Queen Elizabeth Driveway

Scenic parkway in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Queen Elizabeth Driveway

Queen Elizabeth Driveway highlighted in red

Looking east along Dow's Lake

Route information
Maintained by National Capital Commission
Length| 5.7 km (3.5 mi)
Major junctions
South end| Preston Avenue
North end| Laurier Avenue
Location
Country| Canada
Province| Ontario
Major cities| Ottawa
Highway system

* NCC parkways in Ottawa

| (in alphabetical order)

← Kichi Zibi Mikan

| Queen Elizabeth Driveway |

Sir George-Étienne Cartier Parkway →

Not to be confused with Queen Elizabeth Way.

Queen Elizabeth Driveway is a scenic parkway in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

## Route description

[edit]

The parkway runs along the western edge of the Rideau Canal, from Laurier Avenue in the north to Dow's Lake where it turns into Prince of Wales Drive at Preston Avenue.[1] Along the entire length of the Drive is a multi-use trail as part of the Capital Pathway system.

## History

[edit]

It is administered and owned by the National Capital Commission (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.[2] 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.[citation needed] 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.

Portions of the parkway are regularly closed to vehicular traffic in the summer months for active use such as cycling. This sparked major debate in 2023, with city councilors and Ottawa mayor Mark Sutcliffe 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.[3] Despite the pushback, the NCC has continued this initiative in 2024 and is exploring the feasibility of installing bicycle lanes on the parkway.[4]

## See also

[edit]

* Royal eponyms in Canada

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Vlasveld, Mike (Jan 30, 2020). "Winterlude road closures mainly on Queen Elizabeth Driveway and Gatineau's Laurier Street". ottawamatters.com. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
2. ^ "Brown's Inlet and the Driveway of the Southwest Glebe". Heritage Ottawa. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
3. ^ Pringle, Josh (2023-09-28). "Drivers, active-users split on future of Queen Elizabeth Driveway, poll finds". CTV News Ottawa. Retrieved 2024-05-18.
4. ^ "Portion of Queen Elizabeth Driveway to be completely vehicle-free this summer, NCC says". Ottawa Citizen. 2024-04-23. Retrieved 2024-05-17.

KML file (edit • help)

Template:Attached KML/Queen Elizabeth Driveway

KML is from Wikidata

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Federal parkways|

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