Causeway navigation channel to be open by June 30, government says

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KINGSTON — The navigation channel through the LaSalle Causeway is scheduled to be open by June 30.

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Officials from Public Service and Procurement Canada provided a technical briefing Friday for media and businesses affected by the causeway’s closure.

The demolition of the bridge, which is already underway, is to happen in five phases, starting with reinforcement of the damaged section, then the removal of the 600-ton concrete counterweight, then removal of the counterweight supporting structure and finally the bridge itself.

“There’s some optimism that we can accelerate that date,” Stefan Dery, PSPC’s director general of infrastructure asset management, said. “Obviously, we’re not in a position to commit to a specific date at this time, but we’re confident that we’re tracking well on that piece.

“PSPC’s priority right now is to get the navigation channel open to free the vessels stranded in the Inner Harbour.”

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Following the bascule bridge’s removal, a temporary span would be put in place within six to eight weeks.

The opening of the navigation channel by the end of the month was good news for tour boat companies and other businesses that rely on the river being opened.

But there was little more good news about the plan to restore the causeway to a state that would please everyone.

A temporary fixed bridge would mean larger vessels would not be able to access the Kingston Marina and the Davis Drydock, which is critical for ships needing repair or mandated inspections.

“We’re calling it temporary, but I think it’d be realistic to speculate it would be there for years,” Eric Ferguson of Kingston 1000 Island Cruises said of the temporary replacement bridge.

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“We cannot contemplate, of course, a solution that would block off the Rideau Canal from the world, that would block both emergency and scheduled access to the Davis Drydock.”

Downtown business owners expressed concern that the uncertainty surrounding the bridge, including a vague timeline about its replacement, has had a huge negative impact on what was shaping up to be the best year since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Megan Knott of Tourism Kingston said any solution to get the causeway reopened had to balance the needs of all groups.

Several residents of the Barriefield neighbourhood also attended the meeting and expressed concern about the “profoundly disruptive” closure of the bridge.

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