Update: Rerouting for pedestrians due to state of Fort Frontenac wall could take two weeks

Pedestrians wanting to use the LaSalle Causeway will need to wait a couple of weeks while the City of Kingston and the Department of National Defence (DND) create an alternate route, according to the City of Kingston.

The City announced late last week that the sidewalk along Ontario Street leading up to the LaSalle Causeway would have to be closed to pedestrian traffic immediately due to the state of the perimeter wall at Fort Frontenac. Since then, signage and barricades have been put in place to discourage pedestrian traffic, but Kingstonist has received a few reports that pedestrians have ignored these and continued to use the sidewalk anyway. This is something the City is highly discouraging.

“The City’s primary concern is the safety of all the users through this area and asks that pedestrians use another form of transportation across the LaSalle Causeway (bike, Kingston Transit, car) until the alternate route is in place,” said Ian Semple, director of transportation services for the City of Kingston.

Semple said the City is currently working with the DND to “expedite the creation of an alternate pedestrian route around the sections of sidewalk that have been identified as unsafe.”

“It is anticipated that it could take approximately two weeks for this alternate route to be put in place,” he said.

As noted in the previous article regarding the issues with the structural integrity of the wall, the cost of the repairs will be approximately $4-5 million, and are expected to take place over three summers in the busy area of Kingston. Many were concerned about where the funding for the repairs would come from.

“Maintenance and any costs for repair to the wall is the responsibility of DND,” said Semple. “Completing repairs to the wall is expected to encroach into the public right of way and DND is working with the City to develop a plan that will allow the repairs to be completed, while also ensuring there is a safe, accessible route for pedestrians, cyclists, and vehicles.”

Semple said the details of each phase of the repair have not been reviewed with the City at this time, but noted that different temporary alterations to the existing flow of pedestrian, cycling, and vehicular traffic are expected to take place throughout the process.

“It is expected that during any work on sections of the wall that there will be an encroachment into the sidewalk, and potentially road area, that will require temporary changes to allow the work to be completed,” he said.