Windsor City Council has approved $5.6-million to reconstruction Ouellette Avenue in downtown Windsor.
The streetscaping project is set for two blocks from Wyandotte to Elliott and includes reducing the number of lanes from four to two, adding a raised median island, new sidewalks, landscaping and providing on-street parking.
But what is missing are bike lanes which disappoints the Executive Director of Bike Friendly Windsor-Essex Lori Newton.
"I wonder whether people are going to come to the cafes when they can't come on their bikes," says Newton. "How are they going to get down here? So it is a shame but it is good plan and I think the dialogue that we heard in council chambers was really interesting."
Newton says adding bike lanes would improve safety.
"This is part of the reason why we see cyclists riding all over the roads and the sidewalks. It's because there is no dedicated space for them to be on and without a dedicated space for cyclists, cyclists just don't know where to move."
Newton says city administration did not consult with Bike Friendly Windsor-Essex or the bicycling committee when creating the plan.
City administration says bike lanes were considered but Ouellette Avenue is not part of the bigger cycling plan for the city.
The work will take place over two years and should begin this fall.