Queen Elizabeth Driveway is a scenic

parkway A parkway is a landscaped thoroughfare. The term is particularly used for a roadway in a park or connecting to a park from which trucks and other heavy vehicles are excluded. Over the years, many different types of roads have been labeled p ...

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 Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Route description

The parkway runs along the western edge of the

Rideau Canal The Rideau Canal is a 202-kilometre long canal that links the Ottawa River at Ottawa with the Cataraqui River and Lake Ontario at Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Its 46 Lock (water navigation), locks raise boats from the Ottawa River 83 metres (272 ...

, from

Laurier Avenue Laurier Avenue (; Ottawa Road #48) is a central east west street running through Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Originally known as "Maria Street" (west of Waller) and "Theodore Street" (east of Waller), it was renamed in honour of Canadian Prime M ...

in the north to

Dow's Lake Dow's Lake in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada is a small man-made lake on the Rideau Canal, situated two kilometres north of Hog's Back Falls in the middle of Ottawa. It is at the southern end of Preston Street, just south of Carling Avenue, and just ...

where it turns into Prince of Wales Drive at Preston Avenue. Along the entire length of the Drive is a multi-use

trail A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or a small paved road (though it can also be a route along a navigable waterways) generally not intended for usage by motorized vehicles, usually passing through a natural area. Ho ...

as part of the

Capital Pathway The Capital Pathway, also known informally as the Bike Path, is a recreational pathway interlinking many parks, waterways and sites in Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec. Most of the pathway is paved, and allows an almost continuous route th ...

system.

History

It is administered and owned by the

National Capital Commission The National Capital Commission (NCC; , CCN) is the Crown corporation responsible for development, urban planning, and conservation in Canada's Capital Region (Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec), including administering most lands and build ...

(NCC). The parkway was one of the first projects of the NCC. The NCC replaced the Federal District Commission (FDC), which had been created in 1927, and the even earlier Ottawa Improvement Commission. The two-lane road replaced the industrial buildings and private boathouses that had stood along the canal. The drive was lined with trees and gardens, and a series of large houses were built along it. It was originally known as the Government Driveway but was soon renamed the Rideau Canal Driveway. Several decades later it was given its current name. The speed limit for most of its length is 60 km/h (37 mph). In the 1950s a similar route was created on the eastern edge of the canal, the

Colonel By Drive Colonel By Drive () is an long scenic parkway in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Route description The parkway runs along the Rideau Canal from the end of Sussex Drive (Ottawa), Sussex Drive at Rideau Street (Ottawa), Rideau Street. It then continu ...

. Portions of the parkway are regularly closed to vehicular traffic in the summer months for active use such as

cycling Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

. This sparked major debate in 2023, with city councilors and Ottawa mayor

Mark Sutcliffe Mark Sutcliffe (born July 14, 1968) is a Canadian politician who has been the 59th mayor of Ottawa since 2022. Before entering politics, he hosted ''Ottawa Today'' on 1310News radio. Sutcliffe is the first Chinese Canadian and person from a ...

calling on the NCC to reopen the parkway to vehicular traffic in whole or in part, citing traffic and safety concerns. City of Ottawa data has shown that the closure of the parkway leads to increased traffic on

O'Connor Street O'Connor Street is a downtown arterial road in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is a north–south route, operating one way southbound, providing a key thoroughfare parallel to Bank Street. The roadway begins at Wellington Street, at Parliament Hil ...

. Despite the pushback, the NCC has continued this initiative in 2024 and is exploring the feasibility of installing bicycle lanes on the parkway.

References

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

Route description

History

See also

References