With Canada Day looming, the work on the ‘Big Dig’ is ramping up. The promise to open Princess Street between University Avenue and Barrie Street for Canada Day has construction crews going into overdrive to make it happen.
John Hoogwerf is site superintendent with Len Corcoran Excavating, the company that has been involved in all four phases of Kingston’s ‘Big Dig.’ He says the stretch leading up to Canada Day has been busy.
“This has been by far the most aggressive schedule for all the phases of the Princess reconstruction,” said Hoogwerf.
WATCH: Kingston’s multi-year, multi-million dollar big dig nears completion
The construction company says before April they were running short Fridays. Since then they have been running ten and a half hour days Monday through Friday and adding some Saturdays in order to keep to the schedule.
They also say safety has been key for the company during these high pressure times.
According to Hoogwerf, they have crew members stationed at corners and passageways to make sure people can get to their destinations safely and without entering the construction zone.
“Having 15 to 20 foot deep excavations in the main street, we had to take some extra measures to make sure we avoided any injuries from passersby to the site.”
Although the Canada Day weekend serves as a deadline for the stretch of Princess Street between University Avenue to Barrie Street to reopen, there will still be lane closures throughout July. Nevertheless, foot traffic should be less affected.
This is welcome news to some downtown stores and restaurants, who say construction has affected business.
Sarah Thomas is the manager Geneva Crepe Bistro said they weren’t able to keep their patio open during the construction, but they were able to open one recently.
“Understandably people didn’t want to be outside, but now we have the patio and we don’t have any digging,” said Thomas.
Some local businesses say the most exciting part about the construction moving away from their storefronts will be having all the foot traffic passing by once again.
“We get a lot of people walking by saying, ‘We didn’t know there was a crepe restaurant in Kingston,’ or ‘we’ve never been here before.'”
The Canada Day parade is set to roll through Princess Street on Sunday, so whether or not the finishing touches are complete — the show must go on.