Queen Street is an east-west

arterial road An arterial road or arterial thoroughfare is a high-capacity urban road that sits below freeways/motorways on the road hierarchy in terms of traffic flow and speed. The primary function of an arterial road is to deliver traffic from collector ro ...

located in

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

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 ...

. The street is two-way with one to two lanes going in each direction. 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 ...

runs underneath Queen Street.

Route description

The road is only long, making it a little longer than

Sparks Street Sparks Street (''French:'' Rue Sparks) is a pedestrian mall in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was a main street in Ottawa that was converted into an outdoor pedestrian street in 1967, making it the earliest such street or mall in Canada.

. The road begins to the east at Elgin Street, at the intersection of Elgin and Lawrence Freiman Lane. From eastbound on Queen Street the northbound section of Elgin appears to be a continuation of Queen. Heading west the road has two lanes in each direction. The road is surrounded by

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ris ...

s, many of which are used by the Canadian government.

Renewal

From Metcalfe Street to Bay Street, the road is reduced to a single eastbound lane due to construction. The

City of Ottawa The City of Ottawa is the corporate entity of municipal government in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The corporation is responsible for provision of services to the public as well as enforcement of municipal by-laws. It is overseen by the City Manag ...

is renewing the street in anticipation of the Confederation Lines' opening as well as to build the tunnels and stations for the Confederation Line. The city is expanding the pedestrian infrastructure on the street, adding wide boulevard

sidewalk A sidewalk (North American English), pavement (British English), footpath in Australia, India, New Zealand and Ireland, or footway, is a path along the side of a street, street, highway, terminals. Usually constructed of concrete, pavers, brick ...

s, priority crosswalks, and additional landscaping. The construction also includes shared

bike lane Bike lanes (US) or cycle lanes (UK) are types of bikeways (cycleways) with lanes on the roadway for cyclists only. In the United Kingdom, an on-road cycle-lane can be firmly restricted to cycles (marked with a solid white line, entry by motor v ...

s, upgrades to

sanitary sewer A sanitary sewer is an underground pipe or tunnel system for transporting sewage from houses and commercial buildings (but not stormwater) to a sewage treatment plant or disposal. Sanitary sewers are a type of gravity sewer and are part of an o ...

s and storm sewers, the addition of planters and street furniture, installation of curbs and resurfacing of the street. The construction will be done at the same time as Confederation Line construction as two Confederation Line stations will be located on Queen Street. Queen Street is planned to become

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 ...

's (Transit) Showcase Street. It will have wide sidewalks, decor, and it will be pedestrian-friendly for economic opportunity. The renewal has been identified as an "priority move", but has proved controversial.

Historic burial site

While the water mains on Queen Street were being replaced in 2013, workers discovered several human bones and later an historical burial site. The burial site was Ottawa's oldest

Christian cemetery A Christian burial is the burial of a deceased person with specifically Christian rites; typically, in consecrated ground. Until recent times Christians generally objected to cremation because it interfered with the concept of the resurrection of ...

dating back to around 1828-1845. Archaeologists found the remains of 19 individuals, and they suspect that there are around 500 people buried there. The burial site is believed to have been for workers constructing 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", ...

. Researchers think that it extends to Queen Street to the south, Sparks Street to the north, Elgin Street to the east, and Metcalfe Street to the west.

Public transit

Queen Street is currently served by route 10 from Bay Street to Elgin Street eastbound and Elgin Street to Lyon Street westbound, route 16 from Bay Street to

O'Connor Street O'Connor Street is a downtown arterial road in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is a north-south route, operating one way southbound, providing a key thoroughfare parallel to Bank Street. The roadway begins at Wellington Street, at Parliament Hill, ...

eastbound and Elgin Street to Lyon Street westbound. The route is also served by routes 7 and 6 from Bank Street to Elgin Street. The

have

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

and

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

stations of Queen Street.

References

External links