Queen Elizabeth Driveway will be open this weekend, but not intended as commuter route: NCC

Crews will replace the Bronson Avenue overpass the weekend of July 13 to 17. (Google Streetview)

The Queen Elizabeth Driveway in Ottawa will be open to cars this coming weekend due to several events at TD Place and construction closing a section of Highway 417 at Bronson Avenue.

But the National Captial Commission said the road was not meant to be a commuter route.

• Ottawa Traffic: Here's what you need to know about the Highway 417 closure

Kiewit Dufferin Midtown Partnership has announced the closure of all eastbound and westbound lanes from Thursday, July 13 at 8 p.m. to Monday, July 17 at 6 a.m. for the replacement of the aging bridge over Bronson Avenue.

The closure will cause significant traffic headaches that will ripple across Ottawa those days. It also includes a closure of Bronson Avenue near the 417.

The National Capital Commission says with the traffic issues and weekend events on the horizon, its usual closure of the Queen Elizabeth Driveway to cars to allow people to walk, run, or cycle on the road will be suspended.

Both lanes of the Queen Elizabeth Driveway, located on the west side of the Rideau Canal, have been reserved for active use, between Fifth Avenue and Somerset Street from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily since Canada Day. Starting at 8 a.m. Friday, however, the program will be suspended until 8 p.m. Sunday, meaning drivers will be able to use the Queen Elizabeth Driveway for commuting.

In a statement to CTV News Ottawa on Wednesday, the NCC said roads such as the Queen Elizabeth Driveway, which are often closed for active use, were never intended to be commuter routes.

"This program, much like our Weekend Bikedays program on the Sir-George-Etienne Cartier and the Kichi Zībī Mīkan takes place on roadways that were always intended to serve as scenic routes, not commuter roadways."

People walk, ride bikes and inline skate on Queen Elizabeth Drive in Ottawa, as it is closed to motor vehicle traffic to allow people to get outdoors while practising physical distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic, on Sunday, May 3, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

"I'm not against active transportation but I am concerned about the number of roads that have been closed to vehicles over the last few months and even over the last couple of years," said Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe while speaking on Newstalk 580 CFRA's Ottawa at Work with Patricia Boal. "The National Capital Commission has been closing more and more of its routes and some of that has created problems for the flow of traffic."

Earlier this year, Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group CEO Mark Goudie said had seen documents suggesting the NCC had plans to permanently close the Queen Elizabeth Driveway to vehicles in the future, though the NCC said no decisions on the future of the road beyond 2023 had been made.

Sutcliffe said he's been raising his concerns with the NCC and they agreed to keep the road open to vehicles this weekend because of the bridge replacement on the Queensway. 

"I'm continuing to appeal to the NCC to recognize the traffic consequences that result from closing a road," he said. "There are already, in my view, great places to run and bike along Queen Elizabeth Drive. There's a fantastic pathway right by the way, which I use all the time, and when I'm on that path and the road is closed, I don't see a lot of cyclist and walkers and runners using the road. So, I don't know that we're getting as much benefit as perhaps the NCC hoped from that."

The NCC has been closing sections of the Queen Elizabeth Driveway since 2020, as a way to give people in some of the most population-dense neighbourhoods in the city a place to get outside during the COVID-19 pandemic. It has continued the program since then, sometimes operating only on weekends and holidays, and sometimes seven days a week.

Sutcliffe said drivers should be aware that driving this weekend will be complicated, but it will be worth it in the long run.

"The bridge replacement on the Queensway is a good thing, it's improving the infrastructure on the Queensway, but there are going to be traffic impacts," he said. "Everyone wants the work to be done and everybody's amazed at how quickly they do it, but when you're stuck in your car on the day they are doing it, it's not as exciting."

--With files from CTV News Ottawa's Leah Larocque