Stuart Street road construction begins

The big road construction job that’s been coming down the pipe is now underway. Road crews are digging up Stuart Street, starting near the corner of Stuart and George Streets. Over the summer, they will then dig their way along Stuart Street from Barrie Street all the way to Lower University.

“The underground infrastructure around our hospital is old and outdated and we have been working with the city over the past few years to help replace it as soon as possible,” says Rocky Prosser, Director of Protection Services. “It’s a large job, but we have been working closely with people across the hospital to make sure everyone is prepared so it all goes smoothly.”

And so far, so good. The excavation work began last summer on George Street and since then crews with Taggart Construction have replaced all of the sewer and water pipes running under George and Okill Streets, without any major impact to hospital operations.

During this phase, there will once again be disruption to traffic flow and parking along Stuart Street, this time for the entire summer. Due to the big hole in the ground, the street will be closed to all through traffic, although local traffic will still be able to use and park on the parts of the streets that aren’t under construction. The underground parking garage will also remain open at all times, as will access to our main entrances.

To help with traffic to the Burr wing and the GIDRU building, Okill Street will also now be open to two-way traffic starting this week.

All of this construction also means changes to the bus services that normally run along Stuart Street. Kingston Transit will remain on schedule but the usual stops are now being relocated to surrounding streets, such as King, Barrie, Lower University or Union Streets.

A full list of routes and their corresponding stops is available on our website www.kghconnect.ca/roadupdates, along with regular updates on the overall project.