Ottawa·NewCongestion has eased for drivers on Highway 417 in downtown Ottawa as a long-lasting construction project enters its final stages.Lanes had been closed around Parkdale Avenue since summer of 2021Andrew Foote · CBC News · Posted: Dec 03, 2025 4:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 30 minutes agoListen to this articleEstimated 2 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Part of the staging area beside Highway 417 in Ottawa in mid-August 2022 when the highway was closed for a rapid overpass replacement. Years of work to replace five bridges and make other improvements is ending. (Jonathan Dupaul/CBC)Congestion has finally eased for drivers on Highway 417 in downtown Ottawa as a long-lasting construction project enters its final stages.Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation (MTO) and contractors Kiewit-Dufferin Midtown Partnership have been replacing five aging overpasses in the area since 2021.They’ve also been improving highway walls and tweaking the Bronson Avenue ramps, among other projects.That has resulted in highway lane closures since late summer 2021, reducing the 417 to three lanes along a stretch from Island Park Drive to Kent Street.On Monday morning, motorists noticed those lanes open again after more than four years.Highway 417 is back to four lanes in each direction after losing a lane to construction for more than four years. (Ministry of Transportation of Ontario)Some finishing touches remain, according to an email from an MTO spokesperson on Monday. They include some night and weekend work in the area, plus the closure of the eastbound Bronson off-ramp until Dec. 20, and the westbound Lyon Street on-ramp until Jan. 1.The MTO said the next bridges slated for replacement are those crossing the Rideau Canal and Main, Elgin and Metcalfe streets, starting with the one crossing the canal in 2029.WATCH | One of the rapid bridge replacement projects:Watch a time-lapse of the Bronson overpass installationEarlier this month, a stretch of Highway 417 through central Ottawa was closed as crews worked to install a prefabricated bridge over Bronson Avenue.ABOUT THE AUTHORAndrew Foote has been covering Ottawa-area news for the CBC since February 2013 after graduating from Carleton University. He can be reached at andrew.foote@cbc.ca.
4+ years of closures on downtown Ottawa’s Highway 417 are ending
