After curving back to the northeast and crossing Green Creek, the highway passes through farm fields then enters the bedroom community of Orléans.

[6][7][8] Highway 174 travels in a straight line for approximately 8.5 kilometres (5.3 mi) through the northern part of Orléans, with interchanges at Jeanne D'Arc Boulevard (Ottawa Road 55) and Champlain Street within the Covenant Glen neighbourhood.

It passes through the village of Cumberland, where it is briefly sandwiched between the river and the original routing of Highway 17 along Old Montreal Road.

It was a major part of the Greber Plan, which was produced by Jacques Gréber under the direction of Prime Minister Mackenzie King in the late 1940s.

Although Gréber had been corresponding with King as early as 1936, World War II halted any plans from reaching fruition at that time.

[22] The plan called for the complete reorganization of Ottawa's road and rail network, and included amongst the numerous parkways was an east to west expressway along what was then a Canadian National Railway line.

[23][24] With the rail lines removed, construction of the new expressway got underway in 1957 when Queen Elizabeth visited Ottawa to open the first session of the 23rd Parliament.

On October 15, the Queen detonated dynamite charges from the Hurdman Bridge, which now overlooks the highway as it crosses the Rideau River, and formally dedicated the new project as the Queensway.

At the ceremony, premier Leslie Frost indicated that the entire project would cost C$31 million and emphasized the importance of the link to the Trans-Canada Highway.

Residents and local politicians began a campaign by early 1979, pressuring the provincial government to widen the route and build interchanges.

[35] The province announced the widening of Highway 17 from Montreal Road to Champlain Street on April 15, 1980;[36][37] construction began in late May and was scheduled for completion in November, but would not include any grade-separations or interchanges.

[39] Studies began in 1986 to examine the Highway 17 corridor east of Ottawa, and recommended that the route be widened between Champlain Street and Trim Road.

[48][49] A significant portion of the upcoming Confederation Line light rail transit, which has been under construction since 2013, would run in the median of the Ottawa Road 174 freeway section.

[1][2] On March 28, 2024, Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced[3] a phased plan to guide the upload of Ottawa Road 174 to the province.