A big part of the ongoing reconstruction of County Road 42 in Tecumseh is scheduled to begin later this month.
Phase 3-the construction of a roundabout at County Road 42 and County Road 19 or Manning Road-is set to begin May 12.
Drivers can expect detours and some road closures during the construction, which should be finished by September 2025.
Director of Infrastructure Planning for the County of Essex, Allan Botham, calls this a "key piece of the puzzle" to keep the traffic flowing and get ahead of increased traffic flow due to industrial development and housing growth in the Windsor-Tecumseh-Lakeshore corridor along County Road 42
Botham says it will be challenging for drivers during the work, but they expect to keep some traffic flowing through the intersection.
"Anticipate slowdowns during the day and during construction. It's our intention to keep County Road 19 flowing north-south for the duration of the work, with some days or weeks where we may have to have some road closures or ask drivers to either be patient or use our posted detours," he says.
County Road 19 through the County Road 42 intersection area handles 15,000 - 20,000 vehicles per day.
County Road 42 west of County Road 19, heading toward County Road 43 and into Windsor, sees 10,000-13,000 vehicles per day.
Botham says the first part of the construction will focus on the east side of the roundabout and at that point in time, County Road 42 east of County Road 19 will have to be closed.
"Once we get the east side of the roundabout built, then we'll flip over to start constructing the west side of the roundabout," he says. "At that point we can open up County Road 42 east of County Road 19 to some traffic and, again, try to keep that north-south traffic going."
If the phase 3 construction ends before or on time, the contractor will begin work on Phase 4-the widening of County Road 42 between County Road 43 and County Road 19-which is expected to be completed by the end of June 2026.
The phase 4 road widening work will include the installation of new sidewalks, curbs, landscaping, and boulevard restoration between the Manning Road intersection and the new County Road 43/Banwell Road roundabout that opened in October 2024 as part of phase 2 of the project.
Phase 3 and phase 4 of the construction will cost a combined $23 million.