Ottawa drivers, beware: A section of Highway 417 around Nicholas Street will be fully closed to traffic for 17 hours overnight the weekend of March 14.
Detours will be in place during the closure, required for construction work, according to the City of Ottawa.
The closure will last from 6 p.m. on March 14 — although lane reductions and ramp closures will begin an hour prior — until 11 a.m. on March 15, the city said in a Wednesday news release.
The overnight closure is necessary so crews can install six steel girders across the roadway as part of the province’s work to replacement the Nicholas Street underpass, according to the city.
The work is weather dependent; if it needs to be delayed, the highway closure will take place the following weekend, on March 21, the city says.
Otherwise, the following detours will be in effect beginning the evening of March 14 (maps are available on the city’s website). The eastbound on-ramps at Nicholas and Metcalfe streets will close but all other ramps in the area will stay open.
Detour for eastbound travel
- Eastbound motorists must exit the highway at Nicholas Street and Lees Avenue
- Turn left on Lees Avenue
- Turn left to the eastbound Highway 417 on-ramp
Detour for westbound travel on Highway 417
- Westbound motorists must exit the highway at Nicholas Street and Mann Avenue
- Keep right for Mann Avenue
- Turn left on Greenfield Avenue
- Turn left to the westbound Highway 417 on-ramp
Detour for the eastbound on-ramp at Metcalfe Street
- Motorists should travel eastbound on Isabella Street
- Turn right on Elgin Street
- Bear left onto Hawthorne Avenue and cross the Pretoria Bridge
- Turn right on Main Street
- Turn left on Lees Avenue
- Turn left to the eastbound Highway 417 on-ramp
- Detour for 417 eastbound on-ramp at Nicholas
Detour for 417 eastbound on-ramp at Nicholas Street
From Gatineau:
- Motorists coming across the Macdonald-Cartier or Alexandra bridges from Gatineau to access eastbound Highway 417 should proceed to St. Patrick Street
- Turn right on Vanier Parkway
- Bear right onto the eastbound Highway 417 on-ramp
From the ByWard Market:
- Motorists coming from the ByWard Market to access eastbound Highway 417 should travel east on Rideau Street
- Turn right on Vanier Parkway
- Bear right onto the eastbound Highway 417 on-ramp
From Sandy Hill:
- Motorists coming from Sandy Hill to access eastbound Highway 417 should proceed north on Nicholas Street
- Continue north on Waller Street
- Turn right on Rideau Street
- Turn right on Vanier Parkway
- Bear right onto the eastbound Highway 417 on-ramp
From the downtown core, west of the Rideau Canal:
- Motorists coming from the downtown core to access eastbound highway 417 should proceed eastbound on Laurier Avenue
- Turn left on Charlotte Street
- Turn right on Rideau Street
- Turn right on Vanier Parkway
- Bear right onto the eastbound Highway 417 on-ramp