City of Windsor announces upgrades to the storm sewer system in the west end

The Prince Road Storm Sewer Outlet project was announced Tuesday September 24, 2024 by the City of Windsor - the aim to upgrade the system starting in October until November 2025 (Gary Archibald/CTV News Windsor)

Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens and Ward 2 Councillor Fabio Costante made an official announcement at Mic Mack Park on Tuesday afternoon regarding upcoming construction of the Prince Road storm sewer outlet.

The project begins in October and will end in November of 2025. The cost: $7.9 million.

This is a multi-phase project that will address the need for storm sewer upgrades for thousands of residential and business properties combined. In addition, this venture will make local water utilities for sewer and drainage usage more equitable for all constituents.

The project will expand the storm sewer system along the current Prince Road region and facilitate a new outlet chamber and pumping station at McKee Creek.

Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens said that homeowners will see large cost-savings in the future, "every home-owner in the city of Windsor will see a reduction in their waste water charges that they currently pay today because what we're doing is taking the storm water calculation and applying it properly,” he stated.

“If you have a home and you have grass and a driveway, well, you're contributing very little to the storm system in the event of a rain storm. But, if you're Costco or Home Depot with a giant parking lot - you have a lot of water that's being collected and they're a high user of the storm water system. That means they're going to be paying their fair share."

This work is part of a larger multi-phase, multi-year prince road storm sewer project and will extend the current prince road trunk westerly along Chappell Avenue, crossing Essex Terminal Railway (ETR) rail and continuing through the southern part of 3800 Russell Street to a new outlet chamber and pumping station at McKee Creek.

This project has made significant critical storm and sewer infrastructure upgrades to relieve local street and basement flooding for a service area of 390 hectares, benefiting approximately 3,500 residential and business properties. Over the last 25 years, the city has spent approximately $15 million on improvements.