Ontario Construction News staff writer
Construction is underway to rebuild Ypres and Gladstone avenues in Windsor’s historic Walkerville.
Reconstruction of the two roads began by Sterling Ridge Group Inc. on June 9 and is expected to be completed by November 30 at a cost of $4.6 million. The project will add nearly two kilometres of new roads, sidewalks, streetlights and watermains.
Ypres Avenue will be reinforced with thicker and stronger pavement to support transit Windsor buses.
The project is a partnership with the Windsor Utilities Commission that “stepped up to support this project in really a big way, funding a substantial portion of replacing almost two kilometres of almost century-old cast iron watermains,” Mayor Drew Dilkins said at a news conference last week.
The scope of work includes the following:
- Building a thicker, stronger asphalt road on Ypres Avenue, from Forest Avenue to Walker Road, in anticipation of a planned new east-west bus route that is expected to run along Ypres in the near future as part of the Transit Master Plan
- Installing new sidewalks on the north and south sides of Ypres
- Installing new LED street lights
- Building a new road and replacing the watermain along Gladstone Avenue, from Tecumseh Road East to Ypres Avenue
ENWIN, which manages WUC, has committed to replacing 18.9 kilometres of aging cast iron watermains across the city of Windsor in 2021 as part of the ongoing watermain renewal program to replace old cast iron watermains, including all publicly owned lead service pipes, by 2027.
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“When we look at important infrastructure projects within the Windsor utilities commission, lead is a top priority,” said Garry Rossi, VP, water operations at ENWIN Utilities.
There are approximately 70,000 water services in the city of Windsor.
“When we began this program, approximately 18.5 per cent or 13,000 services were led today that number is reduced to less than six per cent.”
About 7,000 vehicles use Ypres Avenue daily.
More than $6 million in improvements have been completed in the area within the past few years, including:
- $2.2 million Gladstone Avenue sewer rehabilitation project completed from Wyandotte Street to Riverside Drive in 2019
- $1.6 million Memorial Drive sewer and road rehabilitation, from Vimy Avenue to east of Marentette Avenue, in 2019
- $2.5 million construction of the 6,500–square-foot W.F. Chisholm Branch of the Windsor Public Library in 2017
“When the Ypres Avenue public works project is completed this November, it will conclude the final phase of the full reconstruction of this vital east-west collector road from Walker Road all the way to Howard Avenue,” Dilkens said. “It also paves the way for a proposed new bus route planned for Walkerville as part of the modernization and expansion of Windsor’s public transportation system as envisioned in our transit master plan.”