The city is asking Transport Canada to reopen a portion of the old coal dock for waterfront pathway users.

The federal agency recently put up a chain link fence around the crumbling dock due to safety concerns, though councillors complain the fence has effectively cut off pathway access for people with mobility issues.

“I suspect they didn’t quite realize they were limiting access,” said Coun. Liz Schell, whose Portsmouth district includes the waterfront trail.

The popular pathway snakes through Lake Ontario Park and the Providence Care hospital site. The dock is next to the pathway and was a popular place for swimming, fishing and picnics. The fence has not only cut off access to the water, but left people with only a cement hill to climb and descend in order to continue on the trail, she added.

Council approved Schell’s motion to provide, what she termed, a “gentle reminder” to Transport Canada to keep the waterfront trail accessible. The mayor will send a letter to the dock’s owner asking for a portion of the fence to be relocated a few feet south to expose a flat section of the trail for seniors and those in wheelchairs.

Transport Canada has not indicated if or when it intends to repair the deep water dock and remove the fencing.

via City asks federal agency to reconnect citizens with waterfront pathway – News – By Bill Hutchins Kingston Local Community News.