King Edward Avenue is one of the principal roads within the eastern core area of Ottawa. It serves as a direct arterial road connection to the Macdonald-Cartier Bridge crossing of the Ottawa River to the City of Gatineau and beyond. It is the most direct freeway-to-freeway connection between provinces in the National Capital Region and is the primary inter-provincial truck route. It also serves as a collector road distributing traffic to streets within Lowertown, the Byward Market, Sandy Hill and the University of Ottawa, forming an integral portion of the core area neighbourhood street network.