Innes Road

Innes Road (Ottawa Road #30) is one of the most important streets in the east end of the City of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, running through the former cities of Gloucester and Cumberland. It is the main route serving Blackburn Hamlet and south Orleans, as well as several industrial and commercial areas in east Ottawa. This road has changed considerably over the years.

The western section from St. Laurent Boulevard to Cyrville Road is a four-lane principal arterial road that primarily runs through industrial and light commercial areas with partial access control, although with an 80 km/h (50 mph) speed limit. Some residential frontage and considerable commercial frontage exists in the fairly congested section east of Highway 417, where Innes widens to six lanes up to Blackburn Hamlet and then becomes a divided four-lane road. The Canadian Conservation Institute is located in this section.

Innes splits in Blackburn Hamlet; The original alignment runs through the community as an undivided road with a lower speed limit of 50 km/h (31 mph). On both stretches of road, it is very common to get caught by speed traps. The 3.3 km (2.1 mi) long Blackburn Bypass (Ottawa Road 128) was built in the late 1980s; it is a divided expressway around Blackburn Hamlet maintaining 80 km/h (50 mph), greatly speeding up the commute to Orléans.

Once in Orléans, Innes once again becomes a commercial/mixed frontage principal arterial road. This was recently widened from two to four lanes due to the urban sprawl of south Orleans. The most congested section is at 10th Line Road, which has become the second commercial hub of Orleans (after Place d'Orleans). The speed limit through Orleans is 60 km/h (37 mph) although during the construction project it was reduced mostly to 50 km/h (31 mph).

Once clear of Orléans (east of Frank Kenny Road), Innes becomes a rural road.

Major intersections

History

The present Innes Road stretches to the Cumberland boundary and was originally called the 3rd Line. When the road was remade much of it ran north and parallel to the original roadway. Part of the original road that still survives is now named Windmill Lane and runs to Ritchie’s Feed and Seed Store and past other businesses. Some changes to the road were necessitated by the construction of Highway 417.[1] Innes was named after Alexander Innes, a Scottish immigrant who owned a farm close to the present day intersection of Innes and Bantree Road. He operated the Toll Road (Russell Road) which ran east from St. Laurent Blvd. Alexander Innes was father to John Innes who was Reeve of the Township of Gloucester and died in office. A monument to John Innes was erected at the corner of Russell Road and Walkley Road in 1941, but was not maintained and it was removed when Gloucester was amalgamated into Ottawa. In Fall 2013, a new cairn with a commemorative plaque was placed in front of Gloucester Hall on Bank Street.[1]

Communities

References

Route map: Bing / Google

  1. 1 2 "Finally, a memorial cairn for John Innes" (PDF). Historic Gloucester (Gloucester Historical Society) 14 (4): 6. Fall 2013.
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