Achi news desk-
The LaSalle Causeway closure isn’t just causing headaches for commuters and boaters.
As the tourist season approaches, he questions two of Kingston’s biggest tourist attractions: the landmark Thousand Island Cruises and the trolley tours.
The trolley can’t get across to Fort Henry and two of the Thousand Island tour ships are stuck on the wrong side of the causeway.
Will they be able to keep the tours going?
“It is not an option to leave these two ships in the inner harbor,” said Thousand Islands Cruises general manager Eric Ferguson.
He said if a solution was not found, it would have a huge impact on the operation.
Tourism is a major financial contributor to the local economy, bringing over half a billion dollars to the city in 2023.
“I don’t think we can really underestimate the impact,” said Tourism Kingston CEO Megan Knott.
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She says she is hopeful that a solution will be found – a sentiment Ferguson agrees with, saying discussions have already taken place about possibly raising the drawbridge temporarily.
“If that is not possible, then we will have to go under or around,” he said.
If all else fails, the cruise line, along with St. Lawrence Cruise Lines and other local marine operators, have proposed a new solution.
An internal white page shared with Global News reads, in part: “The Lasalle Causeway has a low fixed concrete span, which could be temporarily removed to allow marine traffic to pass. If this work is timed to coincide with the repair of the Bascule span, it will not lead to any additional delays in closing the carriageway to vehicular traffic.”
As for the trolleys, which are also run by Thousand Islands Cruises, the plans will be changed.
“We will focus entirely on the west side of the Cataraqui River,” said Ferguson.
That would mean skipping Fort Henry altogether and spending more time at Kingston Penitentiary and the Rockwood Asylum site and adding some new stops to the hour and a half trip.
Ferguson assures tourists that their time in Kingston will not be less enjoyable just because of a bridge closure.
“We want to make sure that the commitments we have made to visitors to Kingston to have an experience on the water in the city are commitments we can keep and we will make it happen,” he said.
Kingston will still see the little red trolley and the cruise ships doing what they were made to do one way or another.
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