By Canadian Press

Ottawa’s Rideau Canal Skateway opening scaled back and delayed to Sunday afternoon

Jan 21, 2024 | 11:37 AM

OTTAWA — Skaters eager to hit the ice on Ottawa’s iconic Rideau Canal will have to wait a few hours longer and will have a shorter stretch to glide on than previously expected. 

The National Capital Commission says the skateway’s much anticipated reopening has been pushed back from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. because it needs a bit more time to fully freeze after overnight flooding. 

The section open to skaters will also be about half as long as what the NCC announced Saturday when it made the initial reopening announcement. 

The NCC says the skateway will be open for a roughly one-kilometre stretch between Bank Street and Fifth Avenue, rather than from Bank Street to the Pretoria Bridge. 

The NCC says as ice conditions become safer it will open more sections of the skateway, which winds through 7.8 kilometres of the capital when it’s fully frozen. 

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The skateway was unable to open last season for the first time in its history. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 21, 2024.

The Canadian Press