At approximately 19 km (12 mi) in length, Carling Avenue begins at the fringes of the Glebe neighbourhood and runs in a straight direction west until the Ottawa River where it bends north to go around Crystal Bay and Britannia Bay and ends north of Kanata.
The portion through the Greenbelt and into Kanata is generally a two-lane rural highway (although widening is planned, which would also remove a substandard underpass in the 3700 block about midway between March Road and Moodie Drive), with a speed limit of 80 km/h (50 mph).
Notable features located along Carling Avenue from west to east are Mitel, the Carling Campus, the Communications Research Centre, Smithvale Stables, Andrew Haydon Park, the Lincoln Fields Shopping Centre, Carlingwood Mall, Fairlawn Plaza, Westgate Mall, the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre, Ottawa Civic Hospital, Old Dominion Observatory, and Claridge Icon condo tower.
From 2004 to 2007, Carling Avenue was named one of Ontario's worst 20 roads in a CAA survey,[2][3] citing frequent bumps and potholes.
[4] Dow's Lake station on the O-Train Trillium Line, is located near the intersection of Carling Avenue and Preston Street.