Island Park Drive Walking Tour – September 21

Heritage Ottawa recently posted about a walking tour of Island Park Drive history that may be of interest to Champlain Park residents. Visit https://shop.heritageottawa.org/en/2025-walking-tour-season to sign up, and for details about time and place.

A heritage asset of the National Capital Commission opened in 1923, Island Park Drive was designed to extend the Capital parkway system, which continues to preserve the original design intentions as well as many of the original homes along its entire length. As one of Ottawa’s most prestigious historical neighbourhoods, Island Park Drive has been home to many prominent Canadians who contributed significantly to the economic and cultural development of Ottawa. Residents have included legendary jeweller Jack Snow, printing tycoon Rolla Law Crain, W.H. Taylor Arkley, “the tailor,” and Daniel and Lucy Rochester, and Dr. Stafford Kirkpatrick, a Queen’s University metallurgical genius.

The guide is Jennifer Hornby Gillespie, a long-time resident, long-time board director and Past-President of the Island Park Community Association, who worked for 30 years in the technology sector.

NCC Bike Days revised hours along Kichi Zībī Mīkan

The National Capital Commission has announced the NCC Weekend Bike Days for 2025. The Champlain Park Traffic Safety Committee is pleased to say that the bike days along the Kichi Zībī Mīkan will be on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays from 8:00 to noon, As per the announcement below, the bike days start on May 10th this year and continue to October 13.

https://ncc-ccn.gc.ca/news/plan-your-summer-staycation-ncc-weekend-bikedays-begin

We hope that by the bikedays ending at noon as opposed to 5:00 pm, we will avoid the congestion problems we have seen over the past couple of years. The Traffic Safety Committee will monitor the situation and report any issues to the NCC, the City or Police as we deem necessary.

As always, traffic safety is the concern of all of us, so if you see something the police need to be aware of, please use the following link to submit a report to the Ottawa Police Service, in the Traffic Complaint category. https://www.ottawapolice.ca/en/reports-and-requests/file-a-report.aspx

Champlain Park Traffic Safety Committee

Christmas Tree Recycling

Recycle your Christmas Tree at the Champlain Park Baseball Diamond, anytime in January!!

It’s now time to collect trees in our neighbourhood at the park, as I am reminded by the appearance of the now traditional Kichi Sibi Winter Trail Facebook post:

Give your old Christmas tree a ‘second life’ by donating it to the Kichi Sibi Winter Trail. Trees will be used to create wind breaks and safety barriers/cordons at various locations along the Winter Trail at Remic Rapids. Trees can be brought to the North East corner of the Champlain Park baseball diamond or to Remic Rapids anytime in January, 2025. The Winter Trail team will then make sure they get to where they are needed. Some may show up around the rink too!

Thank you from the Kichi Sibi Winter Trail Team, and happy skiing!

Time-Line of Traffic Problems

From Heather…

Island Park Drive and surrounding communities have for many years been expected to accommodate large volumes of commuter traffic, which pollutes our neighbourhoods and endangers our kids. The RCMP cannot keep up with the volume of cut-through traffic making illegal turns onto IPD. Vehicles are backed up to the Scott/Northwestern intersection. From Clearview, some turn and speed south looking for other exits to IPD.

In 1996 and again in 2014, local governments and communities suggested solutions. Several were implemented, but nothing was done to fix the main problem, that two parkways are being used as commuter routes.

In September 2024, the NCC invited local communities to discuss proposed new parkways guidelines.

The CPCA submitted the attached comments to the NCC, c.c. councillor Jeff Leiper.
Continue reading “Time-Line of Traffic Problems” →

Traffic Overflow in the Neighbourhood

Excess traffic is annoying people in the neighbourhood, leading some to take action (there are a couple of rather hot posts in the Champlain Park Facebook Group, where rather than blocking the cars, submitting a request for service to the police was suggested). Our city councillor Jeff Leiper has written about it, here’s his text from https://kitchissippiward.ca/2024/10/07/cut-through-bridge-traffic-woes/

Cut-through bridge traffic woes

October 7, 2024

Good evening, Kitchissippi.

Residents of Westboro Beach and Champlain Park who live on streets like Clearview and Lanark have been writing to me tonight to let me know they’ve had another bad weekend. Cut-through traffic trying to reach the bridge, especially starting in mid-afternoon, has been rough this summer, backing up for blocks, most recently on Clearview and yesterday for a period as far as Northwestern. Residents have a hard time getting in or out of their driveways, traffic is idling and they’re fed up.
Continue reading “Traffic Overflow in the Neighbourhood” →

Christmas Tree Recycling

Oops, with the lack of snow I forgot to repost this, but yes, Christmas trees are still welcome. Also see the related tweet from the Winter Trail people.

