In July, just before the Gordie Howe Bridge was scheduled/rumoured to open, I asked a Council Question:
Assigned to: Deputy Chief Administrative Officer / Commissioner, Economic Development
Asks given the Huron Church Road Urban Design Master Plan and Development Guidelines were adopted by Council over twenty years ago and given that the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge is expected to significantly impact Huron Church Road.
I am requesting that Administration report back how conditions and policy directions have changed since the plan was adopted, including but not limited to:
- Information on the anticipated impact of the Gordie Howe International Bridge on traffic volumes and the function on Huron Church Road;
- Shifts in housing policy including the City’s mixed-use corridors and intensification nodes policy;
- The future role of the corridor in the city’s transit network, including conventional transit, potential rapid transit, and regional connectivity;
- Opportunities to improve active transportation, pedestrian safety, cycling infrastructure, streetscaping, public realm design, and connections to nearby neighbourhoods and institutions;
The report should include information on the process, estimated timelines, and potential costs associated with updating the Huron Church Road Urban Design Master Plan for consideration in a future budget.
Setting aside a bit of awkward wording, the goal is to explore what the future of Huron Church Road is.
Just this week we saw updated truck crossing data entering Canada from both the Gordie Howe Bridge and “Other” (Ambassador Bridge) Crossings.
The trends are pretty clear, and just this week we had rumours of the first Stellantis trucks taking the Gordie Howe Bridge for the first time! A few things we have to recognize:
- It is estimated that somewhere between 20% and 30% of trucks taking the Ambassador Bridge, are owned by the CTC affiliated trucking companies.
- We do know that a number of trucking companies do have contracts in place with the Ambassador Bridge that haven’t expired.
- That Huron Church Road is partially HWY 3 which means there is Provincial oversight on this corridor as it is a “Trade Corridor” area.
- We don’t know if some of the changes that we are seeing are due to cross-border tensions and tariffs impacting business rather than a structural shift.
My takeaway is that we will need some time to see the full impacts of the Gordie Howe Bridge. There is a ton of opportunity for Huron Church Road moving forward whether having Transit Windsor actually run busses on it (no bus runs a regular north/south route on Huron Church), commercial/residential developments like those proposed by Westdell Development’s Gateway Village, active transit connections from the Riverfront to Herb Gray Parkway, maybe bus rapid transit and HOV lanes, greening of the corridor etc.
The initial report back to Council outlining the transportation shifts, policy changes and costs for a full update is timely. This initial administrative report won’t really cost a significant amount beyond staff time to develop and write but will provide Council information and a framework to consider for a more significant set of studies on the future of Huron Church Road. We can then consider at budget the full costs of visioning the future of this corridor.
Thanks again Frazier for your hard work in keeping issues out there for us!
Excellent and necessary information. Thank you for heading the charge on this. Of course, technically most of it is in Ward 2, but one would think it should be a city-wide interest.
Sure, that’s why we need a comprehensive study done on the length of the road. Then we can compare it to other projects in the City!
I’m not in your Ward, but I’m impressed with this thoughtful and informative post.
Thanks so much!