Queensway (Ottawa)
Encyclopedia
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, from Kanata
Kanata
Kanata is an aboriginal word meaning "village" or "settlement."- Name of Canada :Until the mid-20th century, the Mohawk word "kanata" was thought to have been the origin of Canada's name...
in the west to Orleans
Orléans, Ontario
Orleans , also written Orléans, is a suburban area within the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the eastern part of the city along the Ottawa River, about from downtown Ottawa. The Canada 2006 Census gave Orleans a population of 95,491. It became a ward of the City of Ottawa in 2001...
in the east. It is the primary east-west transportation artery in the Ottawa-Gatineau
National Capital Region (Canada)
The National Capital Region, also referred to as Canada's Capital Region, is an official federal designation for the Canadian capital of Ottawa, Ontario, the neighbouring city of Gatineau, Quebec, and surrounding urban and rural communities....
area.
The Queensway incorporates the section of Highway 417 from Highway 7
Highway 7 (Ontario)
King's Highway 7, commonly referred to as Highway 7 and historically as the Northern Highway, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario...
just west of Kanata to the junction with Regional Road 174 (formerly Highway 17
Highway 17 (Ontario)
King's Highway 17, more commonly known as Highway 17, is a provincially maintained highway and the primary route of the Trans-Canada Highway through the Canadian province of Ontario. It begins at the Manitoba border west of Kenora and ends south of Arnprior at the western terminus of Highway 417, ...
). It also includes Regional Road 174, which continues east to Orleans as a freeway. The Highway 417 section of the Queensway is owned and operated by the Province of Ontario, while Regional Road 174 is now operated by the City of Ottawa.
The junction between Highway 417 and Regional Road 174 (417 Exit # 113), is known locally as "the Split". The Highway 417 section is part of the Trans-Canada Highway
Trans-Canada Highway
The Trans-Canada Highway is a federal-provincial highway system that joins the ten provinces of Canada. It is, along with the Trans-Siberian Highway and Australia's Highway 1, one of the world's longest national highways, with the main route spanning 8,030 km...
system.
Description
The Queensway extends from Kanata in the west and passes just south of downtown through central Ottawa to Orleans in the east. It has two major interchanges, one in the west with the recently built Highway 416 Veterans Memorial Highway connecting to Highway 401; and in the east, where the 417 to Montreal diverges to the south-east and the eastern section of the Queensway continues as Regional Road 174. In the core section, it is eight lanes wide (4 lanes per direction), four lanes wide in the portion outside of the old City of Ottawa boundaries although locations there and elsewhere sometimes have an auxiliary lane.It is elevated on a berm
Berm
A berm is a level space, shelf, or raised barrier separating two areas. Berm originates in the Middle Dutch and German berme and came into usage in English via French.- History :...
along some central portions of its route providing views of downtown and the Gatineau Hills to the north. This central section was constructed along a former Canadian National Railway
Canadian National Railway
The Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad"....
railbed. Its route bisects central Ottawa, "inside" to the north including downtown and the Parliament Buildings; to the south, residential neighbourhoods including the Glebe.
Between Eagleson/March Road and Moodie Drive in the west and between Blair Road and Place d'Orléans Drive in the east, a bus-only shoulder is used by OCTranspo's Transitway rapid-transit network.
The posted speed limit on the entire Queensway is 100 km/h (62 mph), conforming to the standards of regular 400-series highways
400-series highways
The 400-series highways are a network of controlled-access highways throughout the southern portion of the Canadian province of Ontario, forming a special subset of the provincial highway system. They are analogous to the Interstate Highway System in the United States or the British Motorway...
. During rush hour
Rush hour
A rush hour or peak hour is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice a day—once in the morning and once in the evening, the times during when the most people commute...
, traffic volumes from commuters travelling from the downtown to the suburbs reduce speeds to a crawl for most of its length in both directions. In particular, the junction between Highway 417 and Regional Road 174 (the Split) in the east is considered by many to be poorly designed, as the westbound 174 converges from 3 lanes into 2 (1 being an exit to St. Laurent Blvd), leading to extensive morning traffic jams. The Ministry of Transportation of Ontario has announced plans to redesign and build The Split.
The section immediately west of the junction with Highway 416 also becomes congested, as up to five lanes converge into two, leading to extensive afternoon traffic jams; at that point the Queensway has the highest volume of any four-lane freeway in Ontario (although it is designed to accommodate future expansion in mind).
