The westbound Lyon Street on-ramp to Highway 417 is officially open for business again, marking the end of a half-decade-long closure.
Even in its planning phases, the closure of the Highway 417 on-ramp was never intended to be short-lived.
The City of Ottawa first stated in August 2021 that the Highway 417 on-ramp at Lyon and Catherine Streets would be closed for more than four years , with reopening originally set for November 2025.
The closure was part of the Ontario Ministry of Transportation’s ongoing mid-town bridge replacement project, which included work to replace retaining walls, noise-barrier walls and other infrastructure along the highway.
But, November 2025 came and went and the on-ramp at the intersection of Lyon and Catherine streets in central Ottawa remained shuttered.
In June 2026, the city announced that the Lyon Street on-ramp would remain closed until July 31, 2026, as the MTO worked to replace a noise barrier along Highway 417 eastbound between Carling Avenue and Rochester Street.
The MTO also issued an update on its Highway 417 bridge replacements website that the on-ramp would remain closed “until late summer 2026 to allow for additional geotechnical investigations to occur within the work area.”
But, after long last, the MTO confirmed in a statement to the Ottawa Citizen on Aug. 6 that “work is now complete, and the westbound on-ramp at Lyon Street is open.”
Other closures remain in effect until late summer as work continues to replace the Highway 417 noise-barrier wall, including an eastbound lane closure between Carling and Rochester, where the maximum speed limit has been reduced to 80 km/h.
