Interruption coming to Howard Avenue

A big construction project is causing frustration for drivers in Windsor at the Howard-Division Road corridor. CTV Windsor’s Bob Bellacicco reports.

Traffic was a problem along South Cameron Boulevard and Howard Avenue before the city began work on an $18-million reconstruction of the Howard Avenue corridor to unclog the area.

It has been an inconvenience for commuters and businesses.

“It’ll be awesome once everything’s opened up and all the construction is done,” said Dylan Riley who is a sales manager at Premier Cadillac on Division Road.

Division Road and Sydney Avenue are being transformed to improve traffic flow in the area.

“All the businesses around here definitely appreciate that and we’re just glad the guys are hard at work and getting the work done for us,” Riley told CTV News.

The rail crossing at Howard is completely cut off. Northbound traffic on Howard Avenue can turn freely onto South Cameron.

Despite no traffic coming from the rail side, drivers still need to stop. That sign will disappear when work begins on the median next month, which will close off the road for up to a month.

“Essentially, South Cameron will bend, up to Sydney, and it will completely change the configuration of that intersection. It will no longer be a three-way intersection. It’ll just be a curve,” explained city engineer Patrick Musyka.

A new railway grade crossing at Sydney Avenue is being worked on.

“The new grade crossing should be constructed within the next month or so and then commissioning of the railway crossing probably in September,” Musyka said.

Division Road has been widened with a long lead up to the turn onto Sydney to help account for rail backups. Although there’s an anticipation of a lower traffic volume on Howard, there should be enough room for traffic to back up on Sydney when trains run through that intersection.

“I believe it’s four lanes wide, to provide that room for vehicles to queue up if there’s a train,” said Musyka.

According to the city, the project is on schedule. Ward 9 councillor Kieran McKenzie said along with improved traffic, one of the great outcomes from this project will be the linking of multi-use trails starting along South Cameron through to Sydney Avenue.

“Then into Marentette as well, which will further connect that whole strip east-west along in South Windsor from essentially South Cameron, all the way to Lauzon Parkway,” McKenzie said.

“There’s a couple of gaps that are right there in and around the Howard Avenue area and this project is going to be able to close a number of those gaps. We might even see some visible improvements to the existing trail system there as well as a result of all of the projects that are happening in the region.”

The city said the road construction in the Howard corridor should be done sometime in November, in time for the holiday shopping season.