Kingston opens Third Crossing Bridge to walkers, cyclists for a one-day preview
It was an event years in the making, as Kingston residents got to walk the Third Crossing Bridge for the very first time on Saturday.
The Third Crossing Bridge - which will be named Waaban Crossing when it officially opens later this year - has been under construction for three years.
It’s the city’s largest infrastructure project to date. The 1.2 km, $180-million project, will connect the east and west shores of the Cataraqui River, and allow people to access the west side and east sides of the city in a new way.
As construction nears completion, the city opened up the walking and cycling pathway for people to try out for one day.
Those like Curtis Froom took part, who owns a doggy daycare. Taking his ten dogs out for the first time, he says the opening is exciting.
"We’ve never walked dogs to the east side so this is a whole new thing," he says. "It’s been wanted for a long time by a lot of people"
Previously, the only way people could access either part of the city was to take either the 401 highway, or going downtown through the Causeway bridge kilometres away.
Once completely opened and in operation, it will hold a two-lane road for cars, and a pathway for people to walk and bike across.
Kingston resident Janine Mals-Dyer is from the east end, and says she’s been waiting decades for it to be built.
"It’s great. Long awaited. Long awaited, it’s fantastic," she says. "I moved into the east end… quite a long way ago, we were talking about the bridge, and 30 years later it’s here so I could not be anywhere else but here on this day."
City officials say the construction of the bridge is over 90 per cent complete and set to open on time and within budget.
Work is still underway in some sections of the bridge, including some paving and clean-up, which will take "some more weeks" to complete, according to Mark Van Buren, who is the deputy commissioner for the major projects office with the city of Kingston.
Avid cyclist Susan Hudson says the bridge will allow her to ride her bike easily from one end of the city to the other.
"I’ve been excited and anticipating this," she says of the trial run. "It’s just amazing to the community on the east side, (it) will allow people to have options."
The city says the bridge will fully open at the end of the year.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.