Island Park Drive & Richmond Road
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Island Park Drive & Richmond road - Tyler Hodgkins
plain
2023-08-22T15:40:20-07:00
The intersection of Island Park Drive and Richmond Road lay to the west of Ottawa. The north-running street was constructed in 1910 under the name of Ottawa Improvement Commission Driveway, before bearing the name of Island Park Drive. The road would mark the division between Wellington Street and Richmond Road and aimed to connect mainland Ontario to the islands within the Ottawa river, but would coincidentally serve as the westernmost crossing point into neighbouring Québec. This road acted as the main artery for any traveler to Québec approaching from the west, creating high levels of exposure to the surrounding area during the rise of transportation in the age of private automobile ownership. Richmond road on the other hand had already proven its utility, serving as a transportational route spanning back to 1818.The road's development, which carried on until roughly 1824, was dedicated to serve transportation to the settlement of Richmond and was cut by hand by the early settlers. The road would eventually serve as the main entrance into Ottawa from the west, again bringing high exposure to the area from travelers passing through. By 1934, the era of the cottage gas station, the intersection between the two roads would become occupied by the many passing vehicles due to the rise of private car ownership during this time. This, in turn, would create an area of high exposure around the intersection where travelers approaching from the west would divert their course to the north to enter Québec or continue straight to Ottawa. The nature of the intersection and its high exposure to the mobilized public created an ideal location on which the gas station would be built by the Benzoline corporation.
