Windsor mayor Drew Dilkens has unveiled other policy in his bid for re-election.
On Friday, the mayor focused on roads and major intersections.
He says if re-elected he would start the process for an environmental assessment to improve and upgrade the EC Row Expressway.
Dilkens says construction would not start during the next term of council, but did say an EA would be completed within the next four years.
He says all the new road projects would fall within the current capital road budget.
"Each of these items have been costed and each of these items are doable within our existing capital budget," says Dilkens. "I will have a full costing at the appropriate time, but I'm quite comfortable we can do these projects if I didn't feel like we could do them I would not be standing here today telling you that we will."
Dilkens says the city needs an environmental assessment to do work on the expressway.
"No additional work can happen on EC Row Expressway in terms of widening or adding capacity or changing the interchanges until the EA is done," says Dilkens. "So we will get that EA done to be able to inform future spending decisions and of course they'll be expensive. It will be a requirement of perhaps myself or a future city council to decide how to fund and what projects to do and in what priority order."
He says he was to make the expressway modern and efficient.
"Clearly it requires additional capacity and the land is there for four lanes in each direction," says Dilkens. "So I think at least adding an additional lane would be an appropriate step forward and I think we have to look at some of the interchanges that are unsafe and we have collision data to support where those intersections are."
Chamber President Matt Marchand has announced he is running for mayor in Windsor. June 19, 2018 (Photo by AM800's Teresinha Medeiros)
Meantime, Windsor mayoral candidate Matt Marchand is curious where the money will come from to fund the infrastructure projects Dilkens is proposing.
Marchand says there's a reason the city's roads need a lot of work.
"With respect to our city, we've been spending money on non-priorities and hence our infrastructure has been in decay. What we're planning on doing is focusing community spending on community priorities"
He says the pledges from Mayor Dilkens don't add up.
"Inconsistent messaging from Mr. Dilkens. On the one hand he wants to spend money on infrastructure, surveillance cameras and more police to arrest the homeless and at the same time says he's not going to raise taxes. So he's going to have to reconcile those statements"
Marchand says he has a different answer to upgrading the expressway.
"I would insist the EC Row be uploaded to the province. And if elected and given the privilege to serve I would work very hard to ensure and work with the government of Ontario to see if we can upload EC Row, it should be a provincial highway. That's a big burden on Windsor taxpayers and it should be uploaded "
Marchand says spending a million dollars on refurbishing a streetcar and construction of a pedestrian underpass on Riverside Drive aren't what the community needs.
Dilkens says, since 2014, the city has invested $213-million in road and transportation infrastructure.
Also on the ticket to be mayor are Ernie Lamont, Frank Dyck and Tom Hensel.
The municipal election goes October 22.
— with files from AM800's Peter Langille