Truckers, industries gird for Huron Church Road work
Nearly a half-billion dollars of trade on average crosses the Windsor-Detroit border each day — much of that inside trucks rolling up and down Huron Church Road. But starting in early April, traffic on the busy six-lane artery — the primary link to the Ambassador Bridge — will practically grind to a halt for about three months due to a $5.5-million construction project that will narrow a large stretch of the road to one lane in each direction.
“This will obviously impact the amount of time trucks are on the road and trying to reach the border,” said Lak Shoan, director of policy and industry awareness programs for the Ontario Trucking Association. “Added carrier time is money. If a driver is waiting in construction, it slows up the load and the supply chain to an extent. “You will have added costs for driver time and added costs — which you can’t quantify — for the supply chain. Definitely costs will rise for some carriers.”
City officials have announced they will fully rebuild Huron Church between Malden Road and Dorchester Road — about a one-kilometre stretch.
To help complete the project quickly — and hopefully lessen the financial impact to companies and shippers who rely on cross-border trade — noise bylaw waivers have been approved so construction work some days will be around-the-clock, according to city administrators. Once the project is launched this spring, traffic will be forced to one lane in each direction on one side of the road, then vice versa once construction is completed on the opposite side. “Congestion and traffic delays are always a concern for trucking companies,” Shoan said. “But they know it’s part of the business. They know this will be something they have to deal with, so for three months they will adjust their operations and practices. “Hopefully, long- term the changes from construction will be beneficial to traffic in the area. This will be short-term pain, but hopefully it will lead to better longterm traffic flows in Windsor.” One of the city’s primary employers, the Windsor Assembly Plant, relies heavily on just-intime delivery of parts — many of which arrive daily from across the border. The plant employs more than 6,000 workers who build the Pacifica and Grand Caravan minivans.
“(Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) is working to adjust our transportation lanes to accommodate the road construction project and does not anticipate any impact to production at the Windsor Assembly Plant,” said company spokesman LouAnn Gosselin.
The head of the nation’s auto parts manufacturers believes the Huron Church Road construction project will create some headaches for suppliers to the auto plants. “It’s not optimal,” said Flavio Volpe, president of Canada’s Automotive Parts Manufacturers Association. “What auto parts companies tend to do is store more inventory and warehouse more. They change the timing of shipments. It’s tough to manage, but not new for us. “Everybody will have an inventory plan. They will ramp up inventory on the other side of the bridge and vice versa. If you’ve got twin plants — one on each side — you also might supply more on that side.”
Parts manufacturers constantly “weigh risks” in shipping their products depending on the destination and potential construction hurdles or normal traffic gridlock, he said.
“You work it into the bid price if there is going to be a slowdown or there is nuisance in moving supplies (due to heavy traffic),” Volpe said. “Moving anything ( from southwestern Ontario) to east of Toronto is a daily problem for everybody.
“I think everyone will be able to manage (Huron Church Road construction). We will wait and see what happens.”