Preston Street ( Ottawa Road #73) is a street 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, running between Scott Street in the north and

Prince of Wales Drive Prince of Wales Drive ( Ottawa Road #73) is a road serving Ottawa, Ontario, named after the eponymous road in Battersea, London, U.K. The northern section is a low-speed street running along the west bank of the Rideau River, while southern por ...

and

Queen Elizabeth Driveway Queen Elizabeth Driveway is a scenic parkway in Ottawa, Canada, that runs along the western edge of the Rideau Canal. It runs from Laurier Avenue (Ottawa), Laurier Avenue in the north to Dow's Lake where it turns into Prince of Wales Drive (Ottawa ...

in the south. It is the main commercial artery in

Little Italy Little Italy is a general name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Italians or people of Italian ancestry, usually in an urban neighborhood. The concept of "Little Italy" holds many different aspects of the Italian culture. There are ...

, home to numerous small business and Italian restaurants, and is synonymous with "Little Italy" to many Ottawa residents when referring to area businesses. Preston Street is marked at

Carling Avenue Carling Avenue is a major east–west arterial road in the west end of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It runs from March Road in Kanata to Bronson Avenue in the Glebe. The road is named for John Carling, founder of Carling Brewery and Conservative M ...

by a metal arch lit in the colours of the

Italian flag The national flag of Italy ( it, Bandiera d'Italia, ), often referred to in Italian as ''il Tricolore'' ( en, the Tricolour, ) is a tricolour (flag), tricolour featuring three equally sized vertical Pale (heraldry), pales of green, white and red, ...

, built in 2002 to attract tourists from the

Dow's Lake Dow's Lake in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada is a small man-made lake on the Rideau Canal, situated two kilometres north of Hog's Back Falls in the middle of Ottawa. It is at the south end of Preston Street, just south of Carling Avenue, and just to th ...

area immediately to the south. At the same intersection is the tallest building in Ottawa, the residential condominium tower

Claridge Icon The Claridge Icon is a 45-storey condominium tower under construction in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located at the intersection of Carling Avenue and Preston Street in Little Italy. When the structure topped out in 2019, it became the tallest ...

. Since 1974, Preston and its side streets are closed to traffic each June for the Italian Week festival, Ottawa's celebration of Italian culture. Preston Street has been given a commemorative Italian name ''Corso Italia''. In 1986, the Preston Street Business Improvement Area was formed, representing local businesses to the City of Ottawa. In 2015, Preston was temporarily extended north from Albert Street to

Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway The Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway, formerly the Ottawa River Parkway, is a four-lane scenic parkway along the Ottawa River in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It runs from Carling Avenue near Connaught Avenue, to Booth Street at the Canadian War Muse ...

in order to serve as the main arterial to

Gatineau Gatineau ( ; ) is a city in western Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, immediately across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region and is part of Canada's N ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

while Booth Street was being closed due to the

Confederation Line The Confederation Line (french: Ligne de la Confédération), also called O-Train Line 1 (french: Ligne 1 de l'O-Train), is a light rail line operated by OC Transpo in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, as part of the city's O-Train light rail system. I ...

construction. Preston is either named for former city treasurer John Honey Preston or alderman George Honey Preston.

References

External links

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Preston Street Business Improvement Association
Roads in Ottawa {{Ontario-road-stub