Ottawa Road 174, formerly Ottawa-Carleton Regional Road 174 and commonly referred to as Highway 174, is a municipal expressway and numbered road in the

City of Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core of the Ottawa–Gatinea ...

which serves the eastern suburbs of

Orléans Orléans (,"Orleans"
(US) and Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

. The four-lane freeway segment between Highway 417/Aviation Parkway junction to Trim Road (Ottawa Road57) is also known as the Queensway, in addition the ''Queensway'' name continues to be applied to Highway417 west of that intersection. Although the road continues through the towns of Rockland and Hawkesbury to the

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

border, the portion east of the Ottawa city boundary is known as Prescott and Russell County Road17. Originally the alignment of Highway 17, which was the route of the

Trans-Canada Highway The Trans-Canada Highway (Canadian French, French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the A ...

between Ottawa and the Quebec border, Regional Road174 (as it was then designated) was created on April1, 1997 when the provincial government transferred responsibility for portions of the road to the township of Gloucester and the township of Cumberland and moved the Trans-Canada route onto Highway417. The road was extended by a second transfer on January1, 1998, bringing it to its current length. On March 28, 2024,

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 ...

Premier Doug Ford announced Highway 174 will be uploaded to the province of Ontario.

Route description

Ottawa Road174 is a freewayThe City of Ottawa classifies Ottawa Road174 as a "''City Freeway''" from Highway417 to approximately east of Trim Road (Ottawa Road57), and an

arterial road An arterial road or arterial thoroughfare is a high-capacity urban road that sits below highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights o ...

thereafter to the Ottawa city limits. on the east side of Ottawa that extends from ''The Split'' — an interchange with Highway417 — to the city limits at Canaan Road. The segment between the Highway417 junction and Trim Road is a four-lane

controlled-access highway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

, while the remainder east of Trim Road is a rural two lane

. Dedicated

OC Transpo OC Transpo is the primary Transit district, public transport agency for the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, operating bus rapid transit, light rail, conventional transit bus, bus routes, and door-to-door paratransit in the nation's capital regi ...

bus lanes are in the shoulder lanes in each direction from

Blair Road Blair Road (Ottawa Road #27) is a road in the eastern part of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It begins just south of the Sir George-Étienne Cartier Parkway, but does not connect to the parkway, except for a small bike-path connection to the Ottawa R ...

to Place d'Orléans. At the United Counties of Prescott and Russell county line it becomes Prescott-Russell County Road 17, which continues to Hawkesbury. Beginning at the split with Highway417, the opposing lanes of Ottawa Road174 (henceforth referred to as Highway174) converge together as a divided four lane highway, and proceed northeast into the Beacon Hill neighbourhood of Ottawa. An interchange serves Blair Road (Ottawa Road27), after which a pair of

bus lane A bus lane or bus-only lane is a lane restricted to buses, generally to speed up public transport that would be otherwise held up by traffic congestion. The related term busway describes a roadway completely dedicated for use by buses, whilst ...

s join the outside of the highway. Construction is underway on Stage2 of

O-Train The O-Train is a light rail system in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, operated by OC Transpo. The O-Train system consists of three lines, all of which are fully Grade separation, grade-separated. As of March 2025, one line is currently being extended an ...

's Line 1, which will result in an LRT between the opposing lanes of the freeway from east of Blair Road to Trim Road. The route curves northward to run parallel to Green Creek within the Greenbelt along the southeast side of Gloucester, before encountering an interchange with Montreal Road (Ottawa Road34, and the original route of Highway17). After curving back to the northeast and crossing Green Creek, the highway passes through farm fields then enters the

bedroom community A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

Orléans Orléans (,"Orleans"
(US) and Highway174 travels in a straight line for approximately through the northern part of Orléans, with interchanges at Jeanne D'Arc Boulevard (Ottawa Road55) and Champlain Street within the Covenant Glen neighbourhood. Between the two interchanges, the highway is crossed by Orleans Boulevard, while the Place d'Orléans shopping mall is located at the latter interchange. A final interchange, with Tenth Line Road (Ottawa Road 47/47A), lies northeast of the mall. The divided road ends shortly after an at-grade intersection with Trim Road and the route narrows to two lanes. Beyond Trim Road, Highway174 gradually curves east and follows along the southern shore of 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 ...

