John Counter Boulevard and Montreal Street intersection and pathway improvements

Illustration of people travelling along a sidewalk in an urban setting.

Ahead of scheduled work to reconstruct the intersection in 2025, the City is performing temporary improvements to accommodate increased traffic related to the LaSalle Causeway closure. Read the news release for more details on impacts and construction timelines.

As part of the City’s ongoing efforts to make it easier to get around Kingston through active modes of transportation and improved pedestrian safety, we are reconstructing the intersection of John Counter Boulevard and Montreal Street and connecting the new Waaban Crossing multi-use pathway from Ascot Lane west to the K&P trailhead at Elliott Avenue at John Counter Boulevard. In addition, newContinue reading

Illustration of people travelling along a sidewalk in an urban setting.

This project will help fill a gap in the City’s current cycling network and is a project identified in our Active Transportation Master Plan (ATMP) and Five-Year Active Transportation Implementation Plan (ATIP). Please see the map below illustrating the general project location.

Illustration of a map overview of the intersection of John Counter Boulevard and Montreal Street in Kingston.

This project is currently in the detailed design stage with construction scheduled to begin in 2024 and be completed by the end of 2024, with limited carryover work into 2025 if needed.

Project highlights

New lighting, traffic signals, lanes, paving and signage at the intersection of John Counter Boulevard and Montreal Street;

The addition of turning aprons (see image and description below) on the four corners of the intersection to help large vehicles turn around the corners while maintaining a safe distance from pedestrians;

New multi-use pathway along the south side of John Counter Boulevard from Elliott Avenue to Ascot Lane;

New transit stop features such as bus lanes and bus pads near the intersection;

New cycle tracks and sidewalks close to the John Counter Boulevard and Montreal Street intersection;

New road paving along Montreal Street from Briceland Street to Cassidy Street; and

Rehabilitation of the Montreal Street bridge north of John Counter Boulevard including new pavement, sidewalks and railings.

Reconstruction of the intersection

The drawings in the News Feed below illustrate the proposed road layout at the intersection. Each leg of the intersection has a dedicated right turn, left turn and through movement to help accommodate the new traffic from the Waaban Crossing.

Turning aprons

Each corner of the intersection has turning aprons proposed to lower turning speeds which helps increase pedestrian safety. These turning aprons have lower curbs to allow larger trucks to drive over them while turning, while also keeping pedestrians safe and highly visible to all users at the intersection. The turning aprons are indicated in deep magenta in the images in the News Feed.

Multi-use pathway

A new multi-use pathway along the south side of John Counter Boulevard from Elliott Avenue to Ascot Lane will replace the old sidewalk that is currently there. The pathway will be three metres wide and include the addition of pedestrian street lighting to illuminate the pathway. The pathway will wrap around the corner of Elliott Avenue and John Counter Boulevard and connect to the K&P trailhead that heads south.

Cycling and sidewalk infrastructure

This project will extend on-road bike lanes:

Along the north side of John Counter Boulevard from Maple Street to Tim Horton’s, and

Along both sides of Montreal Street from John Counter Boulevard to Briceland Street.

Cycle track ramps are located near the intersection to help cyclists enter and exit the bike lanes from/to the road.

Sidewalks will be replaced where needed along Montreal Street from Cassidy Street to Briceland Street. A new sidewalk is planned for the east side of Montreal Street from John Counter Boulevard to Village Drive.

Landscaping and trees

There may be some trees that need to be removed along the south side of John Counter Boulevard between Elliott Avenue and Montreal Street to accommodate the new pathway and associated lighting. The City will protect any remaining trees that are in the construction area. The landscaping will be soil and grass within the boulevard spaces, including the large area on the northeast corner of John Counter Boulevard at Montreal Street.

Impacts to residents, businesses and emergency services

The City is coordinating the work to ensure that access to residential and businesses in the project area will have minimal impact and will remain open at all times. Some short-term exceptions may be needed during certain construction works such as piping or paving. Emergency services and Kingston Transit will have priority access through any construction zones and will be coordinated once a contractor has been selected for the work.

Engagement summary: intersection design
Why we engaged

The City of Kingston is planning construction work in 2024 to make improvements at and around the intersection of John Counter Boulevard and Montreal Street. This includes reconstructing the intersection, extending the existing multi-use pathway from the Waaban Crossing along John Counter Boulevard to the K&P trailhead at Elliott Avenue and rehabilitating the Canadian National Railway overpass north of the intersection. These improvements will make it easier and safer for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists to travel in the area.

