The Detroit River International Crossing study team has unveiled a green option for an access road linking Highway 401 and a new bridge crossing from Windsor to Detroit.
Infrastructure
Road would link Highway 401 and Windsor-Detroit bridge
The Detroit River International Crossing study team has unveiled a green option for an access road linking Highway 401 and a new bridge crossing from Windsor to Detroit.
The below-grade, six-kilometre highway would run from Howard Avenue to E.C. Row Expressway. It would incorporate 1.5 kilometres of short tunnels, covered with parkland and recreational trails. Costs are estimated at $1.5 billion.
Mark Butler, a spokesman for Transport Canada in Windsor, said the “parkway” option is a refinement of previously developed below-grade alternatives.
Since March 2006, the study team has conducted detailed studies of five alternatives for the six-lane access road — at grade, depressed or tunneled.
Costs could range anywhere from $600 million to as much as $3.8 billion in the case of a full tunnel.
Butler said the study team is still “tinkering” with the parkway concept. Meetings are being held with community groups and the city. Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis and city council favor a full tunnel.
A recommendation on the “technically preferred” alternative is not expected to be made until next spring, Butler said. The necessary documentation will then be filed with environmental assessment agencies at the federal and provincial levels.
“Essentially, all options are still on the table,” Butler said. “But having said that, we believe that the below-grade solution with a series of short tunnels would address all of the (environmental) concerns and would be fiscally responsible as well.”
A recommendation also is expected to be made next spring on a preferred location for the new bridge spanning the Detroit River.
The Ontario Trucking Association said it is “vital” for the DRIC study team and politicians on both sides of the border to get on with the job of deciding on where to locate the bridge and plaza and to begin construction as soon as possible.
“The clock is ticking,” association president David Bradley said.
The project is being spearheaded by a bi-national partnership that has representation from the governments of Canada and the United States as well as the province of Ontario and state of Michigan.
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