during the 1950s, the greber plan called for the creation of numerous parkways and divided highways through the growing city of ottawa. one of these, known as "the queensway", was a grade-separated freeway that would bypass the urban alignment of highway 17. the greber plan was produced by jacques gréber under the direction of prime minister william lyon 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. following the war, gréber was again contacted and his expertise requested. he arrived on october 2, 1945, and began working almost immediately.