Wellington Street (Ottawa)
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Wellington Street (French: ''Rue Wellington'') is a major
street A street is a public thoroughfare in a built environment. It is a public parcel of land adjoining buildings in an urban context, on which people may freely assemble, interact, and move about. A street can be as simple as a level patch of dirt, ...
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 ...
, Ottawa, Canada. The street is notable for being the main street of the Parliamentary Precinct of the
Parliament of Canada The Parliament of Canada (french: Parlement du Canada) is the federal legislature of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and is composed of three parts: the King, the Senate, and the House of Commons. By constitutional convention, the ...
. It is one of the first two streets laid out in
Bytown Bytown is the former name of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was founded on September 26, 1826, incorporated as a town on January 1, 1850, and superseded by the incorporation of the City of Ottawa on January 1, 1855. The founding was marked by a Grou ...
in 1826 (the other being the eastern leg of Wellington,
Rideau Street Rideau Street (french: Rue Rideau) is a major street in downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and one of Ottawa's oldest and most famous streets running from Wellington Street in the west to Montreal Road in the east where it connects to the Vanier ...
). The street runs from Vimy Place, just west of Booth Street, to 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", ...
where it connects with Rideau Street and delimits the northern border of the downtown core. It is named after the
Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of ...
, in recognition of his role in the creation of the Rideau Canal, and therefore of Ottawa (see
History of Ottawa The history of Ottawa, capital of Canada, was shaped by events such as the construction of the Rideau Canal, the lumber industry, the choice of Ottawa as the location of Canada's capital, as well as American and European influences and interaction ...
).


Route description

Starting at its easternmost point, Wellington forms the northern edge of
Confederation Square Confederation Square (french: Place de la Confédération) is an urban square in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and is considered the second most important ceremonial centre in Canada's capital city, after Parliament Hill. Roughly triangular in area ...
, south of which runs Elgin Street. West of Confederation Square,
Parliament Hill Parliament Hill (french: Colline du Parlement, colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern banks of the Ottawa River in downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Its Gothic revival suite of buildings, and their architectu ...
can be found on its north side, while the
Langevin Block The Office of the Prime Minister and Privy Council (french: Bureau du Premier ministre et du Conseil privé) building, formerly known as the Langevin Block (french: Édifice Langevin, ), is an office building facing Parliament Hill in Ottawa, O ...
, home of the Prime Minister's Office and of the Privy Council Office, the former American embassy and the Wellington Building can be found to the south. West of the intersection with Bank Street, are located the Confederation Building and the
Justice Building The Justice Building designed by Thomas W. Fuller in Ottawa is so-called because it was previously home to the Department of Justice (Canada). Originally called Block D, it was built from 1935 to 1938 for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCM ...
(still considered within the Parliamentary Precinct), while the headquarters of the Bank of Canada can be found opposite the Hill. Beyond Parliament Hill, the
Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...
is situated west of the Justice building, and opposite St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church. The
East and West Memorial Buildings The East Memorial Building and West Memorial Building are a pair of government buildings in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Construction started in 1949 to house the rapidly growing Department of Veterans Affairs. The buildings were thus origi ...
are located east and west of Lyon Street, respectively, and linked by the Memorial Arch. West of the Supreme Court is the
National Library and Archives of Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; french: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada) is the federal institution, tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is th ...
main building, with the
Garden of the Provinces The Garden of the Provinces and Territories (french: Jardins des provinces et des territoires) is a site along Confederation Boulevard in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada's capital city. It is bounded by the Sparks Street escarpment on the south, Wellin ...
across the street. Between the Supreme Court and the National Library is a large open area that is today a mix of parkland and large parking lots. Until the 1970s, this was home to a cluster of temporary buildings that had been erected in the Second World War to provide much-needed office space. In the 1970s, there was a plan to build both a home for the Federal Court and the
National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...
. A design competition was even held for the National Gallery, but in the end, the government cancelled both projects. Wellington Street continues west past the
Portage Bridge The Portage Bridge (french: Pont du Portage) crosses the Ottawa River just down-river from the Chaudière Bridge, joining the communities of Gatineau, Quebec and Ottawa, Ontario. It links Laurier Street and Alexandre-Taché Boulevard in the ...
, north of the eastern half of the LeBreton Flats, and becomes the
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 Museum ...
after crossing Vimy Place at LeBreton Flats Park near the
Canadian War Museum The Canadian War Museum (french: link=no, Musée canadien de la guerre; CWM) is a national museum on the country's military history in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The museum serves as both an educational facility on Canadian military history, in a ...
. West of the
O-Train The O-Train is a light metro transit system in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, operated by OC Transpo. The O-Train system has two lines, the electrically-operated Confederation Line (Line 1) and the diesel-operated Trillium Line (Line 2). Since May 20 ...
Bayview station, a separate segment (originally an extension of the same street) is known as
Wellington Street West Wellington Street West is a 2.3 km road and shopping area west of downtown Ottawa, Ontario. This road was once connected to - and is often confused with - the prominent Wellington Street in downtown Ottawa. But the two Wellingtons were se ...
, and passes through the
Hintonburg Hintonburg is a neighbourhood in Kitchissippi Ward in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, located west of the Downtown core. It is a historically working-class, predominantly residential neighbourhood, with a commercial strip located along Wellington Street ...
and Island Park neighbourhoods before becoming Richmond Road at
Island Park Drive Island Park Drive is an important and scenic north-south thoroughfare in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada with a length of about 4 km. It is one of several parkways in Ottawa administered by the National Capital Commission providing scenic routes throughout ...
. Prior to the 1980s, Wellington Street extended southwest to meet with Richmond Road at Broad Street, and Richmond Road continued over the C.P.R. tracks on a bridge to what is now Wellington street West. The easternmost portion of this section remains as part of Commissioner Street and feeds into the eastbound lanes of Wellington Street east of the Portage Bridge interchange. Both sections of Wellington are four-lane historic urban arterial roads with a speed limit of 50 km/h (30 mph), although the flow is generally even slower than that due to high pedestrian traffic.


Street naming


Alternate names

From
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 ...
until
Rideau Street Rideau Street (french: Rue Rideau) is a major street in downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and one of Ottawa's oldest and most famous streets running from Wellington Street in the west to Montreal Road in the east where it connects to the Vanier ...
, Wellington is also known as Ottawa Road #34. From Western Avenue to Somerset Street, Wellington is known as Ottawa Road #36.


Street renaming

A number of proposals have been made to change the street's name (to honour Sir John A. Macdonald or Pierre E. Trudeau, for example), some as recent as 2010.


Map

Wellington Street from Bay Street to the Rideau Canal showing the prominent structures located along it. See
Downtown Ottawa Downtown Ottawa is the central area of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is sometimes referred to as the Central Business District and contains Ottawa's financial district. It is bordered by the Ottawa River to the north, the Rideau Canal to the ea ...
for a map of the entire area.


Sources

* , accessed 15 November 2006
West Wellington Community Association
accessed 15 November 2006


See also

* List of Ottawa roads


References

{{Ottawa landmarks Roads in Ottawa