WINDSOR, Ont. — The City of Windsor’s much-hyped Greenlink truck bypass route proposal looks to be officially dead. And despite past threats to sue to get its preferred expressway built, City Council seems to be okay with how things ended.

Why? Because last week, the City and Queen’s Park agreed on a $78 million compromise that would see the province’s version of the route move ahead unobstructed by municipal critics.

The Windsor Star reports that the deal includes border-related infrastructure funding such as the reconstruction of Walker Road, the building of a new plaza for the Windsor-Detroit tunnel and the addition of wider buffer zones between the route and residential neighborhoods.

That province’s Windsor-Essex Parkway plan — designed by the Detroit River International Crossing (DRIC) study team — is a slightly less expensive option than the $1.8 billion Greenlink plan.

The six-lane, below-grade feeder route would include 11 short tunnels along the Huron Church Road-Talbot Road corridor, from Hwy. 401 to the Brighton Beach area where a new public bridge is expected to be built.

But city officials, including Mayor Eddie Francis complained the province’s plan wasn’t as green as Greenlink, which nearly doubled the tunneling and added more green space along the route.

In an interview with todaystrucking.com, Francis even hinted at the time that legal action against DRIC and the province was a serious option.

Another crucial part of the new arrangement is $5 million in funding from the province to begin an environmental assessment and initial design for a southern extension of Lauzon Parkway in order to connect it to Highway 401.

Funding is also expected to include three-metre tall berms between the parkway and nearby homes, according to Star sources close to the negotiations.

Tunnels or coverings, which were initially demanded from Francis and other Windsor residents, are not included in the new plan, the source says.