Financing Set for Planned $1.6-Billion Ontario Road
Construction of a $1.6-billion, 12-kilometer access road linking Ontario's Highway 401 to a planned new international bridge over the Detroit River at the Detroit-Windsor border crossing is expected to start next year. The Ontario and Canadian governments announced this month that they will finance the capital cost on an equal basis.
While the six-lane, below-grade highway will go through Windsor and adjacent communities, the below-grade construction will minimize noise and keep the trucks out of sight. "There won't be any traffic lights," says Transport Canada spokesperson Mark Butler. With 11 tunnel sections totaling 1.8 kilometers and 240 acres of parkland that will be created on adjacent property, the Windsor Essex Parkway will be five times more expensive per kilometer than any highway previously built in Ontario.