– Alex

Recycle your 🌲 Tree at the Champlain Park Baseball Diamond, anytime in January!!

Give your old Christmas tree a ‘second life’ by donating it to the Kichi Sibi Winter Trail. Trees will be used to create wind breaks and safety barriers/cordons at various locations along the Winter Trail at Remic Rapids. Trees can be brought to the North East corner of the Champlain Park baseball diamond or to Remic Rapids anytime in January, 2024. The Winter Trail team will then make sure they get to where they are needed.

Thank you from the Kichi Sibi Winter Trail Team, and happy skiing!

Champlain Bridge Construction Update – August

Just got a message from the NCC saying that the bridge work is winding down, but continuing into the fall. Details at
https://ncc-ccn.gc.ca/closures/champlain-bridge-rehabilitation-project-completed-ahead-of-schedule
https://ccn-ncc.gc.ca/fermetures/la-refection-du-pont-champlain-se-termine-plus-tot-que-prevu

Here’s the table of key upcoming dates…

Dates	Hours	Motorized access	Cyclist and pedestrian access
Aug. 21–25	Day (5 am–10 pm)	2 of 3 lanes open	Cycling lanes available, follow signage. Pedestrians use the sidewalk.
Aug. 21–25	Night (10 pm–5 am)	Full closure	Sidewalk open, walk your bike.
Aug. 26–27	All times	2 of 3 lanes open	Cycling lanes available, follow signage. Pedestrians use the sidewalk.
Aug. 28–Sept. 15	Day (5 am–10 pm)	Full access	Cycling lanes available. Pedestrians use the sidewalk.
Aug. 28–Sept. 15	Night (10 pm–5 am)	Full closure	Sidewalk open, walk your bike
Sept. 16 and beyond	Day (5 am–10 pm)	Full access	Cycling lanes available, follow signage. Pedestrians use the sidewalk.
Sept. 16 and beyond	Night (dates and times to be determined)	Possible future bridge impacts being limited to off-peak hours or overnights

River Parkway Renamed Kichi Zībī Mīkan

From the NCC. Posted here partly so I’ll have a place to find the new name and copy it with the proper accents 🙂 There’s also a sound clip on their web site for pronouncing it. It means Great River Road in the Algonquin language, sort of similar to the old Ottawa River Parkway name in semantics!

I am writing to inform you that the NCC Board of Directors has approved Kichi Zībī Mīkan (kitchi zee-bee MEE-khan) as the new name for the SJAM Parkway. Please see the below news release or our website for details.

Westboro Beach and Bike Path Detour

From: Richard Lochead
Date: Fri, May 12, 2023 at 11:51 AM

Westboro Beach Redevelopment and Bike Path Detour

At a consultation session on May 3rd Benoit Gelinas, Public Relations Officer for the NCC provide an update on the Westboro Beach Construction which will result in a detour to the Ottawa River bike path from Island Park to Westboro Beach for all of 2023 and possibly part of 2024. A map of the detour is attached. Benoit noted that signage will be in place at various locations to help the public navigate the bike path detour. Users will now have to cross the SJAM Parkway at the Island Park traffic lights to reconnect to the existing pathway. This will be an inconvenience to cyclists and pedestrians bikers accustomed to a continuous nonstop route.

Benoit also reported that the Beach will be open this summer “at 2/3 capacity on a non-supervised basis.” Signage will be posted on swimming conditions. Porta potties will be on site.

Additional information can be found at NCC link
https://ncc-ccn.gc.ca/projects/westboro-beach-area-redevelopment-project.

CN Cycle for CHEO (Road Closures) – May 7

From: Julie Berube (jberube@cheofoundation.com)
Date: 04/05/23 20:40
Subject: CN CYCLE 2023 – Road Closure Notification

French version to follow

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Good Evening,

On Sunday, May 7, CN Cycle for CHEO participants take to the streets to support the biggest oncology fundraiser for CHEO!

Now in its16^th year, this is a fun, non-competitive event that offers a wide range of cycling and walking routes for people of all ages, helping raise over 1 Million dollars each year to support oncology care and research for CHEO.

This year’s event will be held at the Canadian War Museum and LeBreton Flats and to ensure the safety of everyone involved, some streets will be partially closed to vehicle traffic between 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday, May 7, 2023. Please refer to the attached document for the preliminary road closures. An updated version will be sent to you the week prior the event.
Continue reading “CN Cycle for CHEO (Road Closures) – May 7” →