In The News

Officials could tweak plan for new cross-border truck route

WINDSOR, Ont. -- A last-minute change to the new Windsor-Essex Parkway border route could bring the blueprint closer to the City of Windsor's preferred GreenLink plan.

According to the Windsor Star, the Detroit River International Crossing (DRIC) study is contemplating an amendment to its recommended truck route from Highway 401, between Huron Church Road and Ojibway Parkway -- the spot where DRIC is proposing a new bridge to the U.S.

Instead of building the highway to run parallel to E.C. Row, DRIC now wants to divert truck traffic in the centre portion of a new 10-lane E.C. Row, separated from local traffic running on either side, reports the Star.

Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis said the new plan more closely resembles GreenLink, the design drawn up for the city by New York traffic engineer Sam Schwartz.

That plan called for hundreds of acres of accompanying green space and about 60 percent of the route to be tunneled as to better connect communities while protecting them from noise and vehicle emissions.

The change by DRIC means that the Spring Garden neighborhood will be better shielded from truck traffic. Francis says that DRIC has set a precedent to create longer tunnels in other suburbs, however.

But DRIC insists that even if approved, this isn't a big change to the previously planned route. "Basically what we're proposing is a refinement," said DRIC project manager Dave Wake.

While he praised the E.C. Row changes, Francis said it doesn't change the possibility of legal action by the city if it doesn't like the final plan.

Francis first told todaystrucking.com in May that the city could launch a legal campaign against DRIC because it allegedly didn't properly follow its own mandate "to choose the most environmentally viable solution."