Gray-Howe overpass bidding set for spring
Construction to take two years
It will be the final step connecting the Herb Gray Parkway to the Canadian plaza of the planned Gordie Howe International Bridge on the outskirts of Windsor.
Preparation work for the construction of what is being referred to as the Ojibway Parkway overpass bridge, which began in September, took several weeks this fall and wraps up this month.
Workers for Amico Infrastructure have been installing proper drainage and building up large support walls designed to hold up girders for the six-lane overpass, which will go over Ojibway Parkway near the intersection with the E.C. Row Expressway.
The massive overpass is expected to cost $35 million, though the final dollar figure won’t be known until a winning bid for the project is selected. Ontario’s Transportation Ministry is overseeing the project and an environmental assessment wrapped up earlier this year.
“Subject to all approvals, the project is anticipated to be tendered in spring 2018 and will take two years to complete once construction begins,” said Liane Fisher Bloxam, ministry spokeswoman for the western region.
The cost of the project will be shared by the federal and provincial governments, she said.
Up to 20,000 vehicles travel through the Ojibway ParkwayE.C. Row intersection each weekday and there will be some traffic disruptions, Fisher Bloxam said.
“The impact to traffic for this project is expected to be minimal,” she said. “However, there will be short-duration full closures of Ojibway Parkway to erect girders, as well as other overhead work.”
The ministry is hopeful “these closures will be limited to nighttime,” she said.
Mark Butler, a spokesman for the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority, which is overseeing construction of the Howe bridge, said it is “pleased with the significant progress being made on all preparatory activities” before the start of the bridge project.
After several delays, bridge construction is expected to start in late 2018. The bridge project includes the crossing, plazas on both sides of the border and a new three-kilometre feeder road in Detroit to link with the I-75 freeway.
The Howe bridge project is to be completed in 2023, according to the latest estimates.