Several of the Queensway interchanges are homes to communities of groundhog
Groundhog
The groundhog , also known as a woodchuck, whistle-pig, or in some areas as a land-beaver, is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots. Other marmots, such as the yellow-bellied and hoary marmots, live in rocky and mountainous areas, but...
s. Most Ottawa commuters are familiar with the rodents, which entertain drivers during the warmer months. The animals are particularly numerous at the Nicholas Street entrance ramp.
Designation confusion
There is some disagreement as to exactly what constitutes the Queensway at its easternmost point. Most contend that the Queensway does not include Highway 417 east of the Split but includes Regional Road 174 east to Orleans instead, which is the basic alignment of the original Highway 17 connecting Ottawa and Montreal and the alignment of most of Ottawa's eastern population before 1997 provincial downloading.Some consider the Queensway to refer strictly to Highway 417, including the area of the 417 east (technically south) of the Split until it reaches Ottawa's city limits, since Highway 417 has been exclusively designated as part of the Trans-Canada Highway
Trans-Canada Highway
The Trans-Canada Highway is a federal-provincial highway system that joins the ten provinces of Canada. It is, along with the Trans-Siberian Highway and Australia's Highway 1, one of the world's longest national highways, with the main route spanning 8,030 km...
after provincial downloading in 1997.
A few actually include both highways when referring to the Queensway. Others claim the Queensway includes neither and ends at the Split entirely and Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) COMPASS Traffic cameras are only installed west of the Split.
Along with poor signage leading up to the Split, that often leads to confusion, for visitors and locals alike because of directions like "take the Queensway westbound (417), and exit to the Queensway eastbound (174)."
Historical designation
Prior to downloading in 1997, when 417 and 17 east of the Split were both provincial, older maps showed that the Queensway included to the brief freeway segment of Highway 17 east of the Split. The Highway 17 section followed the original direction of the Queenway from the west. Highway 417 turns to the south/east.The handover to municipal authorities complicated the designation since the downloaded Highway 17 east of the split in its entirety included the short freeway section (now known as Regional Road 174). The old definition of Queensway now refers to a roadway that is part (mostly) provincial and part municipal, causing confusion.
The old Queensway east of the Split and the old Highway 17 east of Ottawa was also the old routing of the Trans-Canada Highway
Trans-Canada Highway
The Trans-Canada Highway is a federal-provincial highway system that joins the ten provinces of Canada. It is, along with the Trans-Siberian Highway and Australia's Highway 1, one of the world's longest national highways, with the main route spanning 8,030 km...
before provincial downloading. Since then, all the Trans-Canada shields have been moved to the parallel Highway 417.
Origins
Named after Her Majesty Elizabeth IIElizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
, the central part of the Queensway was constructed in the 1950s and 1960s to replace the old Highway 17, which ran on city roads within the city limits. The new expressway alignment, which assumed the name Highway 17, is close to the route of the old highway that it bypassed and it connected to the conventional (two-lane rural road) Highway 17 at Montreal Road in the east and Richmond Road in the west. It first appeared in plans for the City as part of the Greber Plan
Greber Plan
The Greber Plan, or General Report on the Plan for the National Capital , was an urban plan developed in 1950 by Jacques Gréber for the Federal District Commission of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.Its main components were:...
of the National Capital Commission
National Capital Commission
The National Capital Commission , is a Canadian Crown corporation that administers the federally owned lands and buildings in Canada's National Capital Region, including Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec.The NCC was created in 1959, replacing the Federal District Commission , which had been...
, and is connected to most of the 'parkway' roads of Ottawa.
The central segment was completed in 1966, in time for the increased traffic going to Expo '67 in Montreal. The completion of the new Ottawa Station railway station and the closure of the old Union Station enabled the completion of the Nicholas interchange in the fall of 1966 and joined together the eastern and western segments of the Queensway.
Since then the Queensway has been extended to the east to Trim Road in Cumberland. In the west it has been expanded to Moodie, Eagleson, and Highway 7 west of Stittsville. From that point onwards, the name Queensway was never in common usage although Highway 417 was completed as four lanes to Arnprior.
The central parts of the Queensway have continued to be widened to six and even eight lanes wide in a few small sections. Several "cloverleaf" interchanges have been redesigned and traffic lights on the cross streets installed, some of this was in conjunction with adding bus ramps at Woodroffe and Pinecrest. The Alta Vista interchange was modified and renamed Riverside.
The central section from Alta Vista/Riverside Drive to Richmond Road was built on the former CNR rail line alignment. Outlying portions were built on what was then mostly open space. The stretch from Blair Road to Orleans Montreal Road was built near the old Canadian Northern Railway alignment abandoned in the 1920s. Some of the roadbed and bridge piers are still visible near Green's Creek.
