Scenic parkways.

"Federal, scenic highways and parks in the National Capital Region are dedicated to the memory of Canadian soldiers who died fighting in foreign wars. They will be owned by the citizens of Canada in perpetuity." (The Greber Report of 1950, page 228/395.)

"De-pave the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway". An article in the Ottawa Citizen, February 25, 2014. "The impending removal from the parkway of hundreds of buses per day leads to the question of whether it makes sense to devote a huge portion of the city's prime riverfront real estate to a commuter roadway." 

The Conservative government of Ontario is planning to privatize many services at the brand-new hospital on the Experimental Farm. Maple Drive and Prince of Wales Drive are being reserved for emergency vehicles. Will the Queen Elizabeth Driveway and NCC Parkway be off-limits to private vehicles? Are they being de-paved and sold to real estate corporations? Will the Rideau Canal Parkway (QEDrive) be fenced off and reserved for hospital patients, employees and visitors?-savecfbrockcliffe. 

 Major cultural landscapes in Ottawa:

• Parliament Hill
• Major's Hill Park
• Rideau Hall
• Rockcliffe Park
• Queen Elizabeth Driveway 
• the Central Experimental Farm. "All dating from the 19th century, together they have played a key role in shaping people's image of the federal realm." (From: page 43/109, "Definition and Assessment of Cultural Landscapes of Heritage Value on NCC Lands." by Julian Smith and Associates, Contentworks, December 2004.)

Why the National Capital Commission should not ban vehicles on the Queen Elizabeth Driveway in my opinion-savecfbrockcliffe. The information below is from "Definition and Assessment of Cultural Landscapes of Heritage Value on NCC Lands" by Julian Smith and Associates, Contentworks, December 2004:

Description of Place

"The Queen Elizabeth Driveway is a principal organizing element in the urban design of Ottawa and is closely associated with Ottawa's Capital identity. In its original and current forms, it is also an important example of parkway urban design principles espoused by Frederick Law Olmsted and his followers at the turn of the 20th century. Its landscape design represents the contribution of several people, including:

• Robert Surtees and Alexander Stuart of the Ottawa Improvement Commission
• William Saunders, Director of the Central Experimental Farm
• Frederick Todd, a prominent landscape architect whose 1904 plan for the Ottawa Improvement Commission was gradually adopted as the Driveway was developed
• Herbert S. Holt, who recommended in 1915 that Todd's plan be implemented.

The values of the Queen Elizabeth Driveway Cultural Landscape are connected to two principal cultural ideas. The first is capital place-making. The second is urban beautification. The boundaries of the ideas coincide, strengthening the capacity of the landscape to express them and the NCC to manage them."

"The key physical component of the Queen Elizabeth Driveway cultural landscape is a 5.6-km scenic parkway, paralleling the Rideau Canal between the National Arts Centre and the Preston Street. The Driveway originally extended from Sapper's Bridge (near Wellington Street) to the entrance gates of the Central Experimental Farm, via a causeway across Dow's Lake. While the section north of Laurier Street was effectively dismantled for vehicular traffic in the 1960's with the construction of the National Arts Centre, the entire length of the route covered by the original driveway is passable by pedestrians and cyclists. For this reason, it should be included within the cultural landscape boundaries."

"Queen Elizabeth Driveway should also include its extension on AAFC land beyond Preston Street, through the Central Experimental Farm to the traffic circle. This section was developed after the causeway across Dow's Lake disappeared. The cultural landscape should also include all properties located immediately adjacent to the Driveway's current edge, even though these places (with the exception of the Cartier Square Drill Hall) are not under the custodianship of the NCC or any other federal bodies."

"Parkways were intended to be broad, park-like spaces containing a road connecting parks, or in the case of Ottawa, major federal institutions set within landscaped grounds. In doing so, the parkway served as an extension of its landscaped ends, not as the container for a road. In the 1910's and 20's, residences erected along the Driveway conformed to the picturesque aesthetic of the Driveway in terms of their scale, setbacks, plantings and style. The owners of these homes shared the ideals of the Ottawa Improvement Commission which, at the time, was a largely civic enterprise. Without the compliance of residents in the scheme, the western edge of the Driveway would have greatly diminished the park-like design of the whole."

"The Queen Elizabeth Driveway Cultural Landscape encompasses several NCC properties containing key character defining elements. These include:

• NCC land on either side of the road including Commissioners Park and Brown's Inlet.
• NCC land along the perimeter of Dow's Lake.

Cultural Landscape Value The value of Queen Elizabeth Drive lies in its association with:

• The creation of Ottawa's Capital identity.
• Parkway urban design principles as they evolved from the early- to the mid-20th century.
• Ottawa urban beautification projects.
• The value of the Queen Elizabeth Driveway also lies in its continuing contribution to:
• Urban design in Ottawa
• Capital identity, including its use as the location of activities such as the Tulip Festival and Winterlude. 

Several federal parkways in the National Capital Region in 1988:

• Ottawa River Parkway, Wellington Street to Carling Avenue - 254 ha
• Island Park Drive/Champlain Bridge - 15 ha
• Airport - 120 ha
• Eastern Parkway, Hemlock Road to Hwy 417 - 72 ha
• Eastern Driveway and Rockcliffe Parkway from Sussex Drive to Greenbelt - 255 ha
• Ottawa River shoreline proposed Voyageur Parkway - 84 ha
• Leamy Lake Park and part of the Philemon Wright Corridor - 285 ha (Google: 1988-09-15-TB-re-NCC.)

Proposed National Interest Land Mass properties:

• Experimental Farm Drive Corridor, Queensway to Experimental Farm - 76.0 ha
• Western Parkway Corridor, Carling Avenue to Queensway - 40.0 ha
• Alta Vista Corridor, Kitchener Avenue to Smyth Road - 69.0 ha
• Hull South Parkway, Lucerne Blvd to Gatineau Park - 275 ha
• Part of Philemon Wright Corridor - 103 ha

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

House of Commons Ottawa June 1, 1970 Mr. Skoberg (New Democratic Party): "Is the Government of Canada, through the National Capital Commission, giving favorable consideration to the development of a plan which would eliminate automobiles from the down-town area of Ottawa?"

House of Commons Ottawa May 15, 1970 MP D. Gordon Blair (Grenville-Carleton): "I would like to direct a question to the Acting Prime Minister and I regret that I was not able to give him notice. Is the government aware of a statement or statements to the press by the Chairman of the National Capital Commission to the effect that he might close the national capital parkways in this region for a week for the strange purpose of proving their importance in carrying traffic? The second part of my question is whether the Acting Prime Minister can assure the House that the government will not permit the people of this area to be inconvenienced by the disruption that this extraordinary and senseless experiment would cause?"

Hon. G.J. McIlraith (Solicitor General of Canada) (Acting Prime Minister): "The statement has caused concern. I am very doubtful that the commission has any such authority under the National Capital Act passed by this Parliament."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

YouTube videos: "Ottawa Snow Drive and Walk" featuring the NCC Scenic Driveway, heritage buildings and the Fletcher Wildlife Garden.

"Snow Music "Color/Dance" with music by George Winston. The Queen Elizabeth Drive and the Agricultural Museum  are shown.