Field of VWs waiting for the OK
Q: Can you find out anything about the large, and I mean large, parking lot of cars that has been amassed at a compound near the western end of McLeod Road in Niagara Falls? The cars all seem to be Volkswagens;
and
Q: I have noticed about
1,000 Volkswagen vehicles parked in a lot behind 9946 McLeod Rd. and there seems to be more cars delivered there every day. This is located out in a rural area and there are no signs on the property, so can you tell me why they are parked there?
A: The large field of Volkswagens in the middle of a rural area has piqued the interest of many Search Engine readers.
Questions have been pouring in about the mysterious automobile collection off McLeod Road, between Beechwood and Thorold Townline roads.
Volkswagen Canada spokesman Thomas Tetzlaff said the Niagara Falls property is one of the storage facilities that Volkswagen Group Canada has contracted to “ensure the responsible storage of vehicles” bought back under the terms of the 2.0-litre TDI settlement in Canada.
You may recall Volkswagen was the subject of an emissions-rigging scandal back in September 2015.
Volkswagen Group Canada reached a $2.1-billion settlement in December 2016 with more than 100,000 Canadian owners of VW and Audi 2.0-litre diesel vehicles.
Under the settlement, owners could chose vehicle buyback, trade in, early lease termination or, if approved by regulators, emissions modification.
Tetzlaff said by email the vehicles stored in Niagara are Canadian cars that were bought back from Canadian customers as part of the settlement process. They’re being stored on an interim basis and routinely maintained to ensure their long-term operability and quality.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has jurisdiction over the approval process for the vehicles eventual return to the market. They’ll return to commerce once U.S. regulators approve, and the vehicles receive, an appropriate emissions modification.
Tetzlaff said vehicles that aren’t modified because of their age or condition, or for other reasons, will be responsibly recycled.
The property is being leased by Cox Automotive for Volkswagen Canada.
Q: I have noticed that the onramps at Lyons Creek Road to Fort Erie are still closed on Nov. 29 to the QEW. It has been about a week now that all heavy equipment, light poles and construction workers have been gone. What is the delay for opening the barriers to the on-ramps? Are they putting in cement median barriers to prevent any more highway crossover accidents there now that the new hospital is going to be in the area?
A: The ramps were re-opened the next day on Nov. 30, signalling the end of a two-year bridge replacement project.
The project involved six QEW bridges crossing Lyons Creek, Tee Creek and Black Creek. Bridges in Fort-Erie bound lanes were done in 2016 and the Toronto-bound lanes were done this year. The Ministry of Transportation replaced five of the bridges and rehabilitated a sixth.
MTO spokeswoman Valentina Stankovic said in an email the QEW and the median areas have all been restored to their pre-construction conditions, which includes a concrete median barrier to the north of Lyons Creek and a grass median to the south of Tee Creek. No additional barriers were planned as part of the project.
Q: I’m wondering about some roadwork that had been started on Stanley Avenue South, behind the Marineland area … it was started many, many weeks ago and then stopped just as quickly as it began, now nothing at all. So for the travellers heading towards McLeod Road, it is an obstacle course to avoid the raised manholes.
A: Since this question was received, the street has been fixed, but we can tell you about the lag time.
Niagara Region public works commissioner Ron Tripp explained that typically the first step
in the road resurfacing program is milling off a certain depth of road, about two inches. The condition of the base asphalt is then assessed and some is cut out for repairs. The gap in time was between doing the repairs to the base and coordinating the work to put new asphalt down. Even though it only took a day to do the asphalt, it had to be scheduled in.
As for the manholes, Tripp said when they mill down a road, they raise the manhole covers and put construction barrels on top so people don’t hit them and do damage to their cars. The Stanley Avenue south roadwork was completed on Nov. 24. from McLeod to Lyon’s Creek Road.