Highway 417 closing for more than 3 days this weekend

Just as it did in August, the highway over western downtown Ottawa is closing for three-and-a-half days this coming weekend.

In mid-August, Highway 417 closed in both directions so that construction workers could remove the Booth Street overpass and plop in a new one. This time, the neighbouring Rochester Street bridge is being replaced.

The same stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway will close to allow that work, between the Carling Avenue and Metcalfe Street exits.

Those exits will be the last chance for motorists to exit the highway to avoid the closure and the first to get back on once they're past it.

Drivers are advised that there were often delays approaching the closed section of highway during the closure in August.

The closure starts at 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30, and is scheduled to end at 6 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 4. Lane and ramp closures start at 7 p.m. Friday.

The official detours lean on Carling Avenue and, depending which direction drivers are going, Bronson Avenue or Booth Street, Catherine or Chamberlain streets.

Rochester Street closed under the 417 last week and will remain closed until Oct. 11.

Northbound Booth Street closes under the highway at 5 p.m. Friday and so does southbound Booth between Gladstone Avenue and Raymond Street. Both should reopen when the highway reopens.

Takeaways from August

In August, the ripple effect created busy Baseline, Heron, Hog's Back and Hunt Club roads as drivers looked for other ways to get across Ottawa, particularly the relatively few crossings over the Rideau River.

Broadly, streets were busier than normal from the Ottawa River to Hunt Club Road and Woodroffe Avenue to Riverside Drive.

Some people ducked over to Gatineau and back, others cut through Ottawa to the south using Mitch Owens Road. Remember to follow speed limits if you're driving a residential road.

Taking transit, parking and walking or rolling, or moving plans earlier or later are other strategies to work with the resulting traffic congestion. The early forecast for the weekend is for a mix of sun and cloud and highs in the mid-to-upper teens.

Drivers looking for detours should remember the National Capital Commission's Weekend Bikedays mean the westbound Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway is closed to vehicles 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday, starting at the Canadian War Museum.

The city is also reminding people the annual Panda Game is Saturday and should create more traffic around the Sandy Hill Arena that morning and the Lansdowne Park area that afternoon.