NCC gets early start on car-free parkways

Photo: Residents enjoy cycling in May, 2020. Photo by Farah Kahn/OttawaStart.com.

In addition to the existing weekends-only closure of the Queen Elizabeth Driveway, the National Capital Commission will now close the Sir John A. MacDonald and Sir George-Étienne Cartier Parkways to cars this weekend to enable active use.

On Friday morning, the NCC provided details of the closures:

Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway (9 kilometres): 8 am to 4 pm 
Both westbound lanes of the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway, located on the south side of the Ottawa River just west of the downtown core, from Booth Street to Carling Avenue.    

Sir George-Étienne Cartier Parkway (8 kilometres): 8 am to 4 pm 
Both lanes of the Sir George-Étienne Cartier Parkway, running along the south side of the Ottawa River, just east of the downtown core, between the Aviation Parkway and St. Joseph Boulevard in Orléans.    

That means these segments of the road will be closed to motor vehicles, and can instead be used for outdoor activity such as walking, running or cycling.

Both lanes of the Q.E.D. are already closed every weekend from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for a 2.4km stretch from Fifth Ave. to Somerset St.

“We will provide more information later this month on the parkway programming planned for the rest of the season including for the Gatineau Park parkways, following our recent online public survey,” the NCC said in a press release.