Ottawa River Parkway - History

History

The River Parkway was first proposed as part of Greber plans for Ottawa in the 1940s. The parkway was built by purchasing former rail lands along the waterfront, and the purchase of private riverfront houses. The Parkway was designed as a scenic drive, with commercial vehicles prohibited. At the time of its construction, Carling Avenue was part of Ontario Highway 17, and the Parkway provided an alternative, scenic drive to the parliamentary precinct. When the Queensway freeway was constructed the River Parkway was not extended to the Queensway, and access from the Queensway is marked from the Richmond Road interchange.

In the 1990s, the expansion of the bridge at Island Park was a major issue. The National Capital Commission proposed a fully grade-separated interchange to the River Parkway, with a major expansion in capacity of the bridge over the river. Organized opposition in Ottawa to the plans led to a reduced plan by the NCC. The bridge is three lanes, with the direction of the middle lane switched during different hours of the day. The NCC also built a signalized intersection at Tunney's Pasture at the time.

The construction of the new Canada War Museum on Booth Street was done in conjunction with a re-routing of the section of the River Parkway in the area. The River Parkway's original route parallelled the river bank, bypassing the Lebreton Flats area, passing over Booth Street on an overpass, terminating at the Portage Bridge intersection. The War Museum now occupies the river side location of the old Parkway. The new route connects from just south-west of the Portage Bridge intersection, along a route several hundred metres to the south, passing through Lebreton Flats and intersecting with area streets at signalized intersections. The intersection with Booth Street prohibits turns from Booth Street onto the River Parkway.

Ottawa has proposed to extend its light rail transit network west from downtown. The light rail network may be constructed along the Parkway, a proposal already creating opposition as of 2010.

In 2012, the Ottawa River Parkway was renamed to honour Canada’s first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald. Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, MP for Ottawa West-Nepean announced the change on August 15, 2012. The renaming followed a grass roots campaign led by author and historian Bob Plamondon and Ottawa media personality Mark Sutcliffe.