The Ontario government is providing the City of Windsor with nearly $20 million to improve stormwater infrastructure in the city's east end.
Windsor-Tecumseh Conservative MPP Andrew Dowie on Friday announced a $19.9 million investment to help improve the infrastructure in the Pontiac Stormwater Pumping Station drainage area, which includes homes south of Sandpoint Beach and Stop 26 along Riverside Drive.
The money, along with $7.6 million in city funding, will help with the city's East Marash Drainage Redirection project and Cedarview Relief Storm Sewer project, which will focus on reconstructing roads, upgrading the storm sewer system, and reducing the risk of flooding in the drainage area.
Windsor-Tecumseh Conservative MPP Andrew Dowie says we know there will be a day we when see another heavy weather event.
"It's vital that we be protected from that and do what we can to protect people's property. We cannot forget what happened in the past, and we have to keep on improving," he says. "The city has done a fantastic job at implementing the sewer master plan and taking its recommendations to heart. This is an opportunity for us, the provincial side, to help support that work."
Dowie says this is the largest stormwater-wastewater investment he's been involved in making.
"It will help the people around Sandpoint Beach and the Stop 26 area get far, far greater stormwater protection. There's always more to do. We're kicking away at it and delighted to see this investment," he says.
Windsor's Commissioner of Infrastructure Services, David Simpson, says they're dealing with an old storm sewer system in the Riverside area.
"It's been undersized and never designed for the significant wet weather events that we've experienced and have experienced in 2016 and 2017. Essentially, we'll be going in and tremendously upsizing those critical core trunk sewers," he says.
The design and construction work on this project is expected to take a year and a half to complete.
The following roadways are included in the East Marsh Drainage Redirection project:
-Florence Avenue from Wyandotte Street East to Riverside Drive East
-Menard Street from Florence Avenue to Elinor Street
-Clover Street from Clairview Avenue to Wyandotte Street East
-Clairview Avenue from Clover Street to Adelaide Avenue
-Elinor Street from Clairview Avenue to Wyandotte Street East
-John M Street from Clairview Avenue to Menard Street
-Clairview Avenue from Clover Street to Florence Avenue
The funding is from the province's Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program, which is designed to help protect homes and communities from extreme weather events such as flooding.
Separate to the funding, the city will also be upgrading the Pontiac Stormwater Pumping Station, with a tender for the work expected to be issued later this year.