Riverside Drive (Ottawa)

Riverside Drive (Ottawa)

Riverside Drive (Ottawa Road #19) is a major road in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada that follows along the eastern bank of the Rideau River. Its northern terminus is at the Transitway/Via Rail underpass just south of the Queensway, and the road proceeds south to Limebank Road where it continues as River Road until the city limits. North of the Queensway, Riverside continues as Vanier Parkway, which travels through Vanier until Beechwood Avenue.

Most of the road is a four-lane divided principal arterial, with a speed limit of 60 km/h (37 mph), although the general flow is faster in many sections.

Riverside is home to the Riverside Hospital, the Billings Bridge Plaza, the RA Centre, Canada Post headquarters, Public Works Canada headquarters, Canadian Labour Congress headquarters, Vincent Massey Park, Terry Fox Athletic Facility, and Mooney's Bay Park.

Riverside was re-aligned between Smyth Road and Industrial Avenue 1986. Riverside once ended at Industrial, while it was Alta Vista Drive that carried traffic across the Queensway to become the Vanier Parkway. The old alignment of Riverside Drive in Riverview continues to be known as Riverside Drive, and serves a number of apartment building complexes, and has a cul-de-sac at each end.

In the upcoming years, the section of Riverside Drive south of Hunt Club will be widened to improve the traffic flow coming from the Riverside South community. Also, there are plans to modify the intersection with Limebank Road. Riverside could be the continuity of Limebank while River Road which heads south towards Manotick (ultimately ending at its intersection with Van Buren street in Kemptville) will have its north end at a T-Shaped intersection with Limebank/Riverside.