Ottawa Cycling Updates november 2025

New pathway in Ainsley Park

There was already a desire line in Ainsley Park, connecting Agincourt Rd with the intersection of Baseline and Cordova St. Now the city turned the muddy track into a proper 160 meter pathway. From Cordova St across from Baseline, cyclists can safely visit stores on the west side of Merivale without having to cycle on neither Baseline nor Merivale. Many Merivale malls have unofficial (and the odd official) shortcuts to the back of the mall, behind waste containers and parked cars via curbs, broken fences, muddy paths and snowbanks.

Councillor Johnson and staff are working on further improving access to the malls but ultimately, mall owners decide. With the Conservative government in Ontario continuing their crusade against cycling lanes, you may want to start thinking what cycling and walking shortcuts and modal filters the city could built instead to keep the momentum going.

AGM Bike Ottawa

Bike Ottawa’s AGM is traditionally in the Fall. On October 26 we listened to Dr. Marvin Macaraig from Scarborough who talked about promoting cycling in a suburban environment: “Building suburban bike culture: Reflections from Scarborough, ON“. Here is a recap of the presentation (via Bike Ottawa):

We also voted in new board members. More here.

Riverside Hospital pathway

There is construction going on at the Riverside hospital to build an 8 storey Long Term Care home with 256 beds and a 15 storey tower with 270 retirement dwellings. Part of the redesign of the area includes a new multi use pathway. It routes cyclists from the intersection on the east side at Smyth Rd straight on a new pathway that bypasses the entire new site and pops up again at the main thoroughfare on the property.

From the drawings, it looks like the sole entrance for drivers to the hospital will be the existing one off Riverside. The Smyth entrance will serve the new facilities. There have been more modifications at Smyth and the Riverside on/off ramps; I will write about that another time.

Way back when: no cycling in Ottawa U. tunnel

Did you know that until fairly recently (to my age standards), it was not allowed to cycle in the tunnel underneath Nicholas between Ottawa University and Colonel By Drive? As recently as 2010, you had to walk your bicycle. Bike Ottawa (then known as Citizens for Safe Cycling) suggested to change that and ever since, hundreds of thousands of bike trips were counted. In 2024, 1.6 million pedestrian and cyclist trips were counted in the tunnel.

British High Commission adds office building to property

The British High Commission, formerly based on Elgin St overlooking the war memorial, had a new office building built in the front yard of the home of the British High Commissioner. The gingerbread house on the same property, called Earnscliffe, on the river was once the home of John A. McDonald, the first prime minister of Canada, and is now the home of the British High Commissioner. The former home of the High Commission building on Elgin was bought by the NCC a few years ago and will eventually house the NCC. If you take a close look, you can see the path slightly shifted. The white dots on the left of the path are large rocks.

Lights on Bike events

Already since 2012, Bike Ottawa together with Safer Roads Ottawa organised an event right after the clocks turn back in the fall. Volunteers of Bike Ottawa handed out bike lights on November 6 between 4:30 pm and 5:30 pm. This year Bike Ottawa was at the Hartwells Locks along the Colonel By pathway. I estimate about 50-60 cyclists cycled by in an hour and the vast majority had proper lights already. Ecology Ottawa did a similar event in town on November 4.

I noticed nearly all cyclists had solid bikes, solid lights and were well dressed against the cold (it was around the freezing point). Yet, many stopped for a chat and took a light anyway.

I have a rechargeable light myself from MEC which is at least ten years old, if not fifteen by now, because I’d like to avoid the unreliable throwaway crappy lights. Some of the lights we handed out last week didn’t even work right out of the box: shipped from oversees and straight into the waste bin in Canada: battery, mini circuit board and plastics.

Canal wall and pathway near Flora Footbridge collapsing?

If you biked or walked across the Flora footbridge recently, you may have noticed it too: the Rideau Canal wall is basically collapsing and the only thing stopping from doing so are dozens of bags filled with dirt (sand?). That is a serious deterioration and I hope there is money in the 2026 federal budget to have that repaired as it is Parks Canada jurisdiction. Get ready for yet another detour. #StuffYouSeeFromaBike

Velo Canada bikes: “Best Bike Day on the Hill yet”

On October 8th, Vélo Canada Bikes gathered 20 MPs (including four ministers), two Senators, national leaders, and the public in Ottawa for Bike Day on the Hill, a celebration of everyday cycling in Canada. It was a focussed, non-partisan and joyful event that demonstrated that the movement for a bicycle-friendly Canada is growing in strength and diversity. This success was thanks to the support of a dedicated team of volunteers, members and donors across the country, and a small group of like-minded organizations and businesses.

Vélo Canada Bikes is a membership-based organization, working for members by advocating at the federal level and supporting the work of local advocates. They recently secured $500 million for active transportation capital projects (which can be used by communities to build cycling infrastructure) within the new Canada Public Transit Fund.

Protest at City Hall against interference

On a cool Thursday morning, Ottawa residents protested against the provincial Conservative government’s plans to no longer allow Ontario municipalities deciding if part of a road could be converted into bike infrastructure. Strong Towns Ottawa, Bike Ottawa, Ecology Ottawa and others voiced opinions.

New pathways along 174

Last week, I wrote about two new pathways running along the 174 in Beacon Hill as part of the LRT project. These two pathways connect the Sir George Étienne Cartier Parkway with Blair Station and a protected intersection at Montreal Road station. You can read more here.

Doc tip: Rails to Trails movement in the US

PBS has a 56 minute documentary about how the movement to turn abandoned railway right of ways in the US into trails came into being. The documentary won’t be on line forever so don’t wait too long.

Don’t rely on social media alone for your cycling information

Traditional media in Ottawa rarely report on cycling anymore. But there is a lot happening. Safer infrastructure is being built, advocacy events are being organised. Sign up for free for new posts if you want to know what is happening, delivered right into your inbox. Because it is so easy to end up in a negative echo chamber.

More Ottawa Cycling News

• 
  Ottawa Cycling Updates november 2025
  Reading Time: 6 minutesNovember cycling updates: cycling at the Riverside Hospital, a new paved pathway through Ainsley Park, Bike Ottawa’s AGM, Lights on Bikes, what is happening to the canal pathway, a cycling documentary tip on PBS and more in this newsletter.
• 
  Ottawa cycling updates – October 2025
  Reading Time: 8 minutes A pannier full of a bike related stuff, a protest on October 20th, new infrastructure pictures in town and a nerdy but sweet documentary that has nothing to do with cycling.
• 
  Cycling updates September 2025
  Reading Time: 7 minutesHere are a several updates I encountered over the last month, including a trailer for BIXI bikes in Montreal, the new underpass at Churchill and a suggestion in Quebec to use crosswalks as cross rides.
• 
  Cycling updates for Ottawa – August 8
  Reading Time: 6 minutesSeveral cycling updates this time, some new infrastructure images, rye along the pathway, a visit from New York, traffic camera data, a closer look at the bottom end of Saw Mill Creek and a fundraiser for Ghost, a resident who was hit end of July.
• 
  Cycling updates for Ottawa – July 17
  Reading Time: 5 minutesHere are several cycling updates in Ottawa. Renewal of the Patterson Creek bridge with a wider mup, a bit of new paving near the McDonald-Cartier bridge, drawings for the Elgin-Laurier intersection (before and after slider) and a strange story about McCarthy Road in Hunt Club.