NCC's Queen Elizabeth Driveway active use program sparked debate. Here's where key people stand

The temporary closure of about two-kilometres of road to motor vehicles has sparked a debate that highlights a clear divide among local leaders on the city's approach to active transportation.

In a CFRA radio interview last Tuesday, Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said he believes the Queen Elizabeth Driveway (QED) active transportation program should be scaled back.

Coun. Jeff Leiper responded publicly in a post on the Kitchissippi Ward Facebook page calling the mayor's stance "regressive" and his approach to advocating on the issue "inappropriate."

Two days later, Sutcliffe elaborated on his view in an open letter published in the Ottawa Citizen.

Closing the driveway to motor vehicles "inconveniences more residents than it benefits," he wrote.

Tobi Nussbaum, CEO of the National Capital Commission (NCC), which manages Ottawa's parkways, responded days later in another letter in the newspaper.

Nussbaum defended the closure, citing the City of Ottawa's official plan, which calls on the NCC to "reimagine Queen Elizabeth Driveway and Colonel By Drive to reduce the roads' importance as a commuter route in favour of pedestrian activity."

For many, the debate over the short stretch of road has served as a bellwether for how local politicians and leaders view active transportation — and approach broader questions about how and for whom the city is designed.

The active use program

The NCC is reserving both lanes of the QED between Fifth Avenue and Somerset Street for active use from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day from July 1 to Sept. 4.

The same stretch had been closed to vehicles on weekends and holiday Mondays from mid-May to the end of June.

Program hours will be reduced back to weekends and holiday Mondays from Sept. 9 to Oct. 9.

Active use hours may be interrupted, the NCC said, during "certain major events, such as the Escapade Music Festival and Ottawa Redblacks games."

The NCC originally began reserving a portion of the QED for pedestrians and cyclists during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, responding to calls for more public space for people to exercise while remaining physically distanced.

The popularity of the program, Nussbaum said, inspired the NCC to expand it.

In its 2021-2022 annual report, the NCC noted 95 per cent of survey participants supported continuing the program.

Traffic, transit and emergency services

In a Wednesday interview on CBC's Ottawa Morning, Sutcliffe outlined his main arguments for curtailing the active use program on the QED.

A closure of the road between Pretoria and Fifth avenues, Sutcliffe said, creates "traffic pressure" for residents in the Glebe, limits accessibility to Lansdowne Park during major events and creates barriers for emergency vehicles attempting to service the area.

Sutcliffe recognized that limiting the active use program may push more cyclists and pedestrians onto the comparatively-crowded path along the canal but, in his view, that outcome must be weighed against the benefits.

"If our emergency vehicles are not getting to their destination in a timely fashion, if congestion is building up on residential roads that were not intended to be commuter routes, then that might be the greater issue than the pathway is getting a little bit full," he said.

Also speaking on CBC's Ottawa Morning Wednesday, Leiper said he understands where Sutcliffe is coming from on the issue but still has a "disagreement of opinion."

"I feel that we need to make much more space available for active transportation for pedestrians and for cyclists than we do," he said. "Attempts to claw back the space that we have gotten are regressive."

A recent City of Ottawa staff report notes an uptick in traffic on surrounding residential streets during periods where the QED is closed to motor vehicles.

The report also described instances in July 2022 where Ottawa Fire Services faced delays responding to emergencies due to "an inability to move barricades overnight."

The NCC addressed that problem this year by restoring motor vehicle access at 8 p.m.

The report found the QED closure "introduced approximately 10-40" pedestrians and cyclists per hour, compared to when the road was open to motor vehicles.

"Results show that most pedestrians and cyclists remain comfortable using the multi-use pathway," the report said.

On the basis of that report, the city's director of traffic services, Phil Landry, said in an email that the active use program affected nearby traffic, transit and emergency services.

"The City recommended the NCC study alternative options for its active transportation efforts and will continue to work with them to mitigate any ongoing traffic impacts from the closure of the Queen Elizabeth Driveway," he wrote.

For its part, Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group has previously opposed the closure of QED, citing concerns about access to Lansdowne Park.

Program appreciated, could use 'fine-tuning': community association

June Creelman, vice-president of the Glebe Community Association, said she has witnessed the displaced traffic first-hand.

On the occasional day of bad traffic, she said, drivers who are diverted off the parkway and onto residential streets may become confused or frustrated and make rash decisions behind the wheel.

But like many in the area, she said, her view on the active use program isn't black and white.

"I actually go up there almost every day," she said. "I often bike downtown, so I think it is a value, and I see quite a few people out there and enjoying it."

The NCC reported 126,200 active use visits were made to the QED in 2022.

Creelman said she supports active transportation on the QED, but added she believes the program could use some "fine-tuning or rethinking" to manage traffic and ensure it works better for everyone.

What is the purpose of the parkways?

NCC parkways were never intended as commuter corridors, wrote Nussbaum in his open letter in the Citizen.

Instead, he wrote, public organizations must "think creatively, differently, and meaningfully" about how to reduce the city's carbon footprint.

Some grassroots organizations have taken on that thinking for themselves.

Parkways for People, a group that advocates for a new approach to managing the city's parkways, has floated ideas in the past, including a vision of the QED between Pretoria and Fifth avenues as a natural urban park.

The group previously told CBC it would like to see the NCC's active use program extended all the way to Preston Street next year.

Dave Robertson, vice-president of cycling advocacy group Bike Ottawa, said the city has some pathways for cyclists but few quality active transportation links.

He said pathways along the canal that are an alternative to the QED for pedestrians and cyclists are narrow and overcrowded.

"They're very old. We need more space to move more people," he said. "That's what the city's plan is, is to make that shift away from cars to active transportation."

Robertson said Bike Ottawa would like to see the QED "turned over to people" — and closed to motor vehicles — on a permanent basis.

He said arguments about emergency vehicle access and local traffic effects are "fallacies." For example, he said, many active transportation pathways in other cities can easily accommodate emergency responders.

"What the mayor is talking about just doesn't jive with the declared climate emergency," he said.