Can any of you local to Ottawa help me?

[debster812]

Hi to my Canadian Friends,

We are headed to Ottawa on Tuesday with DS's soccer team. This is a whirlwind trip, as we will drive up on Tuesday, and the boys will play on Wednesday, and we'll drive back home Wednesday afternoon. So, no time for sightseeing, etc.

The boys will be riding the bus, and I'm driving as I'd sooner take a sharp stick to the eye, than ride the bus with 30+ 13 and 14 year old boys.

The game is going to either be out at Algonquin College or WC Levesque, both of which seem to be in Nepean, rather than Ottawa proper. The game will be on the 30th, which is the day before Canada day. How can I expect the traffic in the morning of the 29th? We're staying on Parliament Hill, and the game is at 9am, which would be smack in the middle of rush hour here at home. I'm wondering how much time I should leave myself to drive to the fields. I know what my GPS says it should take, but morning traffic could really foul that up.

Thanks everyone!

 

[2forMe]

There should not be much more traffic due to Canada day.. how long does the GPS say it will take you to get from your hotel to the field? I would say that it should take 20 minutes max.. and this is going at rush hour. Most people drive into the downtown, so going the opposite direction should not be too bad

 

[Gigi22]

I used to work near Parliament Hill, and live not very far from Algonquin College. There is very little traffic disruption, if any, the day before Canada Day. Bus routes will be operating normally. There is a fair amount of rush hour congestion on many major arteries (Queensway Highway/417, Bank St., Carling Ave., Baseline Ave. at times, Greenbank Rd.) for a city the size of Ottawa, due to ageing infrastructure and summertime construction and road projects--for example, there is a construction site at Algonquin College just now, and one of the intersections nearby has been affected. I would suggest that you give yourself about 45 min. to get from the Parliament Hill area to Algonquin and find parking--if that is where your game is--haven't been to the other site, so I'm not sure about that. The Algonquin College campus is reasonably large. There are several parking lots, and there should be parking available in many of the lots. I suggest that you avoid parking at the nearby College Square Mall--the parking lot is patrolled regularly and vehicles can be ticketed/towed.

 

[nepean]

I agree that the construciton near Algonquin College is disruptive but not too bad coming from downtown. Parking lots 8,9 and 12 are $7.50 for the day. There are pay kiosks and you pay and put the slip on your dash. The lots are patrolled. The visitors general lot is $1.50 per half hour and is farthest from the soccer fields. Lot 12 is the closest. The lots are well marked. The cafeteria is reasonably priced but there is a Tims, McDonalds and Subway about a block away.

I live near the college also and DD is a student.

Nepean

 

[debster812]

You guys ROCK! Thanks so much.

It really is bordering on the ridiculous, as we're coming up from Massachusetts, for ONE game, and then turning around and heading home.

 

[debster812]

Thanks to everyone for your advice. We are back home, safe and sound. WOW, that was a long drive to do solo! What a beautiful city Ottawa is, at least the parts we saw.

Sadly, our boys did not fare as well as they had hoped against their Canadian counterparts, and they actually had to play the 2nd half of the game a man down, as they only had 11 players, and one of them got injured at the end of the 1st half.

We'll definitely be back, I wish I had planned better, and chosen to stay for the celebrations on the 1st. We *just* missed the Queen's arrival in Ottawa.

 

[anijac1412]

Glad you liked our little city!

You should definitely come back. Ottawa has its charm. It's a good thing you left when you did though. We're going through the biggest heat wave right now! Not the best conditions for touring the city lol.