A 120-metre section of the Ottawa River Pathway near the Blair Road Boat Launch in Rockcliffe will be off limits until Thursday as crews undertake “emergency repairs” for damage caused by last week’s heavy rains.
A spokesperson for the National Capital Commission (NCC), which is responsible for the pathway’s maintenance, said the rainfall triggered “washout and erosion.”
The NCC says the pathway on the east and west sides of the Blair Road Boat Launch will be closed to both pedestrians and cyclists while the repairs take place on Tuesday and Wednesday.
On those two days, the commission is asking pathway users to follow a detour that runs along the northern border of the boat launch parking lot before crossing Massey Lane.
The NCC asks cyclists to walk their bikes while taking the detour and urges drivers, pedestrians and cyclists to “exercise caution, respect flag persons and obey signage at the site.”
The commission is also in the middle of repairing a stretch of the recreational Voyageurs Pathway on the Gatineau side of the Ottawa River. The track sustained severe damage from major flooding in the spring of 2017 and has been unusable and closed to the public since.
That trail is expected to re-open in late fall.