New Kingston crosswalk answers a safety issue

BY NANCY KELLY

Kings County Register

Pedestrians and drivers in downtown Kingston are reminded to heed a new crosswalk on Main Street, just west of the Bridge Street intersection.

This advice comes from Constables Dan Dionne and Sean Boulger of the Kingston RCMP detachment. “Now that the crosswalk is up and running, it is important that people pay attention to it - whether they are crossing the road or driving through town,” says Boulger, whose letter of support for the crosswalk helped Kings County Councillor Diana Brothers convince the Department of Transportation the structure was needed.

It was about one year ago when Brothers approached Kings West MLA Leo Glavine for his assistance in getting DOT to conduct a traffic study, required before any changes could be made. “They were hesitant because there had a been a crosswalk there previously, but it was taken down because of technical issues,” explained Glavine. “Diana was determined to see this done to improve safety for people crossing to the Kingston Medical Clinic,” added Glavine, calling the crosswalk a “good preventative initiative.”

After the crosswalk was approved, the construction process was stalled several times due to equipment availability and site design. The final cost was also higher than originally budgeted due to higher than expected costs for tender work and crosswalk components. Kings County and the village agreed to share in the original estimated $30,000 cost. At the Jan. 12 meeting of the Kingston village commission, clerk-treasurer Greg Towne said the costs will come in closer to $55,000 and there had been no official discussions between the partners about how the extra cost would be shared.

January 27, doctors McGuire and Yafai joined Brothers outside their offices to officially recognize the new crosswalk with representatives of the village, county and RCMP.

McGuire, who said the crossing was “long overdue,” noted the medical clinic sees a minimum of 100 patients per day, the majority of whom park across the street in the municipal lot and had been previously forced to negotiate steady traffic on Main Street just to cross to the clinic. “It’s a miracle no one was seriously injured,” before the crosswalk went up, added McGuire. “This crosswalk creates safer conditions not only for our patients, but for everyone,” said Yafai.