Island Park Drive is a scenic parkway 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 ...

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Route description

Many luxury homes and several

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line the street. The north end connects to the

Kichi Zibi Mikan The Kichi Zībī Mīkan, ( ) formerly the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway, and previously the Ottawa River Parkway, is a four-lane scenic parkway along the Ottawa River in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It runs from Carling Avenue near Connaught Avenu ...

and the Champlain Bridge, which crosses the

Ottawa River The Ottawa River (, ) is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is named after the Algonquin word "to trade", as it was the major trade route of Eastern Canada at the time. For most of its length, it defines the border betw ...

into

Gatineau Gatineau ( ; ) is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, directly across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region of Quebec and is also p ...

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. Island Park Drive is named for Bate Island, the largest island crossed by the Champlain Bridge, which has a small park with road access. The south end connects to the

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, where it becomes the NCC Driveway. Island Park Drive has a northbound offramp from the westbound Queensway and no other ramps. Hampton Park is north of the Queensway and borders Island Park Drive.

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are prohibited from Island Park Drive, which is a two-lane arterial road with a 40 km/h (25 mph) speed limit due to the

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nature. The parkway has a length of 3 km (1.9 mi), or 4 km (2.5 mi) if the Champlain Bridge is included.

History

Island Park Drive, then called the West End Driveway, was opened in 1923. It predates the Champlain Bridge, which opened in 1927; prior to that, the road ended at the edge of the Ottawa River. The parkway previously had multiple

roundabouts A roundabout, a rotary and a traffic circle are types of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junct ...

along its length. The roundabout at Richmond Road was removed in 1957, and a 5-way roundabout marked its southern terminus with

Carling Avenue Carling Avenue is a major east–west arterial road in the west end of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It runs from March Road in Kanata to Bronson Avenue in the Glebe. The road is named for John Carling, founder of Carling Brewery and Conservative M ...

, Holland Avenue, and the NCC Driveway for some time around 1945. These are all now signalized intersections. During the summer of 2007, the Highway 417 overpass was replaced using a rapid replacement technology technique which uses heavy lift and rolling equipment. This process lifted out the old bridges and replaced them with new bridges built nearby. The full operation, which required about 15 hours, occurred during the night of 11-12 August 2007, and it is the first time that this method was used in Canada, although it previously was used in other countries including the

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. Multiple similar operations have since taken place along the 417 in Ottawa, including at

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and

Gallery

File:Island Park Drive.jpg, West End Driveway in the 1920s. File:Residence Peruvian Ambassador Ottawa, Island Park Drive.jpg, Residence of the Peruvian Ambassador to Canada at the intersection with Helena Street.

References

{{Ottawa Roads Roads in Ottawa National Capital Commission Diplomatic districts Parkways in Ontario