Traffic calming at Kingston’s Waaban Crossing a work in progress, official says

Despite rejoicing when the Waaban Crossing finally opened, some Kingstonians have struggled with the heavy use of the bridge causing all new traffic problems.

Kingstonians rejoiced when the Waaban Crossing finally opened last year, but now, regular traffic snarls at the west side of the bridge are a source of frustration.

Cars sat bumper to bumper at the west side intersection of the Waaban Crossing Wednesday afternoon.

While the arrival of the third crossing did alleviate some of the traffic woes at the LaSalle Causeway, it seems the problem now lays at the foot of the new bridge.

That’s not a surprise, according to city planners.

“Since that time, the city has been monitoring traffic patterns here, and we’re trying to assess when it becomes, kind of, normalization,” said City of Kingston project engineer Dan Franco.

This, says Franco, is a necessary inconvenience that will help them determine what adjustments need to be made.

“What we’re doing here, as well, is trying to make some tweaks and adjustments to the signal timings, to try and make the intersection operate a little more efficiently,” he added.

The current situation for commuters in the Montreal Street area is congested to say the least.