Windsor looks to province to assist with $80M needed for Banwell Road interchange upgrades

Banwell and EC Row construction Construction will begin this summer on an interchange at Banwell Road and EC Row Expressway. CTV Windsor’s Rich Garton reports.

Construction will begin this summer on an interchange at Banwell Road and the E.C. Row in Windsor, but the cost will be in the millions, and there’s hope the city won’t have to shoulder costs alone.

“It's been long needed but now more so than ever,” said Ward 7 Coun. Angelo Marignani, who said people have been telling him it’s a top priority since he first ran for council in 2010.

With construction going full-bore at the NextStar Energy Plant, the need for improvements at the busy intersection is suddenly very urgent.

The project is now part of Windsor’s 10-year capital budget and work will begin in earnest this summer to build on and off ramps to an overpass over the expressway.

The city will spend $8.5 million over the next two years to get the interchange work started, but the interchange alone is estimated to cost $45 million. The balance of work on the Banwell Road corridor is estimated at another $38 million.

“I'm very happy to see that council administration and our mayor see that same value in our once again, putting their money where their mouth is,” said Marignani.

Now, the city is looking to the province to help carry some of that cost.

“The traffic capacity very well is a barrier here. So I am making every effort to advocate for this project and provincial support for it,” said Windsor-Tecumseh MPP Andrew Dowie, who noted he’s been advocating the transport minister and the premier since he was elected to prioritize funding these upgrades.

Dowie said the province has already invested billions to bring the NextStar Plant to Windsor and this infrastructure would go a long way to support the new plant, which is expected to begin production in 2025.

“We've invested so, so much. Let's not let some traffic capacity issues get in the way and I'll be continuing to make that case,” said Dowie.

“It is a disproportionate burden put on the shoulders of all the residents in the City of Windsor when it's actually a regional road,” said Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens during Monday’s budget deliberations, who noted E.C. Row used to be a provincial responsibility but was downloaded to Windsor taxpayers in 1997.

Dilkens said it is reasons like this why he wants to send responsibility for the expressway back to Queen’s Park.

“It would be a provincial decision and certainly we've expressed our position we'd love to have them upload E.C. Row Expressway,” Dilkens said.

Dowie made no promises but indicated any funding decision could come as early as the spring budget, or fall economic statement.

Both Dilkens and Marignani believe the “regional roadway” could get some funding help from neighbouring municipalities, too.

“This is a regional concern,” said Marignani. “So you know, the Town of Tecumseh, everyone has to put some, some skin in the game.”