Kingston’s $180-million third bridge project appears to have slowed down.

City officials said a few months ago that construction of the 1.1 kilometre crossing over the Cataraqui River was supposed to begin mid-summer.

Since the end of summer is approaching and there have been no obvious signs of a bridge being built, Global News asked the city if they had encountered any delays.

“Our target is to continue to deliver this bridge on time and on budget. The scheduling we’ve established for ourselves is a three year build period,” said Mark Van Buren, deputy commissioner for the projects office.

Van Buren then added that, as the city gets closer to completing the final design elements of the project, they will have a better idea of the construction schedule.

However, there is still one more hurdle to clear, as the city is awaiting approval from Parks Canada on environmental impact strategies. For the time being, Van Buren says they are still in the process of understanding the environmental impacts.

In a statement to Global News, Parks Canada says it’s working closely with the city to ensure the third bridge will “not have an adverse impact on the natural and cultural heritage of the related area of the Rideau Canal.”

“We are assisting the city with the completion of a Detailed Impact Analysis. This analysis must be completed before any permit is issued for any disturbance of the bed of the Rideau Canal.”

The main work that has been conducted on this project thus far is noise fencing that is being constructed along the west and east shoreland.

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