Starting in the 1970s, with the completion of the new 417 highway from St Laurent Boulevard towards Montreal, the name Queensway has been used less and less and most government signage indicating Queensway has been removed over the years and replaced with 417 signs. The Queensway term, however, still remains in common use by many businesses nearby and most residents and news services still tend to use the term Queensway rather than 417.
Expansion
The initial road was a four-lane freeway, with a grass median, similar to some rural sections of other 400-series highways. It was rebuilt and expanded by the Province during several stages of the 1980s and 1990s to the point where the entire original right-of-way is filled. By the 1980s, it was divided by a Jersey barrierJersey barrier
A Jersey barrier or Jersey wall is a modular concrete barrier employed to separate lanes of traffic. It is designed to both minimize vehicle damage in cases of incidental contact while still preventing crossover in the case of head-on accidents....
and had the familiar provincial-style mercury truss lights and curved overhead signage similar to other 400-series highways. In the late 1990s, shorter conventional poles replaced the truss lights while newer sign gantries were installed, but the existing Jersey concrete median was retained instead of the newer "Ontario tall-wall" barrier.
Connections
Two new highways have been built to connect to the original Queensway.The Province of Ontario built a new Highway 417 from Ottawa to the Quebec border near Montreal. This new freeway connects to the Queensway just east of St. Laurent Boulevard and to the west of Orleans. At that time, in 1971, the Queensway from the split west became designated as part of Highway 417, while the section to the east was retained as Highway 17. The Ontario government 'downloaded' the maintenance of the eastern section in 1997, and the eastern section was designated Regional Road 174.
In the west, the provincial and federal governments built an upgrade/bypass for Highway 16 which ran south from Ottawa to Prescott to meet Highway 401. This new freeway, designated Highway 416, connects to the Queensway in Nepean.
2003-2007 MTO Study
Starting in 2003, the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO), developed plans (through an Environmental Assessment process) for an extensive upgrade of the infrastructure of Highway 417 from Highway 7Highway 7 (Ontario)
King's Highway 7, commonly referred to as Highway 7 and historically as the Northern Highway, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario...
(exit 145), easterly to Anderson Road (exit 104).
These expansion plans were resisted by several local community groups. Many of the preliminary plans of the MTO had been controversial, involving the expansion of lanes and off-ramps into residential areas.
In January 2007, the study was completed with recommendations to expand or rebuild sections of the highway. The entire length was recommended to be eight lanes wide, and many interchanges will be rebuilt for safety and capacity reasons. In particular, one interchange at Parkdale Avenue will be rebuilt by buying the houses on the south side of Westmount Avenue and moving the ramp to that location thus eliminating the use of Westmount Avenue as the off ramp. The recommendations were significantly scaled back from the beginning of the study process due to public opposition.
Island Park overpass
In August 2007, the Island Park Drive overpass was replaced using a new process novel to Ontario. Over a few months, a new replacement bridge was built nearby in Hampton Park. Once it was complete, the old overpass was removed by a special vehicle that lifted it called a Transporter and the new bridge dropped in place. The process was expected to be completed in one night, allowing traffic to resume using the highway the next morning. It ended up taking somewhat longer than expected but was still complete later in the same day.Expansion between Moodie Drive and Eagleson Road
In 2009, the Queensway was expanded to five lanes in both directions between Highway 416 and Eagleson Road. One lane in both directions continues to serve as a dedicated bus lane for the Ottawa Rapid TransitOttawa Rapid Transit
In Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, the public transit service operated by OC Transpo has two rapid transit systems: the Transitway, a bus rapid transit network, and the O-Train, a diesel-powered light rail transit service operated on one line.-Major routes:...
and one of the eastbound lanes serves as a full-time HOV lane. The expansion was made to alleviate the high rush-hour loads on the stretch, as well as traffic loads for events at Scotiabank Place
Scotiabank Place
Scotiabank Place is a multi-purpose arena, located in Kanata, a suburban district of Ottawa, Ontario. It is home to the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League. It has also hosted the Canadian University Men's Basketball Championship...
. As a result of this expansion, traffic from Highway 416 merging into the westbound lanes between the 416 interchange and Moodie Drive were divided, allowing drivers sufficient time to merge safely and to prevent drivers from attempting to navigate through three lanes of traffic in order to exit at Moodie Drive.
See also
- 400-Series Highways400-series highways (Ontario)The 400-series highways are a network of controlled-access highways throughout the southern portion of the Canadian province of Ontario, forming a special subset of the provincial highway system. They are analogous to the Interstate Highway System in the United States or the British Motorway...
- The Queensway for the most part belongs to this network.