Category: Commute Routes

The national capital region has a fine network of recreational pathways used by many cyclists throughout the spring, summer and fall to get to work, however only a small portion of the paths are maintained throughout the winter. This results in many cyclists having to abandon their regular ride in to work throughout the snowy months, or attempt to find a safe alternative route. BK was enquiring about a route from Lincoln Fields in the west end of town to Colonnade Road further south, since sections of the Pinecrest Creek Pathway aren’t cleared of snow. Here’s what I discovered.

Our journey begins at the intersection of Assaly Road and Richmond Road. I rode through the intersection, then around the Lincoln Fields Shopping Centre through the parking lot.

There are traffic lights on the south side of the shopping centre to get across busy Carling Avenue over to Connaught Avenue.

Connaught eventually veers east just before the Queensway and becomes Roman Avenue. There’s a path that cuts between houses at the eastern corner of Roman Ave. This path was cleared but not salted for a short 40m section. Beyond that the path was both cleared and salted.

The cleared/salted section of path follows alongside the Queensway to the OC Transpo transit stop. I carried my bike down the stairwell one level to the Transitway. I could have taken the elevator.

This allowed me to access the Pinecrest Creek pathway, which is plowed and salted to Iris St.

I wasn’t expecting to see the Pinecrest Pathway cleared and salted south of Iris St, but it was, and, as one cheerful cyclist riding in the opposite direction confirmed, all the way to Algonquin College! In hindsight I suppose this is done to provide students access from the transit station. That’s a guess. Regardless, it was a pleasant surprise.

Things get a little wacky along the path just beyond Baseline. In snowless conditions, most cyclists ride along the wide sidewalk in front of the transit stop entrance (towards the left on the photo below) to access the path on the opposite side, versus following the official route (off to the right on the photo below) that veers around the transit stop. Looks like the sidewalk is plowed but not salted, so I took the official path.

To get across Woodroffe Ave I left the path and crossed at the intersection opposite College Avenue.

I rode along College and turned off the path that accesses Ryan Farm Park. I was expecting the path through Ryan Farm Park to be cleared & salted as it is one of the few access points to the campus from the huge residential area just to the south where many students dwell. It was, but only to the edge of the park. There is a path that appears to be plowed/not salted along the western edge of the park, but the predominant desire line which I am confident is trampled flat within hours of a snowfall by hundreds of students, cuts right through the park. I relied on my studded front tire to get me across safely.

I then wove may way along quiet residential streets, eventually accessing Meadowlands Drive from Rowley Avenue. I often hear mention of Meadowlands in radio traffic reports, which is usually indicative of a pretty busy street. It was indeed, however the single lanes are quite wide. Not too encouraging for winter riding I realize, as that’s where snow gets piled. This route follows Meadowlands for just half a block, and the cleared sidewalk was safe enough to walk your bike. Or, one could ride along the sidewalk if there are no pedestrians, but I’m not suggesting anyone do that.

I then rode south along Perry St as far as Meadowlands Public School where there is a short cleared & salted path I took to access Glenridge Rd.

I followed Glenridge to Viewmount Drive. The section of Viewmount from Glenridge to Merivale is lousy. Minimal shoulder and lots of impatient traffic. My route followed Viewmount for an extended block. I took to the sidewalk.

Viewmount isn’t as bad east of Merivale. There’s a generous shoulder to ride along half a block beyond Merivale. I turned south at the intersection of Grant Carman Drive, which leads to a bike path. This path, which accesses Colonnade Road, was cleared, not salted. At a distance of 325m to Colonnade it’s a fair distance to push one’s bike. Once again my studded front tire kept me upright.

I would not recommend riding along Merivale to access Colonnade. I consider it to be one of Ottawa’s most dangerous roads to bike along in any season.

Riding this route has made me realize sections of recreational paths are cleared if they provide a pedestrian link, for example to the OC Tranpo stations or to schools. Also, the extent of clearing seems to depend on whose jurisdiction or property the paths are on. It’s all a bit unpredictable, but definitely worth exploring in search of a safe winter bike commute route.

This week I learnt that finding a safe route across the three busy east-west arteries of Carling Avenue, the Queensway and Baseline Road, anywhere between Prince of Wales Drive and Pinecrest Road is a tricky endeavour.

My search was spurred on by a request for suggestions on biking from Notre Dame High School in Highland Park over to Parkwood Hills. The blue line on the map below is a route with some rough spots I am comfortable biking through, however the request also needed to accommodate three travellers: one adult, one child passenger, and another child on their own bike. With two kids of my own, I would not recommend this route with bambinos in tow. But, that’s a judgement call, so I’ve included it below, with a description of the tricky spots. It’s identified by the blue line on the map. I’d suggest an adult solo dry run first.

I also tried a much safer route that I would feel comfortable taking my kids, however it’s more circuitous. See red line on map below.

And away we go.

There is a crosswalk at Broadview and Carling. One major artery down.

The area east of Broadview between Carling and the Queensway appears to be zoned as light industrial. The streets I followed through this area (Kerr, Boyd and Dobbie) didn’t have a lot of traffic, but there are trucks and big potholes that go with them. This is the first zone I would hesitate to ride through with my kids.

Things get a little scarier passing under the Queensway along Clyde Avenue as it is a funnel through to another industrial zone on the other side. No designated shoulder and more trucks. The sidewalk might be an option to consider.

I then cut through Carlington Park by riding along the stone dust path that goes around the perimeter of the baseball field.

The area east of Calington Park is mostly residential with a few small industries hugging the edge of the park. Edgecliffe Avenue is a gradual climb up to Morisset Avenue. There is a link to the Experimental Farm Pathway halfway down Morisset.