. It passes through the village of

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

, where it is briefly sandwiched between the river and the original routing of Highway17 along Old Montreal Road. It passes north of the Cumberland Heritage Village Museum and exits the village. Highway174 ends shortly thereafter at an intersection with Canaan Road. Prescott-Russell County Road17 continues beyond the intersection towards Hawkesbury and the Quebec boundary.

History

Ottawa-Carleton_Regional_Road_174_Shield

Highway174 was created on April1, 1997, when the

Ministry of Transportation of Ontario The Ministry of Transportation (MTO) is the provincial ministry of the Government of Ontario that is responsible for transport infrastructure and related law in Ontario, Canada. The ministry traces its roots back over a century to the 1890s, w ...

transferred the responsibility of maintenance and upkeep along of Highway17, between Highway417 and Trim Road (Regional Road57), to the township of Gloucester and the township of Cumberland.

Predecessors

The alignment of Highway174 originated during the late 1940s. Aiming to bypass the winding and hilly route between Montreal and Ottawa, the Department of Highways, predecessor to the Ministry of Transportation, planned a new route for Highway17. The majority of this new route was built along the right-of-way of a former

Canadian Northern Railway The Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) was a historic Canada, Canadian transcontinental railway. At its 1923 merger into the Canadian National Railway , the CNoR owned a main line between Quebec City and Vancouver via Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Edmonto ...

track. Construction began in 1947 at Green's Creek, east of Gloucester, and proceeded east towards Rockland. Another contract, which began in August 1949, extended construction beyond Trim Road to Canaan Road. The new route, which was internally referred to as Highway17 Alt, was completed and opened to traffic on November10, 1952. However, it was not given unique designation until 1955. To the west, construction of the Queensway was soon to begin. It was a major part of the Greber Plan, which was produced by

Jacques Gréber Jacques-Henri-Auguste Gréber (10 September 1882 – 5 June 1962) was a French architect specializing in landscape architecture and urban design. He was a strong proponent of the Beaux-Arts style and a contributor to the City Beautiful movement ...

under the direction of Prime Minister

Mackenzie King William Lyon Mackenzie King (December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadian statesman and politician who was the tenth prime minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms from 1921 to 1926, 1926 to 1930, and 1935 to 1948. A Liberal ...

in the late 1940s. Although Gréber had been corresponding with King as early as 1936,

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 ...

halted any plans from reaching fruition at that time. Following the war, Gréber was again contacted and his expertise requested. He arrived on October 2, 1945 and began working almost immediately. The Greber Plan was released in 1950 and presented to the House of Commons on May 22, 1951. The plan called for the complete reorganization of Ottawa's road and rail network, and included amongst the numerous

parkways 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 par ...

was an east to west expressway along what was then a

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue a ...

line. With the rail lines removed, construction of the new expressway got underway in 1957 when Queen Elizabeth visited Ottawa to open the first session of the 23rd Parliament. On October 15, the Queen detonated dynamite charges from the Hurdman Bridge, which now overlooks the highway as it crosses the Rideau River, and formally dedicated the new project as the Queensway. At the ceremony, premier

Leslie Frost Leslie Miscampbell Frost (September 20, 1895 – May 4, 1973) was a politician in Ontario, Canada, who served as the province's 16th premier from May 4, 1949, to November 8, 1961. Due to his lengthy tenure, he gained the nickname "Old Man O ...

indicated that the entire project would cost C$31 million and emphasized the importance of the link to the

. The Queensway was constructed in four phases, each opening independently. The section from Alta Vista Drive (now Riverside Drive) east to the split between Highway17 (Montreal Road) and Highway17 Alt was the first phase, and was opened to traffic on November25, 1960, extending west to the Rideau River. Construction of a new freeway between Ottawa and Montreal, entirely bypassing the route of Highway17, began in the late 1960s. Contracts to construct the route were opened to bidding on November15, 1968; construction began in May 1969 starting at Base Line Road (now Ramsayville Road) and proceeding easterly. The segment of this new freeway that linked to the Queensway at ''The Split'' was the final one to open, on December2, 1975. The portion of the Queensway west of the new interchange became part of Highway417 by 1980, while the portion to the east remained part of Highway17.

