Alta Vista Drive is a suburban road 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 Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada, and is the main north-south street in the city's Alta Vista Ward. It runs from Bank Street in the south to Industrial Avenue in the north covering the neighbourhoods of Ridgemont,

Alta Vista AltaVista was a web search engine established in 1995. It became one of the most-used early search engines, but lost ground to Google and was purchased by Yahoo! in 2003, which retained the brand, but based all AltaVista searches on its own sear ...

and Riverview. Alta Vista was created as the result of major residential developments (notably the

Rideau Park Rideau Park is a residential neighbourhood in southwest Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The name Rideau means curtain in the French Language. The neighbourhood is bounded on the west by 111 Street, on the east by Calgary Trail, on the north by Whit ...

and

subdivisions) in the region following

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. First referred to as the "100 foot highway", it was named Churchill Avenue (after

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

) in 1941. After Ottawa annexed Gloucester Township in July 1950, the road was renamed "Alta Vista Drive", as there was already a Churchill Avenue in Ottawa. The first stretch was built between

Smyth Road Smyth Road () ( Ottawa Road #72), is a main road in eastern Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It runs from Riverside Drive to St. Laurent Boulevard. This residential area was developed in the 1950s. The street was originally lined with large elm trees, gi ...

and Kilborn Avenue in 1939. Gloucester Township Council passed a by-law on May 3, 1937, permitting its construction. The stretch from Kilborn to Randall was built in 1940; the stretch north of Smyth in 1942 (to what is now Terminal Avenue) and south of Randall to Bank Street (then called "Metcalfe Road") in 1947. Alta Vista originally ran past Industrial and connected with the

Vanier Parkway Riverside Drive (List of numbered routes in Ottawa, Ottawa Road #19) is a major road in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, that follows along the eastern bank of the Rideau River. Its northern terminus is at the Transitway (Ottawa), Transitway/Via Rail unde ...

, but the intersection, which also involved Riverside Drive was re-aligned in 1986. Furthermore, in the 1990s, Alta Vista gained bicycle lanes along its entire stretch. Alta Vista is so named for its general height, as the neighbourhoods it runs through are generally higher than the rest of the city (the name means "a view from above" or "high view" in Spanish and Portuguese). The name was first applied to the area in 1913, for a small subdivision built on the north side of Randall Avenue which had a good view of

Parliament Hill Parliament Hill (), colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern bank of the Ottawa River that houses the Parliament of Canada in downtown Ottawa, Ontario. It accommodates a suite of Gothic revival buildings whose ...

. For the most part, Alta Vista runs through residential areas, and it is a two to four-lane minor arterial road, with a speed limit of . The area consists mostly of single-home houses, with the exception of three apartment-style, low-rent buildings named the "Alta Vista Towers" located in the north near Industrial Avenue and the Alta Vista Plaza. Alta Vista Drive consists of mixed housing, ranging from small modest houses in the northern parts, to more expensive, small Colonial-style houses and bungalows in the area immediately south to

. The road is characterized by large trees along both sides and the

Via Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via (stylized as VIA Rail), is a Canadian Crown corporation that operates intercity passenger rail service in Canada. As of December 2023, Via Rail operates 406 trains per week across eight ...

train track running parallel between Alta Vista Drive and Riverside Drive from Industrial Avenue to Smyth Road. Alta Vista is home to the National Defence Medical Centre, Canadian Pharmacists Association, Canadian Blood Services,

Canadian Dental Association The Canadian Dental Association (CDA; ) is a non-profit professional association representing Canada's provincial and territorial dental associations. Headquartered in Canada's capital city Ottawa, the CDA serves its members and the public by ma ...

Ontario Medical Association The Ontario Medical Association (OMA) is a membership organization that represents the political, clinical and economic interests of Ontario physicians. Practising physicians, Residency (medicine), residents, and Medical school, medical students en ...

, the

Canadian Medical Association The Canadian Medical Association (CMA; ) is a national, voluntary association of physicians and medical learners that advocates on national health matters. Its primary mandate is to drive positive change in health care by advocating on key hea ...

, and its affiliate MD Management, and the

Conference Board of Canada The Conference Board of Canada is an independent, non-profit applied-research organization based in Canada. It aims to help Canada's leaders make informed, evidence-based decisions using non-partisan and non-ideological analysis. The organiza ...

, located in the area north of the Smyth Road intersection in a stretch of the road that is not residential, as well as Ridgemont High School and St. Patrick's High School located south from Smyth Road. The area is home to the Anglican Church St. Thomas the Apostle, the United Church

, and the Presbyterian Church St. Timothy's. There is one branch of the Ottawa Library and two shopping centres, one being at the northernmost stretch near Industrial Avenue, and the other at the southernmost section abutting Bank Street.

References

{{Ottawa Roads Roads in Ottawa