The preliminary design drawings were published on Get Involved Kingston to show the community how the lanes will look approaching the intersection, as well as changes to sidewalks, paths, on- and off-road bike lanes and transit stops. Learn more about the City is improving cycling options by reviewing the Active Transportation Implementation Plan.

How we engaged

Community members were invited to ask questions of the project team from Nov. 6 to 24 by using the question tool on Get Involved Kingston. The community was provided opportunities to engage online, by phone or by mail. Social media, Curbex signs, Get Involved email newsletters and the City’s website carousel were used to communicate about this engagement.

Members of the project team also reached out directly to neighbouring residents and business/property owners to share information about the project and answer questions.

Who we heard from
- Eight engaged participants asked a question or emailed the project team
- 615 aware participants visited the project page
- Two participants created a new Get Involved Kingston account
Next steps

The project team will be reaching out to the community in winter 2024 for feedback on the location of rest areas.

Construction is scheduled to begin in spring 2024, with any necessary carryover work to be finished in 2025. Subscribe to the Traffic Report(External link) to stay up to date on traffic impacts in the area.

What we heard

The following are a list of comments and questions submitted by registered Get Involved Kingston participants. Feedback that did not follow the City of Kingston's Guidelines for Participation were omitted from the feedback.
- As someone who commutes the Waaban Crossing daily the biggest choke point in my opinion is the lights at Ascot Lane. What I've noticed is that the John Counter lights will turn green but then the Ascot Lane lights will change to allow its traffic onto John Counter Blvd or the bridge, stopping the flow of traffic over the East and West causing it to back up (sometimes to the East end of the bridge). I believe the intersection improvements will help the North, South, and West legs but the East leg will still have issues.
- Our main concern will be the loss of being able to turn left out on to John Counter Boulevard and left from John Counter Boulevard into the Chat-A-Bit Station Plaza. This will have a detrimental impact on the businesses in the mall. We have always had all direction turning on John Counter Boulevard. If you would please reconsider. We have located our business on this corner because of the access it allowed, to our drive thru clientele. We must support our local businesses that employ, provide needed services and support our local community. Please do not shut down our full access route to our mall, it will have major effects on our customer getting into and out of our business.
- Hi, as a recent full-time cyclist commuter I am finding myself enjoying the new plans for this intersection. I cross here going east to west and vice versa daily. I see bus stops being added and I'm excited to finally see a bus line use the bridge to avoid the causeway. The separation of cars and bikes with the multi-use paths is appreciated, but I hope to see the installation of bollards on the road-bound bike paths. Cars on JCB tend to speed in both directions and I've almost been clotheslined by side mirrors more than once. In light of the recent death of an experienced cyclist I'd like to see the city plan more traffic calming measures and protected bike lanes on strips of road like this where the speed limit is 50+kph. Temporary bollards would be a great first step for data gathering, and more permanent installations of concrete separating curbs, raised paths and permanent bollards would do a great deal of increasing cycling use and help the city meet its climate goals. Thanks to its small but dense size, Kingston could be one of the leading cycling cities in Ontario. It's perfect size wise but needs the infrastructure to encourage non-cyclists to convert.
- I would urge that you remove the lights at Ascot Lane and Point St Mark Drive and install a roundabout. They are ineffective at moving traffic and are spaced out too close to the lights before the crossing.
- Better timing of traffic signals to reflect morning (southbound) and afternoon (northbound) traffic patterns on Montreal St. Since the bridge opened, vehicles on Montreal St are lined up almost to Sutherland Dr in the morning; likewise, in the afternoon, vehicles on Montreal St are lined up almost to Raglan Rd. Yet in comparison, vehicles coming from the bridge are virtually non-existent. Perhaps traffic signal timing could be something that could be implemented much sooner than the proposed project.
- A few questions about this much needed project 1. With others coordinating the causeway and 401 constructions how will users be notified at the approach to this intersection while the construction is taking place what lanes are closed? 2. How will a cyclist transition from an on-road to off-road bike lane? 3. What period of time and related data will be used to determine the light timing for advanced green and green lights? (with the current causeway construction (fall 2023) there is more traffic on the Waaban Crossing)
Project overview

Intersection overview
North leg of the intersection
East leg of the intersection
South leg of the intersection
West leg of the intersection