Phase 3 of the Lauzon Parkway reconstruction project is nearing its end for the construction season.
The city provided an update on the $18 million project which began back in the summer of 2021, rebuilding Lauzon Parkway from Hawthorne Drive to Cantelon Drive.
Over the summer and fall, extensive work was completed including the replacement of sanitary sewers, installation of additional stormwater storage in underground pipes, upgrades to the watermain, and the completion of the southbound lanes of traffic.
City engineer David Simpson says the infrastructure will be long lasting for several decades.
"Those pipes we're putting in, their useful service life will be 80 years or longer, rebuilding the road to that high standard of concrete panels, that means that's stuff that's going to last for 50 years."
He says he understands the construction has been an inconvenience for Windsorites.
"I think we have to remember at the end of the day this is one of our most travelled roads in and out of the city. There's over 30,000 vehicles including a lot of heavy truck freight that moves in and out of Lauzon every day, so we wanted to make sure that we substantively we rebuilt this corridor."
Simpson says there's still a little bit of work left to be done.
"We didn't quite get everything done. We'll have to be back and finish some work in the spring of 2025, just to rebuild the northbound lanes, but essentially that will be all of the remaining work left to do early next spring," he said.
Lauzon Parkway is expected to reopen to traffic on Friday Dec. 20, for the winter, pending weather and installation of temporary traffic control mechanisms.
The left-turning lane from the northbound lanes to the plazas will remain closed during the winter. Access to the plazas will still be available via the Cantelon entrance and from the southbound lanes.
Once work begins again in the spring, it is expected to be completed by July, weather permitting.
-With files from AM800's Mornings with Mike and Meg