The NAC says Ottawa is missing out on a chance for a light-rail stop in the heart of the city if it goes ahead with a planned move to the Byward Market.

A city report said Tuesday it would be too expensive to dig under the Rideau Canal to make a station on Elgin Street.

Rosemary Thompson of the NAC said she's disappointed riders would lose that connection to the area.

"This is the tourism hub of the city, this is the war memorial, the parliamentary precinct, the hotels, the office towers, there's a lot of this activity in this area," she said.

"It would've been great, we have 1.2 million people who come through our building every year so we just saw it as a wonderful boon for people."

City staff said the plan has to stick to the $2.1 billion budget and will now have a station east of the canal, with one entrance leading to the Rideau Centre and the other to the Byward Market.

"I think this is actually a good move," said Ottawa councillor Rainer Bloess. "I think it's designed to serve customers better, customers being the riders. I think it's more central to the market."

Businesses said they're excited about the switch, but still have some concerns.

"It will help with people getting to the market, I know there's a big problem with people trying to come down and park," said Ryan Quennel, manager of The Grand restaurant. "So it will help bring people down in masses and help them get home as well."

"I am concerned with the state Rideau Street is in right now," said Nelson Simmonds with The Highlander Pub. "Nothing's being done about that and they're going to add more to it."

City staff said design work is about a third of the way done, which means there's room for more changes in the name of keeping the LRT system's costs from growing.

With a report from CTV Ottawa's John Hua