Two harbingers of spring in Ottawa have arrived this weekend, so it could be a bit harder to get around the city.
The Canadian Tulip Festival is now in full bloom, having launched on Friday, while the National Capital Commission’s Weekend Bikedays get into gear on Saturday.
Saturday’s sunny forecast means scores of flower fanatics will be hitting up the tulip festival’s main site at Commissioners Park.
The Queen Elizabeth Driveway will be closed from Preston Street to Torrington Place on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.
There are similar closures next weekend as well.
Festival organizers are reminding visitors that if they take O-Train Line 2 to Dow’s Lake station, they’ll have easy access to Commissioners Park. The Route 85 bus also stops within walking distance at Carling Avenue and Booth Street.
Cyclists ride down a stretch of the Queen Elizabeth Driveway in August 2023. (Dan Taekema/CBC)
It’s also Game 4 of Charge-Fleet
Another stretch of the Queen Elizabeth Driveway, from Fifth Avenue to Somerset Street, will also be closed today as the 56th season of the NCC’s Weekend Bikedays gets underway.
During warmer months, the NCC blocks cars from using several of its scenic parkways on weekends and holiday Mondays so that they can be taken over by bikes, skateboards and other non-motorized forms of transit.
Here are this year’s closures:
The Queen Elizabeth Driveway from Fifth Avenue to Somerset Street from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The Kichi Zībī Mīkan from Vimy Place to Carling Avenue from 8 a.m. to noon.
The Sir George-Étienne Cartier Parkway from Aviation Parkway to St. Joseph Boulevard in Orléans from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Weekend Bikedays will run until Oct. 12 this year.
Finally, Sunday is also Game 4 of the PWHL semifinal series between the Ottawa Charge and the Boston Fleet, so there could be congestion in and around the Canadian Tire Centre.
OC Transpo will be running the 404, 405 and 406 buses to the CTC for fans looking to avoid driving, while several bars are chartering direct shuttles to the game.
The puck drops at 3 p.m.