The City of Windsor is one step closer to updating which roads truck drivers can and cannot drive on.
The Environment, Transportation and Public Safety Standing Committee met Wednesday to discuss changes, including a new pedestrian crossover and over 200 new signs indicating which roads are restricted to trucks.
Due to ongoing projects like the NextStar EV Plant, the Gordie Howe Bridge, and the new hospital, the city needs to identify which roads can support truck traffic and the report outlined short-term and long-term plans.
Short-term enhancements would see new truck routes such as Essex Way, Sandwich Street, and 7th Concession, while removing routes like Windsor Avenue, Pillette Avenue, and Parent Avenue. The plan also includes designating certain roads for local deliveries only such as Banwell Road, University Avenue, Ouellette Avenue, and others.
The committee also approved to add a pedestrian crossover on McHugh Street at Cypress Avenue to allow McHugh to be designated as a local delivery truck route - providing a safer corridor for trucks to serve nearby businesses.
Long-term plans aim for future truck routes and enhancements for upcoming developments such as the future Sandwich South lands.
David Simpson, Commissioner of Infrastructure Services with the City of Windsor, says many of the current truck routes have been removed.
"There were a number of the primary truck routes which really are your heaviest weight transport trucks and so on going down each segment, there was a number of those where we actually clawed those back to more local delivery routes where you're restricting the type of truck traffic to three axles or less, or much smaller trucks, which have a lower impact to the local community."
He says they eliminated any "redundant" routes.
"We just felt we had too many truck routes in the same geospatial area, so some of those redundancies were refined to make better use of one common route. And then beyond that wherever possible we did our best to avoid any potential conflict with sensitive road users like cyclists, pedestrians."
Simpson says in terms of enforcement of these changes, education will be key.
"The more we get the right trucks on the right road, the drivers are going to find out that those are in fact the best, quickest routes to follow, and they'll start trying to short-circuit through other areas. But certainly anything we can do with our local by-law enforcement on the roads, as well as leveraging anything we can do with the Ministry of Transportation in terms of specific, dedicated blitzes here and there."
If approved by council, Simpson says he anticipates the 212 signs to be installed by the end of 2025.
There is a one time cost of $50,000 to update the over 200 signs throughout the city which is being funded through the Environmental Study Report Project.
The installation of the pedestrian crossover at McHugh and Cypress has a price tag of $84,000. That is anticipated to be funded through the Active Transportation Grant and could be completed in 2026.