Work to begin on final phase of Cabana Road improvements in Windsor

Work is beginning on the final phase of the Cabana Road reconstruction project in Windsor, Ont.

The $45-million project began in 2015 and to date, the road has been widened with bike lanes from Highway 3 to Provincial Road.

Now, preliminary work has begun on the final phase from Provincial Road to Walker Road. It will cover the final section of Cabana Road East as well as the section of Division Road fromDevonwood Avenue to Walker Road.

It will include replacing sidewalks, curbs, guttersand street lighting. It will also include bike lanes that will be separated from motor traffic by a half-metre painted buffer zone in each direction. Boulevards will be enhanced with sodding and tree planting.

"We need to do this," Mayor Drew Dilkens saidat a news conference in front of Roseland Public School on Tuesday morning. "This will help open up those Sandwich South lands for housing, for the employment lands for the hospital and the surrounding development that will come with all of this activity. "

Dilkens confirmed the city has had complaints about speeding on the completed portion of Cabana Road, butsaid adding speed humps on a major artery would not work.

Instead, the city has installed flexible bollards along the bike lanes and have installed radar devices that advise motorists of the their speed.

"it's really meant to give people a sense of discomfort to the point that they aren't sure. So they slow down to make sure they navigate the area ... in a safer way," said Dilkens.

City engineer Mark Winterton also announced work will begin next year on a newly redesigned intersection at Lauzon Parkway and County Road 42.

"You'll see a fully redesigned intersection going in at that location as as early as 2026," said Winterton.

• This Windsor road has been under construction for 6 years. It's finally open again

Dilkens said city council has moved forward with partial expropriation of property needed for the Cabana Road corridorimprovements, and detailed design work and engineering aremoving forward. There will still need to be community consultation meetings and the project will have to go before council next year for budgeting.

The final phase is expected to cost around $25 million. A date for construction is not yet known.