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Lane closures on a busy Windsor roadway scheduled to start next week and continue until December are part of the city’s jam-packed street construction season.
Partial road closures on Lauzon Parkway from Hawthorne Drive to Cantelon Drive — which sees about 30,000 vehicles per day — will begin on Monday to allow for new storm and sanitary sewer installation, watermain upgrades, and new pavement, sidewalks, and multi-use trails.
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“It’s construction season, but for improvements — short-term pain for long-term gain,” said Ward 8 Coun. Gary Kaschak, who joined Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens for a media conference near the busy thoroughfare on Monday.
“You can see the shake, rattle and roll here, the cars going by on this area that’s going to be replaced. It’s such an important arterial road through Ward 8.”
The work will cost $18 million and is the last of a three-phase Lauzon Parkway reconstruction project. Phase 1 saw the complete rebuild of north and southbound lanes from Tecumseh Road East to Hawthorne Drive at a cost of $2.6 million, and Phase 2 was from the E.C. Row Expressway to Cantelon Drive, at $5.5 million.
This year, Lauzon Parkway was named one of Canadian Automobile Association’s top five worst roads in Southwestern Ontario, as were Tecumseh Road East and University Avenue West.
Dilkens encourages drivers to exercise patience during road work season.
“We have a relatively short construction season, so I know it’s frustrating when all of these things, all of the pylons and cones go up and you have everyone merging into one lane,” Dilkens said. “Be patient. Zipper merge — it’s the most efficient way to move traffic through a construction site.
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“Know that all of these things are happening because city council is investing and building Windsor’s future. We want to make sure that we’re doing all that we can in the short construction season that we have.”
Dilkens said the Lauzon Parkway project is one way the city is preparing for regional growth stemming from the new NextStar Energy Inc. battery plant, the Gordie Howe International Bridge, and the forthcoming regional acute care hospital on County Road 42.
The province is undertaking an environmental assessment and design for a new interchange connecting Highway 401 to Lauzon Parkway, a $125-million project.
“We’ll have to be ready on our end to make sure we’re connecting Lauzon, getting the cars up to County Road 42 … and being able to take advantage of all of those infrastructure projects and opportunities that are coming to our city today,” sid Dilkens.
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Other road projects underway in Windsor include Jefferson Boulevard from Coronation Street to South National Street; Tecumseh Road East at Walker Road, Sandwich Street from Chappell Avenue to Chewett Street; Dominion Boulevard from Northwood Street to Ojibway Street; Riverside Drive East from Drouillard Road to Pillette Road; and parts of Provincial Road.
The city’s 2024 capital budget dedicates $56.1 million to road improvements and $61.4 million to sewers.
The Lauzon Parkway project is part of the city’s $5-billion Sewer and Coastal Flood Protection Master Plan, which invests $180 million in underground infrastructure across 36 sewer construction projects.
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