Finding a roundabout way to fix county traffic

The sounds of trucks and cars rushing by is a common occurrence to anyone who works or lives near a main road. Some find it a soothing white noise, while others toss and turn to the sound of every revving engine that makes their nights sound like a NASCAR derby.

Widening County Road 42 is currently being pushed forward by the County of Essex. The length of road in question runs from where the road intersects with Banwell Road to where it intersects with Manning Road.

According to the 2014 environmental assessment report put out by the City of Windsor, County Road 42 is marked as a “key east-west arterial” road used to connect Windsor with Tecumseh and Lakeshore.

The same report went on to estimate the population of the city is expected to reach roughly 250,000 around the year 2031. The Ministry of Finance also projected that from 2018 to 2046 the population of the Windsor-Essex County region will increase by approximately 30 per cent.

At peak hours, the report states the road operates near peak capacity. With projects like the proposed mega hospital to be built on County Road 42 and a second international crossing being introduced, more traffic will be funneled into 42 and may push it past its current peak capacity.

This led the County of Essex to propose the new widening project among other concerns.

The information was unveiled at a public open house in December of 2019. The plan is set up into five phases which will start in the east and slowly move west.

Each phase is expected to take roughly a year with the first set to begin during this Summer and lasting 10 months.

The phases are as follows:

• Phase one is the construction of a multi-lane roundabout at County Road 42 and Manning Road along with needed underground changes to telecommunication connections, gas and other utilities.
• Phase two involves underground changes to utilities along County Road 42 from Strawberry Drive to County Road 43.
• Phase three is widening County Road 42 to four lanes and a turn lane from Strawberry Drive to County Road 43.
• Phase four involves the construction of two diversion roads off of Banwell Road and 11th Concession Road along with a roundabout they the diversions will meet at on County Road 42.
• Phase five is widening County Road 42 from the phase four roundabout to the western county limit, just before the Sikh Gurdwara Khalsa Prakash.

While the construction takes place, members of the County said businesses will not be impacted.

“They’re kept informed during our whole plan,” said Katherine Wilson, an active transportation coordinator with the County of Essex. “Before construction starts we work with the town and our other partners and their communications department to make the public aware of the work before it begins.”

Nestled roughly centred along the phase two and three construction zone is a small diner, The Whistling Kettle. Stephanie Bouma is a waitress at the long standing restaurant. While she makes her way between tables, laying down plates of steaming hot pancakes and topping up coffee, the sound of transport trucks punctuates the otherwise quiet restaurant. However, for Bouma the idea of an expansion to the road is one she looks forward to.

“I think it’ll be a good idea, there’s lots of traffic, so it’ll help it out a bit,” Bouma said, taking a moment from waiting on the lunch time rush. “Pulling out of here to the left, sometimes you can’t get out of here.”

Before the process can begin, acquisition of land has to occur. To maintain a shoulder on the road with the expansion, land on either side of the road has to be purchased by the County of Essex to allow for the widening. A rough estimate of 110 properties along the road had land drawn from.

“They’re gonna put in a couple roundabouts which I’m not too sure about with the big semi-trucks but we’ll see how that goes,” Bouma said, flicking a blue pen in her hand. 

Staff at the county have heard similar concerns at their various public information meetings about the use of roundabouts. They said the goal is to draft educational information to pass on that explains the proper use of multi-lane roundabouts.

The proposed widening is also being used to further expand the County Wide Active Transportation System. The CWATS is the inclusion of walkways, bike lanes and other facilities which enable a more active method of moving around the county. With the widening of the road, the CWATS is planned to be expanded to the area as well as the inclusion of paved shoulders from Puce Road almost to Manning Road and bike lanes from Manning Road to Concession Road 11.

With Windsor and Essex County projected to be one of the fastest growing population sectors in Ontario, the next step is to see how the City of Windsor will work with the County of Essex to finish this massive road expansion, in anticipation of the growing demand of travelers and trade.