The city of
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
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
maintains many
regional roads, like most counties and regional municipalities in
Southern
Southern may refer to:
Businesses
* China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China
* Southern Airways, defunct US airline
* Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US
* Southern Airways Express, M ...
and
Eastern Ontario. The regional road system was created by the
Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
(RMOC) and managed by the RMOC until 2001. In 2001, when all six cities, four townships, and one village within the former RMOC amalgamated to form the new city of Ottawa, responsibility of the regional road system was transferred to the new city of Ottawa, and they became today's “Ottawa roads”.
In general, even-numbered routes run east-west and odd-numbered routes run north-south. Also, the lowest-numbered routes are generally found in the southern part of the city for even (east-west) numbered routes, and in the western part for odd (north-south) numbered routes. This pattern, however, has many exceptions. As more roads were added to the numbered-road system, the availability of numbers decreased and consequently, the numbering pattern had to be broken.
In smaller communities and rural areas the numbered roads are, for the most part, adequately signed with trapezoid-shaped signs with rounded corners, which are often referred to as "flowerpots" due to the shape of the sign. Older signs installed prior to 2001 have the legend "Ottawa-Carleton" at the top with the route number underneath. Newer signs installed after 2001 use the legend "Ottawa" or simply the "O" portion of the city's wordmark. Most numbered-road signs are not marked with directional tabs indicating the direction of the road (i.e. North, South, East, West), but where these appear, they are always printed in both English and French.
Most numbered roads in the urban areas of Ottawa are not signed with route numbers, despite having official route numbers and being listed on many maps with these numbers. Instead, most urban sections of numbered roads are referred to by their names. Ottawa's city council adopted an updated route-numbering policy in 2005, under which road numbers are no longer posted inside the
Greenbelt
A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which hav ...
except for significant roads such as
Ottawa Road 174
Ottawa Road 174, formerly Ottawa-Carleton Regional Road 174 and commonly referred to as Highway 174,
is a List of numbered roads in Ottawa, city-maintained road in the City of Ottawa which serves the eastern suburbs of Orléans, Ontario, Orléans ...
, a former provincial highway, which is now usually known as "The 174".
This effectively makes most Ottawa Roads within the greenbelt only used for internal purposes, as they are not signed. This is especially the case for Ottawa Roads 70, 78, 82, 105, and 113 which have little to no public record, due to the fact that they were likely numbered after numbering was discontinued in the downtown core.
During the mass downloading of
Ontario's provincial highways onto regional authorities in 1997 and 1998, the former
Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
was given responsibility over former Highways
16,
31, 44, and the section of
17 east of
Highway 417
The following highways are numbered 417:
Canada
* Manitoba Provincial Road 417
* Newfoundland and Labrador Route 417
* Ontario Highway 417
Costa Rica
* National Route 417
Iceland
* Route 417
Japan
* Japan National Route 417
United States
* ...
. These former highways became known as Regional Roads (subsequently Ottawa Roads) 73, 31, 49, and 174, respectively.
List
Former Numbered Roads
General Patterns
Even-numbered roads (East-West Direction)
Odd-numbered roads (North-South Direction)
See also
*
List of roads in Ottawa
*
List of Ontario county numbered roadsGeoOttawa (City of Ottawa's mapping software; only shows road numbers in rural areas)Official road map of Ontario (shows most major numbered roads in Ontario)Map of Ottawa (2007) (Displays most numbered roads as of 2007)City of Ottawa Official Plan Maps (Display most numbered roads)Ottawa-Carleton Regional Roads Report
References
{{Ontario numbered highways
Roads in Ottawa
Ontario county roads
Roads, Numbered
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 ...