The parkways in Gatineau Park are now officially closed for the winter. (See NCC notice below.) We can rollerski, cycle, long-board or in-line skate on them any or every day until snow arrives. Please continue to move safely and respect each other and the park environment. As always, our continued access depends on it.
Thank you to this fall's parkway closers, who came forward quickly and cheerfully, long before I even considered pleading or arm-twisting. According to all reports, the task was tidily taken care of every weekend and free of incident — or, as Hugh Blakeney put it in an e-mail after his stint: "Done. It was uneventful."
So please, a big round of applause for:
- Piers Drew
- Richard Turgeon
- Hugh Blakeney
- Matthew Foster and Linda Martin
- Rick Heroux
- Lisa Meyer
- Ross MacLeod
- several athletes from XC Ottawa who shared the duty last Sunday
- and John Fahey, who again offered his property as convenient storage base for the signs and pylons
One final note: North Loop construction. As you know if you've passed by P8 in the last week, this is underway and substantial. Completion date is tentatively the end of November but could be later. That's one big culvert, and a fairly constricted job site. Snow may well arrive before the job is done. We can forget about roller-skiing (or cycling or skating or boarding) the full loop this year. Enjoy the rest of the parkways and, soon hopefully, the ski trails.
From the NCC, Oct. 18th - http://www.canadascapital.gc.ca/places-to-visit/gatineau-park/news/2011-10-18/gatineau-park-parkway-network-closes-to-motorists
The National Capital Commission (NCC) would like to advise motorists that the Gatineau Park Parkway Network (Gatineau, Champlain, and Fortune Parkways) will close for the season on Sunday, October 23, 2011 at 5 pm.
As a general rule, seasonal closures of the Gatineau Park Parkway Network are scheduled on the fourth Sunday of October, at 5 pm and re-openings on the first Friday of May, at noon.
The NCC wishes to remind the public that Philippe Lake and La Pêche Lake sectors in Gatineau Park are also closed to motorists for the season.
During the winter season, Gatineau Park’s Parkways are converted into cross-country ski trails. Some 30 kilometres of roads offer magnificent scenery and some of the best ski conditions in North America.
For more information on activities offered in Gatineau Park, the public may contact the NCC at 819-827-2020, 1-800-465-1867 (toll-free), 613-239-5090 (TTY) or 1-866-661-3530 (toll-free TTY), or visit the NCC’s website at www.gatineaupark.ca.
Media Information:
Jasmine Leduc
NCC Media Relations
613-239-5410 (office)
613-608-3119 (cellular)
jasmine.leduc@ncc-ccn.ca
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