It is prime construction season, and the campus is abuzz with the sounds of drills, hammers, and heavy machinery.

Projects are currently underway in 30 buildings, ranging from elevator repairs, to stone replacement and repointing, to steam line upkeep, to a new roof for the University Club, and a brand new sidewalk in between Ontario Hall and Grant Hall.

Perhaps most interesting to students, extensive renovations are underway in Mackintosh-Corry to create a renewed ‘student street’ on the first floor, and new classrooms on the third.

This work is in addition to the Innovation and Wellness Centre construction project, scheduled to wrap up in fall 2018, and the biomedical research lab renovations in Botterell Hall. All told, the value of planned and completed repairs and upgrades this year is approximately $130 million.

In addition to all of the Queen’s campus construction projects, the City of Kingston has been working to replace the Division Street watermain. This has restricted access to parts of Union and Divisions Streets on campus. Construction has recently advanced north up Division, which means Union Street has now re-opened in both directions through the middle of campus.

As part of this work, a new streetlight and crosswalk are being installed at the intersection of Union and Division. The City of Kingston received numerous concerns from students over the years about crossing in this area, and a City spokesperson says the reconstruction of Division Street provided an excellent opportunity to install a new traffic signal during the planned work.

With the construction moving up Division, the street is now closed to traffic from just north of Union Street to Johnson Street. Access to the loading dock at the Queens ARC will be maintained at all times during the road closure via Clergy Street. It is expected that Division Street south of Earl Street will be paved prior to student move in. Construction crews will open up as much of the roadways as possible to minimize the impacts to traffic during student move in.

Further construction updates will be posted in the Campus Updates section of The Gazette and the Queen’s Gazette Today email.