WINDSOR | Construction - News and Development

[arnold]

have they released any drawings of the new station?

that old station location would be a great place for a new highrise condo building. that is, as long as the tunnel vent doesn't smog the place up too much...

[upinottawa]

Originally Posted by arnold

have they released any drawings of the new station?

that old station location would be a great place for a new highrise condo building. that is, as long as the tunnel vent doesn't smog the place up too much...

A new arena, perhaps?

I also wonder what they are going to do with the old bus station site. Obviously, they will remove any reminder of the ugly old station.

I have not seen any renderings of the new station, however I do recall hearing that the station will be smaller than originally planned (Greyhound will not have its own booth, rather Transit Windsor will sell Greyhound tickets).

Its too bad that the City could not have combined its new transit centre and Greyhound operations with a new downtown Via Station....

[westerntragedy]

Originally Posted by upinottawa

Its too bad that the City could not have combined its new transit centre and Greyhound operations with a new downtown Via Station....

Yes! Ha! That would be nice, but more trains running through the city, ack.

Speaking of trains, I hear from a friend that construction on the rail overpass on Walker Road is about to begin for real this time. Friend said he heard the man who owns the battery store finally settled for half a million. Anyone have any news about this? It's probably old news, hah, but I just heard it so.. heh

[upinottawa]

Rumour has it that the federal government will purchase the rail line that Via uses (owned by CN) and then abandon that line. Via will then run its trains on the line that runs past the Windsor Airport. The new Windsor station will be located at the Airport or off of Wellington somewhere near the train tunnel to Detroit.

Anyone else have more details or better information?

[westerntragedy]

Yes indeed, there was an article in the Windsor Star back in (January was it?) when the news broke about this. Suggestions in the article were that the old VIA line may become a public walk/bike path (hah imagine Windsor's riverfront continuing to Chatham -- Chrysler Canada Trail outdone by lakeside beauty I say!). I thought I remember reading that portions may also be used as a local road or a more express county route.. Alas that's the only info I remember from the article, maybe someone else has some links or more detail

[upinottawa]

City boosts urban village

Roseann Danese, Windsor Star
Published: Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Developers willing to build an urban village on and around the long-vacant Western Super Anchor site will be offered financial incentives to make something happen.

Sixteen years after the property was expropriated for an arena and multi-use centre, the land will now be the subject of an urban renewal plan that has been in the works for three years.

"Sixteen years of indecision on this property has put city centre west in the position of needing your help," Mark Boscariol, chairman of the Downtown Windsor BIA, told city council Monday.

"The land we are talking about has been tied up for 16 years," he said.

"It has prevented growth in the surrounding community due to a lack of a clear vision for over a decade."

The public will have an opportunity to comment on the incentives for the next 20 days. Following that, the city will seek provincial approval.

Mayor Eddie Francis described an urban village as a district within the city that is redeveloped "to include a number of different uses." The uses can include residential development, in the form of both highrise buildings and town homes, as well as commercial development, "all within the same area that is supported by transit, that's supposed to be pedestrian-friendly."

Developers would be rewarded based on how well their ideas reflect the city's vision for the urban village in the city centre. Those submitting "gold" level design plans will receive the most in incentives, such as rebates on development fees and building permit fees. There will also be silver and bronze design levels that will "unlock" the incentives, Francis said. "You're trying to encourage people to come forward."

Francis said the bulk of the fees will be rebates because municipalities are not allowed under the provisions of the Municipal Act to offer cash to private developers. The city is also willing to cap property taxes for 10 years on the new development, allowing developers to pay taxes on the property's value as it existed before it was developed.

The city will also pay half of five feasibility studies, up to $20,000 for each one, required by developers to decide whether the project is worth pursuing.

"This type of package is meant to entice the type of development we're looking for, the development of the urban village," Francis said.

"By telling developers what we're looking for and then matching that performance with incentives, that's going to be sufficient enough for them to come forward and develop the lands," he said.

"It's providing them the incentive without costing us anything to actually get it done."

Boscariol said financial incentives offered to developers in Niagara Falls, North Bay, London and Toronto have "paid for themselves" and resulted in revitalization in downtown areas and elsewhere.

