Ontario Construction News staff writer
The City of Windsor has launched an $8 million reconstruction project to rebuild one of the area’s busiest roads.
Work is now underway by SheaRock Construction Group to fully rebuild the north and southbound lanes of Lauzon Parkway from Tecumseh Road East to Hawthorne Drive.
The 2021 budget includes $1.6-billion over 10 years for public infrastructure and building up our city. This year, 60 percent of the capital budget is committed to fixing and improving Windsor’s roads and sewers, investing $50.2 million in roads and $51.2 million toward upgrading the city’s sewers.
“The Windsor of today is not the Windsor of yesterday,” Mayor Drew Dilkens said at a press conference on Thursday. “We’re making these important infrastructure investments to support our growing population and to make it easier for businesses to choose Windsor as a place to create jobs.”
The $2.6-million Lauzon Parkway reconstruction was moved up three years and will renew about 530 metres of one of the busiest roads in east Windsor, where about 30,000 vehicles, including heavy trucks, travel daily on the way to or from the E.C. Row Expressway.
“Lauzon Parkway is being transformed into one of our city’s premier motor vehicle and active transportation corridors,” said Mayor Drew Dilkens. “Windsor continues to make tremendous progress in fixing and rebuilding our roads as part of council’s commitment to prioritize and improve the quality, safety and durability of our transportation infrastructure”
Construction, expected to last about 16 months, will involve rebuilding seven lanes of concrete, three northbound and three southbound, with some parts widening to four lanes, installing an open-graded drainage layer beneath the road’s surface to improve drainage of excess water to minimize flooding and improve road performance, rebuilding the multi-use asphalt trail on the east side of Lauzon Parkway, and replacing about 250 metres of the concrete sidewalk on the west side.
The bulk of work expected to be completed by the end of 2022. Phase 2, valued at about $5.5 million, is expected to get underway in early 2022 to rebuild the north and southbound lanes of Lauzon Parkway from the E.C. Row Expressway to Cantelon Drive.
“This year, Lauzon Parkway was voted one of the worst roads in Windsor in the annual CAA Worst Roads campaign. Roads are the arteries used every day to keep essential workers, goods and services flowing and should be maintained more than ever. CAA is pleased to see these new commitments to improve local roads and infrastructure,” said Raymond Chan, manager of government relations, CAA South Central Ontario.