederation Line will be finished in 2018. Exactly one year ago today, on June 8, 2015, City Council approved the Stage 2 light rail transit Environmental Assessment – and on Friday, June 3, based on that EA, the Province of Ontario committed more than CAD 1 billion to the residents of Ottawa to make Stage 2 a reality for 2023.

Now, we are going to make sure we are ready for the next phase of light rail in Ottawa – taking the train from Bayshore to Kanata."