Extension of four-laning

The portion of Highway17 immediately east of Montreal Road quickly became known for routine fatal accidents. During the course of a 27-month study conducted between 1966 and 1969, 56deaths occurred on what had by then become known as the "killer strip". However, the provincial government was reluctant to upgrade the highway due to the construction of Highway417 between Ottawa and the

boundary, which it expected would handle the majority of traffic. However, despite the completion of Highway417 at the end of 1975, crashes continued to occur on the stretch Highway17 west of Champlain Street, including 132 in 1978, 5 of which were fatal. Residents and local politicians began a campaign by early 1979, pressuring the provincial government to widen the route and build interchanges. The province announced the widening of Highway17 from Montreal Road to Champlain Street on April 15, 1980; construction began in late May and was scheduled for completion in November, but would not include any

grade-separation In civil engineering (more specifically highway engineering), grade separation is a method of aligning a junction (traffic), junction of two or more surface transport axes at different heights (grade (slope), grades) so that they will not disr ...

s or interchanges. The Jeanne D'Arc Boulevard interchange was built in 1985. Studies began in 1986 to examine the Highway17 corridor east of Ottawa, and recommended that the route be widened between Champlain Street and Trim Road. Reconstruction of the section between Champlain Street and Trim Road was officially announced on May17, 1988. Work began in mid-1990, with the highway being detoured onto the future offramps to Champlain Street to allow the at-grade intersection to be rebuilt. the Champlain Street/Place d'Orleans interchange and the Tenth Line Road interchange were opened along with the widened Highway17 on November4, 1994. Despite the protests of the city that the road served a provincial purpose, a second round of transfers saw Highway17 east of Ottawa downloaded entirely on January1, 1998 adding to the length of Regional Road174. The Trans-Canada Highway designation was subsequently moved from the former Highway17 to Highway417. Ottawa immediately renumbered the transferred sections of Highway17 as Regional Road174. Regional Road174 was renamed Ottawa Road174 when the Regional Municipality of Ottawa–Carleton amalgamated with the municipalities of the region to form the new

in 2001. The region, and later city, as well as the neighbouring county of Prescott-Russell, have petitioned the provincial government to "upload" the route back into the provincial highway network since then, and as recently as December 2021. Despite no further work occurring since 1994 to extend the widening beyond Trim Road, several Environmental Assessments (EAs) have taken place since 1988, particularly to widen the segment between Trim Road and Prescott-Russell County Road8 (Landry Road) near Rockland to a

limited-access highway A limited-access road, known by various terms worldwide, including limited-access highway, partial controlled-access highway, and expressway, is a highway or arterial road for high-speed traffic which has many or most characteristics of a contro ...

with a central concrete barrier.

Recent Developments

A significant portion of the upcoming Line 1

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

, which has been under construction since 2013, would run in the median of the Ottawa Road 174 freeway section. While several LRT stations could be built adjacent to the existing overpasses crossing the freeway, the

Montreal Road Montreal Road (French: ''Chemin de Montréal''), also known as List of numbered routes in Ottawa, Ottawa Road #34, is a major east-west Ottawa road that links Lower Town, Lowertown to Vanier, Ontario, Vanier and the farther eastern neighbourhoo ...

underpasses had to be rebuilt in order to accommodate the new Montréal station. The existing Blair Road flyover ramps, currently for bus traffic only, were demolished in favor of a new flyover bridge that would carry the LRT trains from Blair station into the highway's median

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/lrt-confederation-line-montreal-road-1.5828570] On March 28, 2024,

Premier Doug Ford announced a phased plan to guide the upload of Ottawa Road 174 to the province. The announcement was made alongside

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 ...

Mayor Mark Sutcliffe. The deal between the provincial and municipal government was made as a part of a larger agreement for city funding. The funding included maintenance and rehabilitation for Ottawa Road 174 while a three-stage phased assessment of potential provincial ownership of the road is underway.

Major intersections

References

Explanatory notes

{{Ontario Controlled Access Highways Roads in Ottawa Former segments of the Trans-Canada Highway Municipal expressways in Ontario