27 May Ottawa Race Weekend and other events – set your course this busy weekend
Helpful information to help you set your course this busy weekend
Ottawa – This weekend has a full slate of events for the entire family. The events in the centre core may result in some delays for motorists. So, the City of Ottawa is providing some helpful information to help you plan ahead your weekend routes.
This Saturday, treasure hunters from across the city will be congregating in the Glebe for the annual Great Glebe Garage Sale from 8 a.m.to 3:30 p.m. Expect higher traffic volume in the Bank Street/Lansdowne area throughout the day.
World-class athletes to local heroes will be taking part in Tamarack Race Weekend, attracting a large number of participants and spectators, to cheers them on. Racing begins late Saturday afternoon with the 2K run at 3 p.m., 5K run at 4 p.m. and 10K race at 6:30 p.m.
Saturday’s racing will impact the following streets:
- Elgin Street
- Queen Elizabeth Driveway to near Dow’s Lake
- Bronson Bridge
- Colonel By Drive,
- Pretoria Bridge
- Argyle Street
The 5K run also includes Rideau, Wellington, O’Connor, and Queen, and the 2K run impacts Frank Street.
The half and full marathon takes place on Sunday morning, with the respective start times at 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. The courses involve the following streets:
- Elgin Street
- Wellington Avenue
- Rideau Street
- Colonel By Drive
- Pretoria Bridge
- Queen Elizabeth Driveway
- Carling Avenue
- Sherwood Street
- Fairmont Street
- Wellington West
- Richmond Road
- Athlone Street
- Scott Street
- Frederick Banting Driveway
- Columbine Drive
- Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway
- Booth Street
- Chaudiere Bridge
- Alexandra Bridge
- Sussex Street
- Sir George Étienne Cartier Parkway
- Birch Street
- Hemlock Road
- Beechwood Avenue
- Crichton Street
- Dufferin Road
- Stanley Avenue
Since the Queen Elizabeth Driveway, which includes the Lansdowne entrances, is part of the race routes, motorists and cyclists are reminded to use the Bank Street entrances.
The City of Ottawa parking garage will remain open this weekend. However, the Laurier entrance will remain closed, and the Elgin Street entrance can only be accessed by using Nepean Street and crossing the police controlled intersection. The Elgin entrance will be intermittently closed during the race periods for crowd movement and racing.
Transit customers are encouraged to visit octranspo.com to see if their trips are affected by race weekend road closures.
In addition, residents should keep in mind some of the ongoing construction road closures and lane reductions in the downtown core.
Main Street remains closed for northbound traffic from Riverdale Avenue to Lees Avenue. Lane reductions are also in place on Kent Street, from Wellington Street and Catherine Street, and on Queen Street from O’Connor Street and Wellington Street.
Tamarack Race Weekend race courses details can be found on runottawa.ca.
For more information about the construction activity happening across the city, or for information about traffic and travel planning, visit ottawa.ca and octranspo.com.