Tunnel closing to affect thousands of commuters
The Detroit-Windsor Tunnel — a primary artery to cross the border for thousands of commuters in Windsor — will be fully closed to traffic for 10 days starting the evening of Friday, Oct. 20.
Tunnel president Neal Belitsky said the closure is required as work gets started on a complicated final phase of a US$21.6-million construction project that will see replacement of the tunnel’s 85-yearold ceiling slab.
Closure of the border crossing is also expected to frustrate Windsor sports fans who use the tunnel bus as Little Caesars Arena — the new home for the Detroit Red Wings and Detroit Pistons — debuts this fall.
A recent inspection of the concrete ceiling by the tunnel’s engineering consultant uncovered a dire need for a “full removal and replacement of 4,000 linear feet of the river section of the tube,” according to a recent council report.
The renovations have already included masonry and electrical work and in October will see replacement of the concrete ceiling.
The tunnel will close on Oct. 20 starting at 8 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. on Oct. 30, according to tunnel officials.
Between Oct. 30 and Nov. 22, the tunnel will also be closed Sunday through Thursday each weeknight from 8 p.m. until 5:30 a.m.
The tunnel will be fully open to traffic between Nov 23 and Nov. 26.
Between Nov. 27 and Dec. 23, the tunnel will again be closed each weeknight from 8 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. on Sunday through Thursday.
The tunnel will be fully open to traffic during the Christmas holidays from Dec. 23 until Jan. 1, 2018.
Then between Jan. 2, 2018, until mid-June the tunnel will again be closed from 8 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. on Sunday through Thursday.
“We look forward to continuing to serve as the premier gateway to Windsor and Detroit for years to come and this work will help us to do just that,” said Belitsky said.
“The need for this renovation project is a natural occurrence in the life of an underwater tunnel and the next step in our continued maintenance and improvement of this vital international asset.”
City engineer Mark Winterton said discussions around the fate of the tunnel bus during the construction project are ongoing.
He expects final decisions and an announcement to be made some time next week.
“We are working on different options, possibly using (the Ambassador Bridge), but nothing is nailed down yet,” Winterton said.
A primary focus is to keep the tunnel bus in operation during sporting events, such as game nights for the Red Wings, Pistons and next spring for the Tigers. The North American International Auto Show also attracts large crowds from Windsor in January.
Transit Windsor’s discussions include officials from the bridge company, plus Canada and U.S. Customs, Winterton said.
“We hope to have a game plan in place next week.”
Windsor’s tunnel corporation will pay for half the construction costs of the ceiling replacement. The corporation estimates there will be a loss of $740,000 in toll revenues — equivalent to roughly 150,000 vehicles — due to the tunnel closures.
“Unfortunately, we have to demolish that portion of the ceiling and you can’t do that kind of work with traffic going through,” said Carolyn Brown, CEO of the city’s tunnel corporation.
“This was the safest and most expeditious way by doing the demolition in 10 days. Once that gets done, we can do the rebuild during the night closures. This has to be done and this is the only way to do it.”
Ambassador Bridge officials have been part of the planning effort to handle border traffic during the tunnel’s closure, said Stan Korosec, director of government relations for the bridge’s Canadian side.
The Windsor Assembly Plant will be shut down for the month of October, so that will lessen the number of cross-border trucks using the bridge during the tunnel’s closure, he said.
“We don’t see too much of an issue and we are just trying to reassure people,” Korosec said. “We will be adding extra staff, toll takers during the closure. We are going over protocol with customs and emergency services in case an ambulance needs to get across.”
Much of the customs staff for both Canada and U.S., which was to be regularly stationed at the tunnel, will be shifted over to the bridge both during the full closure and ongoing weeknight closures, he said.
“We will be able to open more (customs) lanes,” Korosec said.
The ceiling renovations are expected to be completed by June 2018.
Real-time updates and traffic information will be available online at www.dwtunnel.com, Facebook (www.facebook.com/DWTunnel) or on Twitter (@DetWinTunnel).