Windsor-Essex Parkway

[sa230e]

Some updates if anyone's interested.

Two lane closures this weekend on Hwy 3 west.

One is between LaBelle and Grand Marais. I can only imagine it has something to do with the Labelle tunnel top. Eventually the eastbound lanes of Highway 3 and Labelle street will go on to but I don't think they're even close to being ready to divert traffic yet.

The other is between Cabana and Huron Church Line. It involves one of the last sections of the new, final highway 3 alignment and it sits right beside of the current alignment. Permanent traffic lights are installed at the Todd Lane intersection just beside the old one. I didn't get a good enough look at it when I drove by to see what they were doing. I also didn't see if the section that dives under the Oakwood tunnel is paved yet. I don't think it's ready to go though. I think this is just prep work. I think it should be ready soon, though. EDIT: Drove by there again. They're installing a dedicated right turn lane from Hwy 3 west to Huron Church Line which is why they closed the right lane.

I think they were making a push to get those features done before the winter lull. Unfortunately winter came early this year.

Work at E.C. Row and Ojibway Parkway is behind schedule. They dug up an old underground gas tank and they have to remove the soil it contaminated before they can proceed. I'm not sure if they are going to build bridge 1 over Ojibway parkway as part of the project or when they start the border plaza. I haven't seen any evidence of bridge piers or abutments going up on the other side so I'm thinking the latter.

The ramp from Machette road to E.C. Row expressway is still not open despite the fact that it looks finished. The Windsor Star says it won't open for a few more weeks.

Other than that, not much visible progress to report on except more signs have gone up here and there. An overhead sign for E.C. Row west has gone up on Huron Church road south. It's a partial gantry with the "exit only" down arrow like you would expect. The other one in the opposite direction hasn't gone up but the footing is there.

[sa230e]

Matchette Road to E.C. Row on-ramp is now (finally) open.

[sonysnob]

^ Has work pretty much wrapped up on the Hwy 3 portion of the work? In some of the more recent aerials it looked like a lot of Hwy 3 had been top coated already.

[sa230e]

Originally Posted by sonysnob

^ Has work pretty much wrapped up on the Hwy 3 portion of the work? In some of the more recent aerials it looked like a lot of Hwy 3 had been top coated already.

Almost. Like I said above, I think there's still two major diversions still to come. Those being Hwy 3 east over the Labelle tunnel and Hwy 3 between Pulford and Huron Church Line where it dives under the Oakwood tunnel.

I think we'll see the latter first. It looks the furthest along of the two. I saw them paving it under the Oakwood tunnel on my way home today.

The other diversion is harder to see. What used to be the temporary Bethlehem connector is now closed off to cars and I don't bike out there when it's so cold (nor have I had the time). I know what they're doing, I just don't know how far along it is.

Highway 3 will split just after the E.C. Row interchange and the east bound lanes cross over top of the Labelle tunnel to the other side of the trench for a few hundred meters. I think the top of the tunnel looks ready to support a road (they've been working hard on it since the girder debacle trying to get caught up). It's all decked and topped with concrete but it's hard to see from the road if they're paving on top of it. The old Bethlehem connector is going to be re-purposed as Highway 3 east on the other side of the trench from Labelle to the flyover. From there it splits. One direction goes back over the trench and the other is an on-ramp to 401 east. They already have the overhead sign up for the split and the ramp is taking shape. That's all I can see from the road.

I'm not expecting that part of the project this year. But who knows, there are times when it seems like work is moving glacially slow for months and months on some sections and suddenly they wrap it up and open it in a week or two.

[sa230e]

New ramp opening tonight: Hwy 401 WB to Hwy 3 WB:
http://hgparkway.ca/sites/default/fi...Roundabout.pdf

And I think I might have been wrong about the other two sections I was talking about above. They both look further along than I thought. Both are paved, striped and evened up with the pavement of the current road. I saw the Oakwood tunnel lit up diving home last week.

[sa230e]

New highway 3 alignment between Todd/Cabana and Pulford street opening tonight.

[sonysnob]

I was on my way back from Detroit today, via Windsor and stopped to get a few new photos. I was a bit disappointing that the new alignment of Hwy 3 didn't open last night, but oh well.


The eastern portion of the highway looks almost ready to open. There is still a fair bit of work on the western portion to be completed though.

[haljackey]

Great photo!

Also great news permanent sections are starting to be opened. It's been a long time coming. The contrast between what is there now and what was there before is difficult to put into perspective.

[sa230e]

New alignment between E.C. Row and Lambton street slated to open tonight.

