The 5.7 km of pavement threads its way through 34 hectares of landscaped greenspace between some of Ottawa’s most beautiful neighbourhoods and the Rideau Canal in the core of the capital. The question shouldn’t be about who gets to use the pavement, but how best to use valuable public space. From that perspective, it shouldn’t be a parkway at all. It should be a park.Instead of Queen Elizabeth Driveway, think Queen Elizabeth Park.
From behind a windshield, that scenery is something to admire. Rolling lawns and mature trees frame the splendid calm water of the UNESCO-designated canal. But you don’t see many people on this scenic drive. During the NCC’s active program, however, people suddenly appear: having picnics along the curb, reading books under trees, throwing Frisbees on the grass. You’d never do any of those things with fast-moving traffic beside you.
But what about that pavement? It’s certainly hard to say goodbye to road access even when it cuts through parkland, but it’s necessary. Cars and parks don’t mix. New York has been chipping away at vehicle access to Central and Prospect Parks for years. Toronto has been grappling with car access through High Park. This approach is not unprecedented.
You can’t solve those problems by adding new roads. If we wanted more streamlined traffic flow in the Glebe, for example, we could resurrect the plan from the 1960s to bulldoze dozens of homes for a six-lane arterial between Carling and Industrial avenues. I doubt that plan would find many supporters today, including from the mayor’s office. The cause of traffic congestion isn’t a lack of roads, but a surplus of cars.