© The Windsor Star 2006

[arnold]

i hope that they go really dense in this area. and not necessarily with a bunch of highrises, but condos and town homes with street level retail. something with the feel (but not look) of a whistler village would do quite nicely, IMO.
oh, and underground parking please...

[Blitz]

^ I get the sense that's what they're thinking with this. Just two years ago, Windsor set up an entire Urban Design Planning agenda: http://www.citywindsor.ca/001840.asp
Any new construction in town has to conform to this agenda...e.g. the new retail complex currently going up at Walker & Tecumseh is much closer to the road then it would've been under previous administrations.

[upinottawa]

^ which corner of Tecumseh and Walker (I know there are gas stations at two of those corners)? What is going in there?

I wonder how many residential units will be added to downtown via the urban village. From my experience in Ottawa, these new units will not come cheap. I wonder who will be the target audience? Students (probably too expensive for most students unless Windsor gets a "real" full-scale medical school)? Empty nest-ers? Young professionals (what is the job market like for young professionals in Windsor)? Young Canadians working in Detroit?

Ultimately, I think this is a good idea as more people downtown will diversify the area and hopefully bring in new retail. I just hope the market exists for this project.

Any renderings for that transit centre?

[Blitz]

They tore down the gas station and the plaza that were on the NW corner of Tec & Walker and are building some sort of retail complex (I can't remember what's going in there though).

Haven't seen any renderings for the bus depot yet.

[yupislyr]

Originally Posted by Blitz

They tore down the gas station and the plaza that were on the NW corner of Tec & Walker and are building some sort of retail complex (I can't remember what's going in there though).

At least part of it is a new Bank of Montreal branch. They may end up consolidating other branches into the new one similarly to what CIBC has done in the east end.

[upinottawa]

The following link has some discussion of the new Windsor bus terminal (along with a link to some pictures of the old Detroit Fort Street Greyhound station).

http://atdetroit.net/forum/messages/...tml?1146013946

[arnold]

the news on that link doesn't sound very promising...

[upinottawa]

Originally Posted by arnold

the news on that link doesn't sound very promising...

Yah. Unfortunately in today's political environment it is easier to build on the cheap than build a landmark that promotes civic pride.

Ideally, I would have liked to see a Via/Greyhound/Transit Windsor station, but that would involve a lot of intergovernmental agreement.

About the current bus station: when I am in Windsor with friends from out of town, I will usually take them over to Detroit for a game or to show them downtown. In doing so, I prefer to take the tunnel bus. However, in doing so they get to experience Windsor's bus station, and -- as anyone who has ever been done there can attest -- the station is so ugly and dirty (never mind the state of the bathrooms) that it is an embarrassment to the City of Windsor.

The city needs to recognize that a lot of people from out of town take the tunnel bus and the quality of the bus station creates a lasting impression.

[Blitz]

^ I'm going to a Tigers game with some people from out of town next month and while I usually take the tunnel bus, I'm driving them over instead - all because I'd rather not subject them to Windsor's disgusting bus station.

[arnold]

^can't you catch the tunnel bus anywhere else on the windsor side? like at the mouth of the tunnel or something?

[Blitz]

no, for sporting events in Detroit they have special express buses that you can only catch at the bus station.

[upinottawa]

Can't blame them for trying...however this option has been rejected by the joint committee. The Bridge company appears to be willing to do what ever it can to maintain its monopoly and the resulting profits.

Bridge forges ahead with twin span

Dave Battagello, Windsor Star
Published: Thursday, April 27, 2006

Ambassador Bridge officials are pushing forward with plans to build a twin span and have killed a controversial feeder road through Windsor's west end.

Owner Matty Moroun's bridge "Enhancement Project" calls for a new six-lane cable-stayed bridge metres west of the existing 77-year-old crossing, according to environmental assessment documents obtained Wednesday by The Star.

The bridge company plans to use the same Huron Church Road access route and keep the new span contained within existing plazas and property it already owns.

A controversial four-kilometre "ring road" through the city's west end, proposed as a new truck feeder route has been discarded from the company's plans, according to the 34-page package filed three weeks ago with federal and state authorities on both sides of the border.

