MCGUINTY GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES THOUSANDS OF LOCAL JOBS IN CONSTRUCTION OF WINDSOR-ESSEX PARKWAY

News Release

Windsor-Essex Parkway Provincial Environmental Assessment Approved

Today, the McGuinty government is announcing the completion of the Windsor-Essex Parkway Environmental Assessment. Once full construction begins on the parkway the creation of 12,000 jobs is anticipated.

The Detroit River International Crossing (DRIC) study was the most extensive transportation environmental assessment ever undertaken in our province’s history and involved four years of technical studies, community consultation and planning.

The announcement took place at the site of the Howard Avenue CPR Grade Separation. This project will create some 400 local jobs and is a part of the joint Canada-Ontario $300 million Let’s Get Windsor-Essex Moving strategy.

QUOTES

"The Windsor-Essex Parkway represents a significant economic opportunity for our local workers, suppliers, and contractors,” said Dwight Duncan, Windsor-Tecumseh MPP. “Taken together with the Howard Ave project, this year’s investment in the Parkway will be more than $125 million and create approximately 1,300 jobs here in Windsor. It’s time to continue to move forward and position Windsor for future economic growth. It’s time to free up flow of traffic on Canada’s most important trade corridor, move trucks off city streets and stimulate investment and employment in our city."

"For many years the people of Windsor have asked for an access road that improves our local infrastructure needs. And for many years we have worked hard to ensure that our community’s voice is heard. The Windsor-Essex Parkway puts our region on the map as Canada’s most important trade hub,” said Sandra Pupatello, Windsor-West MPP. “Today we witness one of the biggest infrastructure projects ever to come to the Windsor and Essex County areas. The Parkway will create thousands of jobs for our local workers. It is proof of how communities and local governments can work together to create something that will benefit us now in the present and for future generations."

"We’re talking about jobs, quality of life, enhanced economic ties with the U.S.," said Bruce Crozier, Essex MPP. "From our perspective, as the provincial government, we are eager to move ahead."

QUICK FACTS

• Each year more than 12 million cars, trucks and buses, and nearly $120 billion worth of goods, flow between Canada and the U.S. through the Windsor-Detroit corridor alone, making this location the most economically significant border crossing in North America.
  
  
• The Windsor-Essex Parkway is unprecedented in its community enhancement features for any highway, anywhere in Ontario with: more than 300 acres of green space; 20 kilometres of recreational trails; extensive landscaping throughout the corridor; the use of proven techniques to reduce noise levels and special measures to protect wildlife.
  
  
• In 2005, the McGuinty government launched ReNew Ontario, a five-year, $30 billion infrastructure investment plan. The government is now moving into a 10 year $60 billion infrastructure investment plan.

QUICK LINKS

See the Windsor-EssexParkway at www.weparkway.ca.

CONTACTS