By Communications Staff

A city road reconstruction project on and around Queen’s campus is set to begin Monday, July 7 and continue until mid-November. The work will take place on George Street from King Street to Stuart Street.

“The city has worked closely with Queen’s and Kingston General Hospital (KGH) to minimize the impact of this critical infrastructure reconstruction project,” says John Witjes, Engineering and Operations Director, Physical Plant Services.

The map above shows the road reconstruction area for 2014 and the proposed construction area for 2015.

The excavation work on George Street will be completed in two phases: in the first phase, crews will be working on the west side of George Street beginning at King Street and progressing north to Stuart Street. Crews will then be returning to George and King Streets to complete the excavation that will take place in the centre and east side of George Street. This work will also progress north towards Stuart Street.

“Essentially, crews will be passing through the same work area twice; the contractor selected this method  as the most efficient and as one that will help ensure that services to nearby buildings are not interrupted for any prolonged period of time,” says Mr. Witjes.

Pedestrian access will be maintained at all times throughout the construction, with temporary closures and alternate routing for vehicle access. As work is occurring in the intersection of George Street and O’Kill Street, O’Kill Street will be turned into a two-way street to allow for vehicle access from Barrie Street. Two-way traffic will also be instated on George Street when necessary during the construction work.

The contractor will have personnel on site during working hours to instruct and help guide Queen’s and KGH employees, patients and visitors.

Weekly updates on the status of the project will be made available on the City of Kingston website and on the Queen’s News Centre.

Stuart, Arch and O’Kill Streets are scheduled for similar work in 2015.