Kingston, Ont. residents get preview of Waaban crossing

While the official opening is still a couple of months away, pedestrians were invited to preview the third crossing on Saturday afternoon.

“It is very exciting,” Kingston resident Kim Hurt said of the opportunity to walk across the Waaban Crossing, as it will be known upon completion.

It was a packed scene at John Counter Boulevard as the project, decades in the making, nears completion.

For people like Hurt, that day can’t come soon enough.

“I’m very excited, especially for all my friends on the east end. When we go to visit, it’ll be so much easier,” she said.

The third crossing is being introduced to provide yet another way for Kingston residents to get across the city.

It’s also intended to reduce traffic congestion on the LaSalle causeway — congestion that Hurt said she is all too familiar with.

“If there was an accident on the 401 or if the causeway was down … I used to live six minutes from my work and there were times when it would take an hour and a half, two hours to get home.”

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Others, such as Saige Renaud, were just excited to roller-blade across the bridge.

“It was nice,” she said. “The pavement was really smooth.”

People came out in droves to walk, bike and scooter across the bridge — and to do so ahead of the grand opening to cars later this year.

“We’re looking forward to the end of the year, probably around mid-December, when we’ll get the bridge open for use,” said deputy commissioner Mark Van Buren.

“That’ll be a great milestone for the community.”

In addition to the opening ceremony, there will be a naming ceremony to officially dub the project “Waaban Crossing.”