Looks like they're really making a push to get everything done before the holidays.

EDIT: New diversion between Pulford street and Cabana road is now open.

[sa230e]

New aerial photos of the newly open diversons:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/hgpark...7647576232113/

[sa230e]

An article about tunnel lighting:

Several tunnels are now completed for the $1.4-billion Herb Gray Parkway and drivers are being treated to some of the latest lighting designs.

Whether it’s day or night, sunny or cloudy, lighting inside the new underground passages of the 11-kilometre border highway will self-adjust to ease travel and make it safer in terms of driver vision.

http://blogs.windsorstar.com/news/pa...ing-techniques

Details on the new bridge

Nearly every shred of green in the once heavily treed and leafy confines behind the Nemak of Canada plant off Ojibway Parkway has been stripped away.

The site once served as a small neighbourhood of residential streets a couple of decades ago and later as part of an industrial park.

The barren land — now owned federally by Transport Canada — is the site for plazas and a launching pad for the long-awaited $2.1-billon Detroit River International Crossing bridge.

It seems poised for construction, but there is still much work yet to be done before a battalion of workers and equipment can get busy building the new bridge, said Michael Cautillo, CEO of the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority which will oversee construction.

Here is what people can expect next:

http://blogs.windsorstar.com/news/la...ct-plows-ahead

[sa230e]

New aerial photos up on the Parkway flikr: http://t.co/5bmqQnW6vP

[north 42]

I grew up 5 blocks from the new Grand Maris Tunnel.

[sa230e]

From the HG Parkway March newsletter:

Preparatory works through December, January and February have allowed crews to begin the final phase of paving. Drivers will experience a number of closures through April and May as this asphalt work is completed.
As part of the construction staging for the Parkway, a portion of Highway 401 between North Talbot Road Bridge and Labelle Street is expected to open later this spring. This opening will allow for traffic to be shifted from Highway 3 while surface course work is finished. The traffic shift will keep traffic moving around areas being paved. “Surface course” relates to the final layer of asphalt that is placed on the top of the road. Much of Highway 3 will see the surface course laid this spring.

http://hgparkway.ca/sites/default/fi...Newsletter.pdf

Aerial photos from March are now up on the parkway flickr page.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/hgpark...h/17087288912/

I hope to put together a new video in a few weeks.

[sa230e]

First photo dump of 2015. All photos are mine.

Looking at Highway 3 near Labelle tunnel.




Labelle street tunnel top. The big concrete piers are for the pedestrian bridge.


Looking north along Huron Church road at E.C. Row Expressway. This sign just went up some time in the last few days.


Pedestrian bridge over Cabana road. This one just went up a few days ago.


Highway 401 from Todd/Cabana bridge:


Onramp to/from 401 Eastbound at Todd Lane:

[sonysnob]

No date yet, but the opening staging has been placed online:

http://hgparkway.ca/Highway%20401%20Info

http://hgparkway.ca/sites/default/fi...ningPhases.pdf

[Rosso Corsa]

looks like we're footing the bill for Detroit's portion of the bridge, and the customs shop. Pretty cool that it's named after Gordie Howe!

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/new...nada/27289907/

[MoreTrains]

Originally Posted by Rosso Corsa

looks like we're footing the bill for Detroit's portion of the bridge, and the customs shop. Pretty cool that it's named after Gordie Howe!

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/new...nada/27289907/

Im pretty sure that was established a while ago when the Michigan governor said they would not pay for it and that the only funding from the USA would be from their Federal Government.

[1overcosc]

We keep all the toll revenue though so it works for us.

[sa230e]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

We keep all the toll revenue though so it works for us.

Not exactly,

The risk and the costs of construction – including the projected $250 million for a U.S. Customs plaza in Detroit – will soon belong to private sector investors who will be retained to build, operate and maintain the $2.1-billion Detroit River International Crossing project.

A public-private partnership – also known as a P3 – will be formed to build the plazas, bridge and feeder roads in Windsor and Detroit for the international crossing.

“The company that builds this is the company that finances it,” said University of Windsor Prof. Bill Anderson, director of the school’s cross-border institute. “After that, they have the right to collect the tolls and get all the money.”

Nearly all major infrastructure projects today are being constructed through P3s and the DRIC bridge is no exception, Anderson said.

“Instead of government, somebody else will build the bridge and you allow them to get the revenues for a certain period of time,” he said. “This is the way big infrastructure is being done, especially in Europe. It is the wave of the future.”

http://blogs.windsorstar.com/news/pr...detroit-bridge