Police preparing for trucker convoy stop in Kingston

As several transport truck convoys from southwestern Ontario make their way east towards Ottawa for a weekend demonstration on Parliament Hill, many of them will be stopping in Kingston for the night Thursday.

Kingston police say they will close an area of Gardiners Road and Highway 38, where there are a number of truck stops and hotels, to allow for the large number of transport trucks to make their way into the area.

“Up to potentially four convoys are anticipating to stay overnight in Kingston to eat fuel up, sleep and then carry on to Ottawa tomorrow morning being Friday,” Kingston police Sgt. Steve Koopman said. “So we are having to make that accommodation as best as we can, and rather than let chaos reign, we have decided to shut down the Gardners Road-Highway 38 sort of main highway.”

Koopman says police are expecting convoys to come from Windsor, Sarnia, Niagara and Toronto and that most are only loosely organized with the original, which is making its way through northern Ontario towards the nation’s capital.

The convoys are headed to Parliament Hill to protest COVID-19 vaccine mandates, especially one aimed at truckers. The policy, which went into effect Jan. 15, makes it mandatory for Canadian truckers crossing the border from the U.S. to be vaccinated to avoid a 14-day quarantine.

According to Koopman, police presence won’t be as necessary on Friday morning as the transports will only have to make a right-hand turn to drive back towards the 401 on-ramp.

“We’re hoping to keep the left through lane open for regular traffic and then there’s need to proceed northbound to the Highway 401 on-ramp to go eastbound towards Ottawa,” Koopman said.

The police are also hopeful that the convoy splits up its meeting points to municipalities other than Kingston. Koopman says there’s the possibility for trucks to stop for the night in communities like Belleville, Napanee and Brockville.

“If some of that can be accommodated that we are able to reduce the numbers coming only to Kingston, that would be a great relief to us,” Koopman said. “And then we could see whether these numbers coming off of Highway 38 and road are manageable.”

Koopman says Kingston police are working alongside the OPP in regards to the convoy, including receiving updates of its progress throughout the day.