The City of Windsor will be updating which roads truck drivers can utilize.
Windsor City Council met Monday, with one report looking for final approval on updating the truck routes in the city, a new pedestrian crossover, and over 200 new signs indicating which roads are restricted to truck drivers.
The report has identified which roads can support consistent traffic from trucks, and short-term and long-term plans were identified.
Current routes allowed by truck drivers such as Windsor Avenue, Pillette Avenue, and Parent Avenue will be removed from that network, while new routes such as Sandwich Street and 7th Concession will be added. There will also be plans to designate certain roads for local deliveries only such as Ouellette Avenue, University Avenue, and others.
With ongoing projects such as the NextStar EV Battery Plant, the Gordie Howe International Bridge, and the new acute care hospital - the city recommended updating the route.
Chris Gerardi, Policy Analyst for Transportation Planning with the City of Windsor, says there will be changes again once the Gordie Howe Bridge opens.
"The section on Wyandotte on the west end, that is the only section that would be reduced on the current truck route as a result of the bridge opening."
Gerardi says when the Gordie Howe Bridge opens later this year, it's anticipated that many trucks will no longer need to use a number of roads currently allowed within the city.
"With the opening of the new bridge, and that redundancy, we should see a more normalized level at both the current bridge and the new bridge that we wouldn't expect truckers wanting to cut through city streets. That shouldn't be a quicker route for them. So, taking that piece away will be huge in eliminating a lot of the issues we see today."
David Simpson, Commissioner of Infrastructure Services with the City of Windsor, says education and enforcement of these changes will be done in the city.
"We would maintain that correspondence and dialogue with Windsor Police, also MTO has a responsibility in this as well in terms of the highways that they regulate that run throughout the city, so we'd look at a coordinated approach there."
An updated report on how well the new routes are working is expected to come back to council one year following the opening of the Gordie Howe Bridge.
Enforcement will be completed by Windsor Police and the Ministry of Transportation.
A new pedestrian crossover will be added on McHugh Street at Cypress Avenue to allow for McHugh to be designated as a local delivery truck route only.
212 new signs will be installed by the end of 2025.