Sussex Drive

Sussex Drive

Promenade Sussex
Aerial view of Sussex Street and the Royal Canadian Mint, circa 1920
Type	Street
Maintained by	City of Ottawa
Length	2.4 km (1.5 mi)[1]
Location	Ottawa
North end	Rideau Gate (continues as Sir George-Étienne Cartier Parkway)
Major junctions	Road 99 (King Edward Avenue) to Quebec Autoroute 5 via Macdonald-Cartier Bridge
South end	Rideau Street

Sussex Drive (French: Promenade Sussex), also known as Ottawa Regional Road 93, is an arterial road in Ottawa, Ontario, the capital of Canada. It is one of the city's main ceremonial and institutional routes. Travelling roughly parallel to the Ottawa River, Sussex Drive begins as a continuation of Sir George-Étienne Cartier Parkway at Rideau Gate, at the entrance to Rideau Hall. It travels south to Rideau Street, with the portion south of St. Patrick Street forming the northbound half of a one-way pair with Mackenzie Avenue. Both Mackenzie Avenue and Sussex Drive connect with Colonel By Drive at their southern end, which continues south alongside the Rideau Canal.

Sussex Drive was laid out as three separately named streets during the establishment of Ottawa in the first half of the 19th century: Sussex Street, between Bolton Street and Rideau Street; Metcalfe Street, between Bolton Street and the Rideau River; and Ottawa Street between the river and Rockcliffe Park. The latter two were renamed as an extension of Sussex Street following Ottawa's annexation of New Edinburgh in 1886. Numerous government institutions were established along Sussex in the early 20th century, and embassies were established following World War II. As a result of the Greber Plan, the road was widened and rebuilt and the buildings along it refurbished throughout the 1950s and 1960s. It was renamed Sussex Drive in November 1953 during a visit by the Queen Mother.