South-end park closed to the public

Three-year closure part of $49M culvert, bridge replacement

An upcoming highway construction project means visitors to a south end park in Niagara Falls will have to find another spot for a hike for the next three years.

Baden-Powell Park was closed earlier this month and is not expected to be reopen to the public until 2022.

The closure is to accommodate a project by Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation to replace the twin Welland River Bridges along the Queen Elizabeth Way.

“The only entrance to the park is the access road from Montrose Road that travels underneath the QEW bridges,” said Erik Nickel, director of municipal works with the city of Niagara Falls.

“Since the bridges being replaced cross directly over the access road, it is expected that any and all areas under the bridges will be impassable and blocked off for the sole use by the contractor for safety and security purposes.”

The MTO in April awarded a “design-build” contract to a team that includes Rankin Construction and Parsons Inc.

In addition to replacing the highway bridges, the $49-million project also calls for the rehabilitation of three structural culverts - Ussher’s Creek, Grassy Brook and Warren Creek.

“The Welland River bridges have reached the end of their service life and require replacement,” said MTO spokesperson Praval Vatsya.

“The culvert work is required to extend the service life of these structures.”

Construction is anticipated to start in the fall and the project is expected to be completed by the fall of 2022.

The large park was originally owned by a local development company and was given to the city in the early 1950s in lieu of a development fee.

At that time the 26-hectare site was a maintained recreational park.

The property was renamed Baden-Powell Park in honour of the founder of Scouting and local Scouts used the area for camping and jamborees.

In 1994, the city’s park department stopped mowing the park due to high maintenance costs, and it was left to “naturalize.”

Five years later, the BadenPowell Park Ecosystem Enhancement Project was created protect existing natural ecosystems within the park.