Travellers who use the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel are being given a heads up on what they need to do to use the cross-border route during the Detroit Grand Prix weekend.
The race will be held in downtown Detroit on the weekend of June 2 to 4, which will have an impact on traffic heading to the crossing as all of Jefferson Avenue outside the tunnel will be part of the race circuit.
Placards are now being distributed to motorists ahead of the race and they should display those on their dashboards in order to access the tunnel between May 31 and June 4.
Carolyn Brown, Chief Executive Officer of the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel Corporation, says access from the Detroit side the tunnel will be controlled during the race weekend by Detroit police officers.
"In order to gain access to the tunnel itself, you need to have these placards on your dashboard, which we will provide free of charge. You need to have the placards on the dashboard so the officer know you're trying to get to Canada," she says.
The placards will be available at the Windsor and Detroit toll plazas or can be downloaded and printed from the tunnel's website, www.TakeTheTunnel.com.
Brown says if a discretionary traveller shows up and does not have the placard , but plans to take the tunnel to Canada, the police officer will let them through.
"Understand once you are allowed entrance through the tunnel, you have to proceed to Canada," she says.
The Detroit-Windsor Tunnel will remain open and accessible during the pre-race track build-out and throughout the 2023 Detroit Grand Prix weekend.
Brown says people will need to plan ahead because it will take a little longer to get through the tunnel that weekend.
"We're doing our best to make the crossing as seamless as possible for our customers, the commuter and discretionary travellers who take the tunnel on the weekend. That's why we developed the placards and we're distributing them in advance of the race," she adds.
Build-out preparations for the race are underway and most of the preparatory work will take place between the hours of 8 p.m. and 5 a.m., with nightly temporary rerouting in downtown Detroit.