The new span would allow traffic to continue uninterrupted while the old bridge "is evaluated and rehabilitated, if found to be economically feasible," say documents prepared by American Consulting Engineers of Florida.

The existing bridge would provide "reserve capacity for any unforeseen event until the end of its useful life."

It appears the bridge company is striving to undermine the government's bid to build a public downriver Sandwich-Delray bridge and pre-empt pending federal legislation in Canada, which threatens toll, security and maintenance control of their crossing.

Since it's being unveiled as an expansion of the existing bridge and not a new crossing, bridge company officials are also hoping to avoid the many federal approvals normally required.

Bridge president Dan Stamper did not respond to a message from The Star.

"This project will allow us to maintain traffic on the current corridor," said Scott Korpi, project manager for the Florida firm who is leading the early phases of the bridge twinning application. "The Ambassador Bridge is aging and there needs to be repairs."

Design of the twin span has already begun and is expected to be completed within 18 to 24 months, according to Korpi's document. The bridge's "ring road" is no longer under consideration, Korpi said.

"Huron Church Road currently has and will continue to have more capacity than the proposed bridge crossing," he wrote in a response to Transport Canada included in the documents.

There is no target date slated by the bridge company for construction to begin.

"They want the approvals ASAP, so they can build right away whenever they feel traffic demands it," Korpi said.

The bridge company and engineering firm have been in discussions with Transport Canada to quickly set up a meeting so the next phase of the required environmental assessment can be discussed.

"They will give us a road map on where we have to go," Korpi said. "Whatever we need to do, we will do."

Transport Canada has been speaking with the bridge company about meeting dates and should be getting together sometime within the next few weeks, said spokesman Mark Butler.

"We are obliged to take a look at any project that comes our way," he said.


The federal ministry is a partner in the binational Detroit River International Crossing (DRIC) study, the government effort to determine the next crossing location.

"There are two distinct proposals for a new crossing -- one by the private organization and one under consideration by four levels of government.

"You can't characterize it as a race. They have to meet certain requirements. There are certain hurdles they have to cross."

The binational team is no longer considering any proposal brought forward by the bridge company, said Dave Wake, project manager for DRIC.

"Their recent submission is a separate process," he said.

"We are proceeding as planned and are on target for our timelines. I've seen nothing to date to cause any changes in our timelines."

DRIC hopes to complete construction of a new bridge in 2013.

A new six-lane twin span west of the bridge would move air and noise pollution closer to Sandwich which is "totally unacceptable," said Mary Ann Cuderman, leader of resident's truck watchdog group. She also had serious doubts about the bridge's dropping of its ring road plan.

"I don't trust them for a minute," she said. "Until I see an official notarized document on that -- and even then I won't believe it. They can change their mind on that at any time."

MP Jeff Watson (C -- Essex) said the bridge was welcome to put forward their best case on why the bridge should be twinned.

"(Transport Canada) can determine whether it's in the best interests of the country," he said. "The DRIC has already rejected that scenario."

[arnold]

^
i really hope that the federal government slaps this proposal down. and i have to say that i don't like anything that the bridge company has been up to recently. it all seems so slimy and underhanded and potentially disasterous to both downtown windsor and downtown detroit not to mention what it will do to windsor's west side.

like this stealth bridge twinning, the ring road through sandwich and that idea to route all tunnel traffic along the detroit side of the river and out to one massive customs holding pen... they all benifit no one but the bridge owners.

[upinottawa]

^ Yah, that Detroit plaza plan with the dedicated road running along the river is an incredibly stupid and destructive idea. I think that Kilpatrick accepted it only because it offered short term cash to the City of Detroit. Good thing that Detroit's city council objected.

The Bridge Company's plans continue to run in the face of the international committee's recommendations: it keeps trucks on Huron Church and funnels all traffic to one bridge.

The reason the Bridge is proposing such "solutions" is that the Bridge continues to argue that there is no problem with the current infastructure, there continues to be excess capacity on the bridge and the road, and that US Customs is the real reason for any back logs of traffic.

The Bridge continues to ignore the redundancy arguments, the use of local streets arguments, and the noise and pollution arguments.