Unavoidable inconvenience: Signal Hill parking lot repairs needed now, Parks Canada says

Parks Canada says while the parking lot atop Signal Hill will be closing Sept. 6 until mid-December, everything else on the hill will remain open — including Cabot Tower, trails and the visitor's centre.

"We looked at a number of options...we tried to structure this so it'd be minimum inconvenience to visitors and the tourism industry," said Bill Brake, Parks Canada field unit superintendent for eastern Newfoundland.

"People can still use the lower parking lot next to the visitor's centre, all the trails are still going to be accessible, the sidewalks. The real change is that there's no vehicle access to the summit parking lot."

While the work continues, Brake said Parks Canada is trying to find a way to help people get the view so many are used to from the top.

"We're looking at the option of even putting some sort of video camera on top of Cabot Tower to sort of live stream if that's possible, so we're looking at options to provide the experience," he said.

Best time to do it

After some research, Brake said they determined September to December would be the best time of year to complete renovations as the work needs to be done before the paving plants shut down.

While people continue to visit the hill during that time, it's not as busy as some other months and traffic to the popular site is taking a toll.

"Overall in a given year Signal Hill receives three-quarters-of-a-million visits — now many of those are repeat visitations," Brake said.

"Assets are getting older, they're placed in environmentally challenging situations, and they get heavy use."

Under and above ground work

While there are many underground upgrades people won't be able to see to appreciate, there are renovations everyone will notice.

"[There will be] a little bit of a different layout because the visitation is actually increasing at the top of the hill, so we're trying to construct it in such a way that traffic will flow a little better and provide more parking if possible," Brake said.

The improvements you can see will be a new parking lot, curbing, sidewalks, shrubbery and benches in certain areas.

The cost of the renovation — which is part of Parks Canada's $3-billion investment for infrastructure work in national historic sites, parks and marine conservation areas — is between $600,000 and $700,000, Brake said.

"If you look at the value that Canadians and certainly the people of this province place on Signal Hill in particular, I think it's an investment that's appreciated," he said.