Take the bridge

By Angelica Haggert.

It provides passage for up to 2,000 vehicles every hour and it is about to be closed for 10 days.

That is 12,000 vehicles every day that now have to find a different route to travel, as the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel will be closed from Oct. 20 to Oct. 30. Weeknight closures also begin on Oct. 30, lasting more than six months.

The tunnel first opened in 1930 and is still the only underwater automobile tunnel that crosses an international boundary. A recent inspection of the mile-long tunnel determined that repairs were needed to the slab above the tunnel, separating the driving area from the ventilation system.

“The ceiling separates the driving surface that people see from the exhaust duct,” explained Neal Belitsky, president and CEO of the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel. “That’s a service area above the driving surface, so the ceiling of the driving surface also serves as the floor of the exhaust duct.”

According to the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel company, the ventilation system is one of the most elaborate systems ever designed.

Six motor-driven fresh air fans, spanning 12 feet in diameter, draw in fresh air. Six other fans expel exhaust fumes. This ventilation system is patterned after the Holland Tunnel in New York.

The original plan for construction was to close weeknights for six months, as well as close on four select weekends.

“With feedback from our customers and key stakeholders, they said they would rather just close and they could adjust their schedules,” said Belitsky. “The amount of total closure hasn’t changed.”

Regular users of the tunnel told the company that as commuters, they would rather adjust for one determined time frame, rather than four separate times.

“We spend a lot of time and a lot of money trying to stay ahead of safety issues,” said Belitsky. “This is just another example of that. The ceiling is at its life cycle and we wanted to replace it before we had any problems.”

The Detroit-Windsor tunnel company had extensive meetings with various border crossing agencies to ensure the shutdown would be smooth.

“We had meetings with the Ambassador Bridge, with U.S. Customs, with Canada Customs, with emergency services on both sides of the river, “ said Belitsky. “This has been orchestrated quite well.”

For some commuters, these reassurances may not be enough.

“My first thought was ‘How can I avoid crossing for ten days?’” said Lauren Toth. Toth has attended classes in the U.S., has family and friends across the border and even has medical appointments in Detroit.

“I cross about once a week, but I always take the bridge,” said Toth, but she’s still concerned about the increase in bridge traffic the tunnel shutdown will cause.

“For the most part I’ll be able to avoid going in those ten days but I plan on leaving quite a bit earlier than I normally would,” said Toth. “I do have a Nexus card so that usually helps, but a lot of the traffic are people that are crossing on a daily basis for work, so they all have Nexus too.”

Regular maintenance on the tunnel has been ongoing, but the shutdown will allow larger, more permanent repairs to be made.

“I know they’ve done a lot of work while keeping the tunnel open,” said Toth. “I’m assuming there’s a lot that goes into keeping an old tunnel functioning.”

Even for people like Toth, who crosses on average 1-2 times a week, the tunnel shutdown will have a major impact on the traffic patterns in Windsor as vehicles are rerouted through the downtown core to the west side entrance to the bridge.