A Windsor councillor is pleased to see that a new bus terminal on the east end of the city is ready for service.
Gary Kaschak says transit riders should be aware and ready for the switch as the new East End Terminal on the northwest corner of Tecumseh Road East and Lauzon Parkway is a week away from service.
The new terminal has been under construction for months, and will be the new location as the stop is relocated from Tecumseh Mall.
Arrival and departure times at the new terminal will remain unchanged from those previously used at the Tecumseh Mall terminal.
Transit Windsor will begin operating from its new terminal on Sunday, September 6 - just two days ahead of the new school year.
The new terminal is within Kaschak’s ward. He says it’s important that riders understand that some of the existing stops will be eliminated, while four new stops will be added to serve areas along Rose-Ville Garden Drive and Catherine Street.
Kaschak says the routes are changing a bit.
“It’ll start at the terminal and then all of a sudden it’ll maybe go all the way just to Forest Glade, the outer edges of Robinet Lane, Banwell, and then back out again. So it’s not that cross-town, crisscross all through Windsor like a lot of bus routes used to be.”
He says he understands people are wary about using this new terminal.
“I think people get a little spooked on Lauzon Parkway because it’s six lanes wide, and it’s a busy stretch, but we’re going to have all the proper traffic lights in there, it’s going to be audio, anybody that needs accessibility is going to have that at that corner.”
He says the updated schedules and maps can be reviewed.
“Certainly we want to focus right now on the education, the awareness, the change in location, some of it’s light modifications to the route involved.”
An official ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of the new terminal will be held at a later date.
Riders are encouraged to review updated schedules and maps to familiarize themselves with the new terminal and bus stop locations.
The new west end terminal at Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare officially opened at the end of July.
The east end terminal had a project budget of just under $7.9-million, while the west end was just $3.7-million.
The five existing bus stops that will be eliminated include:
- 771171 - Tecumseh Road East at Eastpark Plaza
- 771175 - Tecumseh Road East at Lauzon Parkway southeast corner
- 771176 - Tecumseh Road East at Lauzon Parkway northeast corner
- 771373 - Lauzon Parkway at Rona
- 772253 - Tecumseh Road East at Rose-Ville Garden Drive southwest corner
The four new bus stops that will serve areas along Rose-Ville Garden Drive and Catherine Street include:
- 772717 - Rose-Ville Garden Drive at Tecumseh northeast corner
- 772718 - Catherine Street at Rose-Ville Garden Drive southeast corner
- 772719 - Catherine Street at Walmart southwest corner
- 772511 - Catherine Street at Tecumseh Road East northeast corner