The City of Ottawa has quietly opened a new stretch of pathway along the airport parkway. If you have cycled from Hunt Club northbound along the parkway you always had to take the elevator up to Walkway Rd from the Transit station to continue your path further north. No more!
Last week a much needed stretch of pathway between Walkley and Brookfield was opened along the Sawmill creek, that invisible creek that runs deep down along the pathway. The path now continues from the Walkley OC Transpo transit station, then swings west towards the Parkway, follows the Parkway and then comes back to the path where Brookfield Rd is interrupted by the Parkway, the Transitway and the O-train.
The reason that it runs fairly close to the Parkway is that it was the flattest part. Moving the path further away had meant rock blasting and a more rigerous change in the natural environment.
Try it out. The landscaping is very nice. Now of course the bottleneck has moved further south towards Hunt Club, where access to the path needs (will be) improved. If (when) the bridge over the Parkway is finished however, there will be a nice connection for communities west of the Parkway to connect to the path and toSouth Keys.
All in all: good stuff.