The Governments of Canada and Ontario announced the start of construction for upgrades to the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel Canadian Plaza to improve capacity for growth in vehicle traffic and cross-border trade through the Windsor-Detroit corridor.
The project will address traffic congestion and improve operations at the plaza. Upgrades include new vehicle access lanes, new buildings for the Canada Border Services Agency, tunnel maintenance, new integrated primary inspection lanes for trucks, as well as a reconfiguration of the duty-free parking area, municipal parking lots and existing intersections.
Coco Paving (1990) Inc., the successful bidder on the $16.6-million contract, will begin Stage 1 work with sewer and water main installation, demolition of parking areas, and installation of temporary traffic signals.
Traffic on local streets will be maintained throughout the Stage 1 work, with tunnel traffic accessing the plaza as usual. This work is expected to take approximately two construction seasons to complete.
This project is jointly funded by the Governments of Canada and Ontario under the Let’s Get Windsor-Essex Moving (LGWEM) strategy, a $300-million commitment for several transportation infrastructure projects to improve efficiency and reduce congestion in Windsor-Essex. Funding for this strategy comes from the Canada-Ontario Border Infrastructure Fund.