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West Windsor business owners and elected officials are crying foul over the Windsor Detroit Bridge Authority’s decision to completely close off a major arterial road for reconstruction this September and to reroute truck traffic along an already busy street with a hospital.
Despite extensive community consultation and a repeated commitment to maintaining traffic during Sandwich Street reconstruction, business owners have learned the Windsor Detroit Bridge Authority plans to fully close the road from Chappell Avenue to the train tracks near Ojibway Parkway for at least eight weeks starting September 5. The road work is part of the community benefits plan for Sandwich Town, which will host the Gordie Howe International Bridge — but business owners say the total road closure won’t benefit them at all.
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“I can only imagine what this is going to do if all of my customers from Amherstburg and LaSalle area can’t get to me,” said Nicole Sekela, owner of Rock Bottom Bar and Grill and Sandwich Brewing Company.
Sekela said her businesses suffered greatly during the Ambassador Bridge blockade in February 2022, when most vehicle access to Sandwich Town from the east was obstructed by concrete jersey barriers erected along Huron Church Road to control movement to and from the days-long protest. The blockade impacted her businesses more than the COVID-19 pandemic, when she was only offering takeout, she said.
Her businesses employ almost 50 people, including families with children, domestic university students working to pay tuition, and international students she says are trying to make enough money to eat.
“I’m just really worried about them. I’m very concerned. This isn’t very much notice for me to be able to come up with some sort of solution or game plan moving forward.”
Sekela joined Ward 2 Coun. Fabio Costante and MP Brian Masse (NDP — Windsor West) in speaking out against the complete road closure on Tuesday. Standing by a crosswalk on Prince Road outside Mic Mac Park, their voices were nearly drowned out by traffic.
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Should the complete road closure go ahead, all traffic that normally takes Sandwich Street to and from Ojibway Parkway, including an estimated 1,000-plus transport trucks each day, would be diverted up Prince Road, home to Hotel-Dieu Grace HealthCare and near Marlborough Public School.
“It would affect a street that’s already mired in traffic and congestion and speeding issues,” Costante said. “I’ve pled to the powers that be to reconsider this proposal. I’ve asked the (Windsor Detroit Bridge Authority) who was consulted and I’ve not received a response.
“Now we’re in the 11th hour, we’re learning about all of this for the first time. I think we can do better and I think we absolutely should be better.”
Representatives from the Windsor Detroit Bridge Authority have participated in the Sandwich Towne Business Improvement Association’s monthly meetings to discuss road reconstruction. Changes to the plan did not come up, Costante said.
Costante found out about the change of plans only about two weeks ago. He called an emergency meeting of the Sandwich BIA, which was held Monday afternoon, with Windsor Detroit Bridge Authority present to hear the BIA’s concerns.
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Masse has penned a letter to Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure, and Communities, asking a series of questions about the change. Among them are when the bridge authority began to change its construction strategy, why the project did not begin ahead of the school year’s start, and if additional community benefits will be provided for a project in the Prince Road area affected by traffic dislocation.
“At the very last minute, this community that has always been the underdog is going to have to step up and fight the powers that be again,” Masse said. “It’s unacceptable.”
Some of the Windsor Detroit Bridge Authority’s board members and staff “have the responsibility to speak up” and notify the public of “significant changes to their own plan,” Masse said.
A representative from the Windsor Detroit Bridge Authority could not be reached for comment ahead of the Star’s print deadline.
tcampbell@postmedia.com
twitter.com/wstarcampbell
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