Canal to close Jan. 7, same as last year

The Welland Canal, running between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, will close Jan. 7, which has typically been the case since 2019, when a canal “optimization  program” was started.

Historically, it closed earlier than this, said St. Lawrence Seaway spokes-person Sam Pane. 

The optimization program involves “all of the planning, operational and technical decisions that go into improving efficiency and maximizing ship transits in the Seaway,” said Pane.   

 The St. Lawrence Seaway system as a whole, from Port Colborne to St. Lambert Lock in Montreal, will close later than in previous years.  

Bridges spanning the Welland Canal will be closed on a number of occasions this winter as the seaway conducts work on them.

“The decision about navigation closing dates is dependent on many factors, including environmental and operational considerations,” Pane told The Local.  

“We’ve been using bubblers and other technology to manage icing in the Welland Canal. It’s more challenging in the Montreal-
Lake Ontario section since on average we get earlier icing and colder temperatures there,” he added.

The Montreal-Lake Ontario section of the Seaway will close on Jan. 5, weather permitting, which is “later than usual,” said Pane.  

Together, the navigation closing dates represent a “system-wide season optimization,” he said.  

During the winter pause, the seaway will undertake infrastructure renewal work as part of its annual investment program.

In 2023, about $36.5 million in maintaining the Welland Canal has been invested, which includes essential bridge maintenance.  

“These ongoing investments ensure the safety and reliability of our infrastructure, while providing economic benefits to communities and businesses in Niagara,” the seaway said in a news release.  

The Carlton Street bridge in St. Catharines/Niagara-on-the-Lake will be closed to pedestrians and vehicles from Jan. 15 to Feb 16.  Also in that part of the region, the Glendale Avenue bridge will be off limits Jan. 8 and 9, as well as Jan. 16 to 18. It will also be closed Feb. 14 to 22, and March 4 to 13.  

The Allanburg Bridge in Thorold will close Jan. 17, and as Feb. 7 to 15.

In Port Colborne, the Mellanby Avenue Bridge will be shut down Jan. 15 to Feb. 4. The Clarence Street Bridge will close Feb. 21 to 28.

These closures are “standard for the winter pause,” and are used to conduct maintenance to ensure the system remains “safe, resilient and reliable,” said Pane.

An earlier version of this story has been updated to correct a date.