I turned left onto the Experimental Farm Pathway and followed it for a short distance through a wooded area before taking a right along a path link that goes into a residential area called Central Park.

There is a bike path that cuts through from Whitestone Drive to Central park Drive, and then through Celebration Park to Central Park drive which loops around. One could also just stay on Central Park Drive. I then turned on to Scout Street and followed it to a path that cuts through to the Supercentre mall parking lot.

This path eventually merges into the mall entrance street that I followed to the traffic lights across Baseline. This is another area I would hesitate riding through with my kids, as drivers tend to be much less predictable in mall parking lots.

Immediately across the intersection on the north side of Baseline, there’s a short ‘desire line’ path that links to the Loblaws mall parking lot.

I followed a lane that goes behind the Loblaws to avoid having to ride amongst folks frantically parking their cars. This brought me around to the lights at Merivale. Once through the lights there’s a path just a short distance along that turns off to the left.

This path took me to Eleanor Drive. I then worked my way up Leaver Ave and Beaver Ridge. The request was from Notre Dame High School to Parkwood Hills, which I’ve taken the liberty to mean Parkwood Hills Public School. At the top of Beaver Ridge just beyond Capilano there’s a dirt path through to the small streets around Huron Towers. I followed this to avoid having to ride along Meadowlands Drive, a busy street that’s always felt dangerous to ride along, especially while it’s presently under construction.

The path came to the entrance lane to the Huron Towers. I followed it to Meadowlands where there is a cross signal to Tiverton Drive, and our destination, Parkwood Hills School.

Et voila!

I received a couple of requests for commuter routes starting from Rockcliffe Park. One was how to get to Chinatown and the other was how to access the path along the Ottawa River below Parliament Hill. I combined the two since the following recommended routes vary only slightly. Here goes.

Blue line is the route I followed from Rockcliffe to Chinatown. Red line is the slight variation heading home in the opposite direction. Green line is the route towards the path that runs behind Parliament Hill.

Our adventure begins in the Village Green, an intimate and contemplative public space near the centre of Rockliffe Park.

I exited the Village Green at the corner of Mariposa and Springfield, and headed west on Meriposa.

I then turned at the first left down Sir Guy Carleton St and followed it right to the end to the Soeurs de la Charité convent.

Turned right on Maple Lane and followed it to where it met up with Lisgar Road.

Turned left on Lisgar, which skirts around the Governor General’s Residence, delineated by one of the fanciest fence and fence post combinations around.

I turned right on Dufferin and continued all the way down to the river. I got onto the Rideau River Eastern Pathway by turning left and headed up river.

The path goes under St Patrick Street, which, according to the cyclist in the orange shirt up ahead, was covered in water a week ago.

I continued along the path, which is a very beautiful ride along the river, all the way to the Cummings Bridge, and the one messy spot on our tour.

There is a bike lane over the bridge heading west, but it is presently cut short by construction happening on the west side of the bridge like so.

I suggest crossing over to the south side of the bridge back at the lights and walking your bike along the sidewalk. Fortunately it’s a pretty interesting bridge to cross by foot. For example, you can look out onto Cummings Island which was once accessible and had a general store with the only phone service in town.

There isn’t a bike lane heading east over the bridge, and it’s an extremely busy artery with buses and impatient commuter traffic, so I highly recommend walking your bike along the sidewalk heading east as well, construction or no construction.

On the west side of the river there are three very well trodden desire line paths of various steepness that head up to Besserer Park. The path furthest up shore is the least steep, like so. UPDATE– May 2015 There is now a paved bike lane where the desire lane path used to be, as described in this post.

I pushed my bike up to Besserer Park then zig-zagged my way along quiet streets (Besserer, Wurtenburg, Daly, Cobourg) to Stewart St which has a very freshly painted bike lane line.

Stewart is a one way heading west, so on the commute back to Rockcliffe take Wilbrod St which is one way heading east (see red line on above map).

After crossing busy King Edward I headed one more block west and turned left on Cumberland, then right on Wilbrod. I then cut through the Ottawa U campus in front of Tabaret Hall.

I crossed Laurier and continued through the campus on the other side. The road takes a little jog left then right onto a multi use Jean Jacques Lussier with a very wide pedestrian lane, a bike lane heading south and a car lane with a bike sharrow. Ugh, so close. For more on my opinion on sharrows visit this post (click).

It then veers to the left and becomes Marie Curie. Don’t go onto Marie Curie. Instead turn right,which will take you along a mini switch back bike lane and under Nicholas St, to pedestrian lights that get you across Colonel By Drive.

Then it’s up onto the pedestrian bridge over the canal, then right onto the bike path along the canal on the other side. To continue west to Chinatown I cut through Confederation Park to the corner of Elgin and Laurier where I joined the Laurier designated bike lane and followed it all the way to where it ends at Bronson, across Bronson, and down Cambridge St N to the heart of Chinatown.

To get to the path behind Parliament Hill I went straight, versus cutting through Confederation Park (see green line on the above map). The path follows right along the canal. Rather than staying on the path many cyclists choose to ride up the NAC traffic ramp. I find it a bit dangerous because cars do travel quite quickly down the ramp, and there are ‘do not enter’ signs at the bottom of the ramp, so if you were to get hit I’m not sure who they would go after. I also once saw the police give a ticket to a cyclist heading up the down ramp.

As the path approaches Sappers Bridge there are two short flights of steps to climb. This might explain why many cyclists choose the NAC ramp versus the path, however there are bike gutters on the edge of the steps that make it easy to push your bike up.

Continuing under Sappers Bridge takes you out the other side on the path that goes down behind Parliament Hill.

Et voila!