'Few people are moving over from the pathway': Mayor renews call to reopen Queen Elizabeth Driveway to vehicles

Ottawa's mayor is renewing his call for the National Capital Commission to reopen a stretch of Queen Elizabeth Driveway to vehicles, saying statistics show between 30 and 100 cyclists an hour are using the road for active transportation.

"All that's really happening is a few people are moving over from the pathway to the road," Sutcliffe said in a video posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

"What's the result of that? It's a lot of inconvenience and congestion on neighbourhood streets, making it more difficult for everyone, including emergency vehicles, to get to where they are going."

• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App

The NCC opens Queen Elizabeth Driveway for active transportation seven days a week in the summer from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., closing the road to vehicles.

In July, Sutcliffe called on the NCC to open the road to vehicles every day, saying he does not "see a lot of cyclists and walkers and runners using the road."

Now, Sutcliffe is sharing statistics compiled by city of Ottawa staff about active transportation users on Queen Elizabeth Driveway to back his argument that the road should be reopened to vehicles.

According to statistics presented by the mayor, an average of 104.3 cyclists per hour was observed using the QED in July, and 1.7 cyclists per minute. Sutcliffe says, "Sometimes there are as few as 30 or 40 cyclists in an hour."

"What that means is that in some cases this stretch of road isn't being used at all for 30, 45 or even 90 seconds," Sutcliffe said, noting no cyclists passed him during the two and a half minutes he recorded the video.

"For comparison on Laurier Avenue, the bike lanes are used by thousands of people every day. That might be fine if there wasn't anywhere else for the cyclists to go or if it didn't cause any disruption, but the data shows that the existing recreational pathways, the pathways next to the canal, could easily accommodate those cyclists."

Statistics from the city of Ottawa show an average of 625 vehicles used the Queen Elizabeth Driveway in July 2019.

"Think about the number of cars that are displaced every single minute so that one or two cyclists can use the road instead of the pathway," Sutcliffe said.

An average of 1,866 cyclists a day was observed using the Rideau Canal Pathway and QED combined in July, compared to 3,144 cyclists a day using the pathway only in July 2019.

"I am against prioritizing one form of transportation over another or punishing drivers in a way that creates very little benefit for anyone else. I'm in favour of a balanced approach," Sutcliffe said.

"I think it's time for the NCC to reconsider its decision to close Queen Elizabeth Driveway to cars between Pretoria Bridge and Fifth Avenue, or at least to reopen it during the morning and afternoon rush hours and for popular events at Lansdowne Park and in the Glebe."

In July, the NCC said there had been nearly 50,000 visits to Queen Elizabeth Driveway since May. The road was open for active transportation on weekends in May and June.

The active transportation program on Queen Elizabeth Drive is cancelled this weekend due to construction on the Queensway.