Airport Parkway ( Ottawa Route 79) is an expressway in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. It runs from the

Ottawa Macdonald–Cartier International Airport Ottawa/Macdonald–Cartier International Airport or Macdonald–Cartier International Airport (french: L'aéroport international Macdonald-Cartier) is the main international airport serving Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and its metropolitan area kno ...

to an interchange with

Heron Road Heron Road (Ottawa Road #16) is a major road in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It runs from Walkley Road at an angle to the Rideau River, where it turns into Baseline Road. Heron is home to the Public Works and Government Services Canada headquarters, t ...

where it turns into

Bronson Avenue Bronson Avenue ( Ottawa Road #79) is a major north-south arterial road in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It starts as a continuation of the Airport Parkway, which is an expressway to the Macdonald-Cartier International Airport. It continues past Carl ...

Route description

Airport Parkway is a

two-lane expressway A two-lane expressway or two-lane freeway is an expressway or freeway with only one lane in each direction, and usually no median barrier. It may be built that way because of constraints, or may be intended for expansion once traffic volumes ris ...

for most of its length, and is home to one of Ontario's only two

single-point urban interchange A single-point urban interchange (SPUI, or ), also called a single-point interchange (SPI) or single-point diamond interchange (SPDI), is a type of highway interchange. The design was created in order to help move large volumes of traffic thro ...

s at its

Hunt Club Road Hunt Club Road, also known as Ottawa Road 32, is a major east–west route in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It originally ran from a dead end east of Bank Street to the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club; later, there were many extensions due to the 1970s ho ...

exit. The speed limit is for its entire length. The Airport Parkway begins after leaving the airport, where it immediately interchanges with Lester Road. The Parkway turns northwards and traverses through some forest before encountering Hunt Club Road, which it interchanges it with an SPUI, the only kind in Canada. After that, the Parkway passes under a pedestrian overpass and runs parallel to the Transitway. The Parkway then meets Walkley Road with a partial interchange. After that, it is flanked by residential neighbourhoods before interchanging with Brookfield Road, and the Parkway ends shortly after as it interchanges with Heron Road. The Parkway continues as Bronson Avenue and loses its expressway status.

History

Until 1997, Airport Parkway was maintained by the federal government of Canada under the jurisdiction of the

National Capital Commission The National Capital Commission (NCC; french: Commission de la capitale nationale, CCN) is the Crown corporation responsible for development, urban planning, and conservation in Canada's Capital Region (Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec), i ...

Juno Beach Memorial Bridge

The Juno Beach Memorial Bridge is a footbridge spanning the Airport Parkway just north of Hunt Club Road. It is an important link connecting communities west of the Parkway to the

South Keys Shopping Centre South Keys Shopping Centre, officially SmartCentres Ottawa South, is a shopping centre in the South Keys neighbourhood of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is owned and operated by SmartCentres. The power centre is built on 56 acres of land with 486, ...

and the South Keys bus station. Construction of the Juno Beach Memorial Bridge began in June 2011. After multiple delays due to material and design flaws, the bridge opened 3 years behind schedule and $5.5 million over budget in November 2014. It was officially named in November 2019.

Future

The road has had 300 collisions and three fatalities since 2000, making it the focus of future improvements. There has been some discussing in twinning it to a four-lane expressway or freeway, although those discussions have stalled due to local controversy.

Exit list

The following is a list of exits along Airport Parkway. Some exits on Bronson Avenue are also included.

References

{{Ottawa Roads Roads in Ottawa Parkways in Ontario