Finally free! | Cornwall Standard-Freeholder

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KINGSTON — Free at last.

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With a salute to the bridge she has passed under thousands of times, the Canadian empress crossed the navigation channel of the LaSalle Causeway on Thursday.

As of midday, the canal was open to ships, many of which have been docked in the Inner Harbor since the bascule bridge went out of service at the end of March.

“It was a relief,” said Captain Jeff Richards, who was at the helm. “IIt’s different, a different vision, but I’m happy to get through it.”

The demolition company hired by the federal government to remove the bridge gave permission for ships to pass, and the Canadian Empress was first in line.

Other tour boats were scheduled to depart later on Thursday and Friday.

“I’m still smiling now,” said Daniel Beals of St. Lawrence Cruise Lines. “IIt’s hard to explain the frustration if you haven’t been through it. wI was so incredibly frustrated. Now I feel relieved and it’s like a weight off me. I’m excited to start the season.”

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The company plans its first dinner cruises before the end of the month, Beals said.

Eric Ferguson, managing director of Kingston and the Islands Boat Lines, said he was happy to see tour boats plying the road again, but wondered why it had taken so long.

“It seems remarkable that Public Services and Procurement Canada could not have taken this action sooner because it was apparently very clear to many of their engineers that this was going to be necessary,” he said.

Ferguson’s relief at seeing the navigation channel open again was tempered by concern about what would be put in place of the bascule bridge.

“If they have to build something temporary in the next three years, that temporary bridge has to be dynamic, it has to be able to rotate, it has to float out of the way, whatever movement is required, it has to maintain access to that waterway,” he said .

“We understand that there are some proposals to put in place a fixed, non-dynamic bridge. That can’t happen.”

A fixed bridge would again block the shipping channel and eliminate access to the Davis Drydock, which is needed for the repair and inspection of larger vessels on Lake Ontario.

— with files from Peter Hendra

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