Group to test river bedrock for new Windsor bridge location; Widening of border artery also announced
WINDSOR, Ont. — A comprehensive geophysical study has been launched in the Windsor border region to help officials decide the best spot for a new bridge across the Detroit River.
The foundations investigations study, announced today by the governments of Canada and Ontario, should lead to a better understanding of the bedrock stability by measuring effects of the solution mining of salt deposits in areas where a new international bridge to Detroit could be located.
The foundations investigation is part of the continuing Detroit River International Crossing (DRIC) study being carried out by the Border Transportation Partnership, which is made up of governments and industry stakeholders on both sides of the border.
DRIC officials announced last year that the partnership is committed to building a new bridge crossing about 3 km southwest of the current, privately owned Ambassador Bridge.
officials settle on a bridge site
During that process, the Partnership dismissed two other leading proposals to add crossing capacity at North America’s busiest trade gateway. A proposal to convert a rail tunnel into a trucks-only corridor and the Ambassador Bridge’s plan to twin the current crossing were scratched off the list. The owners of the Ambassador, however, say they will proceed with their plans on their own.
The first part of the foundations investigations program includes the drilling of 12 boreholes, up to 500 metres in depth, at specified locations downriver.
The second part of these investigations includes detailed documentation of the boreholes by geophysical and direct physical observation methods. This will allow for the identification of similarities and differences between boreholes, as well as the imaging of individual soil layers, officials say.
Impacts to the local community will be mitigated through the use of noise baffling devices on drill rigs, restrictions on the hours of drilling, restrictions on drilling related truck traffic from various local streets and provisions to minimize dust.
Drilling-related activities will run from September to December and the second part of the investigations program will take place from December 2006 to February 2007.
Meanwhile, the governments of Canada and Ontario, in partnership with the County of Essex, also announced today funding for the widening of Manning Road (Essex County Road 19) from north of County Road 22 to the VIA Rail line.
The widening of Manning Rd. from two lanes to five lanes will provide improved traffic operations and better highway access to the border for local industry and for both commercial and commuter traffic in Essex County, the government says.
This project — one of several plans announced under the Let’s Get Windsor-Essex Moving strategy — is funded by the Canada-Ontario Border Infrastructure Fund, a joint commitment by the federal and provincial governments to invest $300 million on the Windsor Gateway.
In addition, construction is continuing on the advance utility relocation for the road-rail grade separation on Walker Road at Grand Marais Road in Windsor.
Several more projects will complete the environmental assessment/engineering phases of the strategy in 2007, including: Hwy 401 widening from east of Hwy 3 to west of Manning Road; Windsor-Detroit Tunnel Plaza Master Plan improvements; and Environmental assessment of a road-rail grade separation on Howard Avenue at the CPR tracks.
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