Kent Street bridge replacement on schedule, stretch of Queensway remains closed
The demolition of the Kent Street overpass wrapped up Saturday afternoon, and crews are out Sunday installing the new bridge.
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The Queensway remains closed in both directions in that area, however, so leave earlier than you normally would if your trip involves an east-west trip across the median point of Kent Street. I can’t stress that enough. It is the key.
By 11 p.m. Friday there were detours in place, but those are largely tailored for travellers passing through the area. Those of us who live here should take advantage of our local knowledge and consider that part of the highway off-limits: pretty much Parkdale to Nicholas, really.
Crews will begin installing the new overpass at around midnight. There are three different work-arounds until the highway reopens at 11 p.m. Sunday.
Carling Avenue: Most of it is four lanes, but it only goes as far as the closure itself, really, as it becomes Glebe Avenue at Bronson heading east.
The best east-west route is probably Baseline/Heron, which is also four lanes. It runs from Bells Corners to Walkley Road.
The Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway is also four lanes and runs from Lincoln Fields to the War Museum. You can keep going, though, along Wellington, past the Parliament Buildings where it becomes Rideau Street downtown and eventually Montreal Road through Vanier and Gloucester before finally evolving into St-Joseph through Orleans.
There is one big event on the city’s social calendar this weekend. The Senators play Saturday night at the Canadian Tire Centre. Folks in Orleans may be wondering how to get to the rink.
I suggest taking the highway as far as Riverside and then heading south to Heron and cutting across as far as you please on Baseline. Re-joining the highway westbound will probably be fine any time after the Experimental Farm. Or you can just take it to Bells Corners.
Don’t forget, access to the westbound 417 at the bottom of O’Connor is already shut and it appears the Kent ramp off the eastbound 417 probably won’t re-open when the bridge work is complete.
It’s more likely that won’t happen before the end of the year.
More closures along Rideau Canal
And, just in case things weren’t complicated enough, sections of Colonel By Drive and the Queen Elizabeth Driveway will be temporarily closed to vehicles on Saturday and Sunday.
It’s that time if year again — crews are installing the change stations and washrooms along what will eventually be the Canal Skateway.
The closures happen Saturday from 6:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Colonel By Drive — northbound and southbound — between the Pretoria Bridge and Daly Ave. Later, from 8 a.m. until noon, a 100-metre section of northbound Queen Elizabeth Driveway will be periodically reduced at Fifth Avenue.
On Sunday, Queen Elizabeth Driveway — northbound and southbound — will be closed from 6:30 a.m. until noon from the Bank Street Bridge to Fifth Avenue.
By 11 a.m. both directions of Colonel By Drive will be closed between Hog’s Back Road and the Bronson Avenue Bridge until 3:30 p.m.
On-ramp and off-ramp access at the Bronson Bridge will stay open.
Cyclists and pedestrians need to be ready for brief pathway detours along the Rideau Canal, too. They’re warned to be on the look out for flag persons who will direct them to detours.
Oh, and one more thing — the NCC’s Gatineau Park parkway system shuts for the season at 5 p.m. Sunday.
Good luck!
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