Echo Drive: Ottawa's "Bicycle Street"

Ottawa’s Echo Drive is a great route to get cyclists from the Pretoria Bridge to Old Ottawa South.  Despite its absence from official cycling routes, this street has a lot in common with the world's great "bicycle streets."  The Echo Drive "bicycle street" runs from near Hawthorne and Colonel By Drive (the east end of the Pretoria Bridge) south to the Sunnyside Branch of the Ottawa Public Library at the south end of the Bank St. Bridge. Matt shares his experience of cycling on Echo Drive with photos, maps, and text, describing the features and their attractiveness to both cyclists and pedestrians. 

Link to the blog:  Ottawa's "Bicycle Street"

Matt Pinder's blog Beyond the Automobile hosts the series Bicycle Streets Beyond Europe, which explores the “bicycle street” or, as the Dutch say, "fietsstratten."   The original post focused on the Dutch version of the bicycle street and the subsequent posts showcase some of the best examples in Canada and the US. You can find links to the full series here.  (To be advised when new entries to the series are posted, join the Beyond the Automobile mailing list.)

Location
Route

Starting at the Pretoria Bridge, cross Colonel By and go south a little.  Echo Drive branches off from Colonel By and runs south along side of Colonel By, passing behind Immaculata High School, and skirting the Old Ottawa East and Rideau Gardens neighbourhoods.  At Clegg St., you can take the new Flora footbridge across the canal into the Glebe, or you can continue south on Echo Drive, which will turn toward the west, bringing you to the parking lot of the Sunnyside Library and Bank St in Old Ottawa South.

About the walk leader

Matt Pinder is a South Keys resident who is passionate about community development, city-building, and sustainable transportation. He runs the blog BeyondTheAutomobile.com and works as a transportation engineer focused on Complete Streets. Matt is also a fan of urban history and when he learned that his new neighbourhood was orignally planned around a busway that no longer exists, he was compelled to find out more. 

Shared By:

Matt Pinder

Gallery
Cyclists and pedestrians share the road along Echo Drive.