Queen Elizabeth Driveway is a scenic
parkway
A parkway is a landscaped thoroughfare.''"parkway."''Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. Merriam-Webster, 2002. http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com (14 Apr. 2007). The term is particularly used for a roadway in a park o ...
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 ...
, Canada, that runs along the western edge of the
Rideau Canal
The Rideau Canal, also known unofficially as the Rideau Waterway, connects Canada's capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, to Lake Ontario and the Saint Lawrence River at Kingston. It is 202 kilometres long. The name ''Rideau'', French for "curtain", ...
.
It runs from
Laurier Avenue in the north to
Dow's Lake where it turns into
Prince of Wales Drive. It is administered and owned by 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 ...
(NCC).
The drive was one of the first projects of the NCC. The NCC replaced the Federal District Commission (FDC), which had been created in 1927, and the even earlier Ottawa Improvement Commission.
The two-lane road replaced the industrial buildings and private boathouses that had stood along the canal. The drive was lined with trees and gardens, and a series of large houses were built along it. It was originally known as the Government Driveway but was soon renamed the Rideau Canal Driveway. Several decades later it was given its current name. The speed limit for most of its length is 60 km/h (37 mph).
In the 1950s a similar route was created on the eastern edge of the canal, the
Colonel By Drive.
Along the entire length of the Drive is a multi-use
trail
A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or small road usually passing through a natural area. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a path or footpath is the preferred term for a pedestrian or hiking trail. ...
as part of the
Capital Pathway
The Capital Pathway, also known informally as the Bike Path, is a recreational pathway interlinking many parks, waterways and sites in Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec. Most of the pathway is paved, and allows an almost continuous route th ...
system.
References
{{Ottawa Roads
Roads in Ottawa
Parkways in Ontario
National Capital Commission