Kingston’s decade long expansion on the Hwy. 401 is coming to an end

The current project involves expanding the highway to three lanes in both east and westbound lanes, from the Cataraqui River to Highway 15.

The goal of the decade-long project is to add a third lane to the 401 in each direction through Kingston, as well as to improve interchanges in the area, is entering its final stages.

Construction work on the bridge began back in 2017 and was initially planned to be completed by the spring of 2020.

Commuters can now breathe a sigh of relief knowing that construction on the bridge has progressed well over the last few years and will likely be completed sooner than anticipated.

“We should probably see, hopefully, weather-dependent, that the new lanes will be open by the end of the year,” said Brandy Duhaime, regional communications coordinator for the Ontario Ministry of Transportation told Global News.

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In addition, re-configuring the interchanges at highway 15 and Gardiners Road has also helped improve traffic flow on the busy stretch of the highway.

Despite some of the challenges workers have faced while expanding this section of the 401, Duhaime says drivers have adapted well to the changes they’ve made surrounding the construction zone. Some of the changes include reducing the speed to 80 km/r and adding flashing signs to alert drivers that construction workers are present in the medium.

“Through Kingston, we see average daily traffic of about 52,000 vehicles per day,” says Duhaime.

“Adding a lane to the highway and continuing the six-lane expansion as we have … will help traffic.”