The City of Windsor is moving forward with an underground infrastructure construction plan worth $180 million.

Mayor Drew Dilkens and 6 Councillor Jo-Anne Gignac provided an update on sewer construction and flood mitigation efforts in the city on July 6. The announcement was held at the St. Paul Pumping Station, where construction work on an expansion is scheduled to begin in a few months. 

“The sequentially planned projects which will upgrade the trunk sewers in the area and carry the increased volumes of water to new and upgraded pumping stations and retention areas will, along with our other mitigation strategies, provide much needed relief,” said Gignac.

Thousands of homes and businesses in Windsor-Essex were flooded in September 2016 after a massive rainstorm dropped nearly 200 millimetres of rain on the area. The volume of water overwhelmed pumps and sewer systems in just four hours.

Environment Canada called the event one of the worst natural disasters in the country that year.

By way of response, the City of Windsor introduced an eight-point plan to address flooding in the city in the fall of 2017. Key points in the plan included completing various underground construction projects, and accelerating work on the city’s Sewer Master Plan.

The $5-billion plan was created to set standards for the operation of the sewer systems and identify specific improvement projects that can be undertaken to both improve efficiency and reduce the risk of flooding caused by precipitation. As part of it, the city has committed to spending $180 million on 36 sewer construction projects through 2024.

Projects already under construction or planned to start this year include:

• Cabana Road Infrastructure Improvements - Phase 3 Dougall to Mt. Carmel (Sanitary + Storm Sewer)
• Eastlawn Boulevard Wyandotte St. E to Edgar (Sanitary + Storm Sewer)
• North Talbot Road - Phase 1 Howard to SW Lakes (w-entrance) (Storm Sewer)
• Olive Road Milloy to Tecumseh (Sanitary + Storm Sewer)
• Rankin Avenue Wyandotte St. W to Union  (Sanitary + Storm Sewer)
• Arthur Road Ontario to Via Tracks  (Sanitary + Storm Sewer)
• Aubin Road Seminole to Alice  (Sanitary + Storm Sewer)
• Banwell Road Infrastructure Improvements - Phase 2 Palmetto to 200m South of Mulberry (Storm Sewer)
• Dougall Avenue Corridor Eugenie to Ouellette (Storm Sewer)
• East Marsh - Phase 1 - Florence Avenue Wyandotte St. E to Riverside (Sanitary + Storm Sewer)
• East Marsh - Phase 1 - Menard Street Elinor to Florence (Sanitary + Storm Sewer)
• Giles Boulevard Langlois to Gladstone (Storm Sewer)
• Jos St. Louis Avenue Tecumseh Rd E to Rose (Sanitary + Storm Sewer)
• Matthew Brady Boulevard - Phase 3 Wyandotte St. E to St. Rose (Sanitary + Storm Sewer)
• Mountbatten Crescent Sanitary Overflow Mountbatten to Mountbatten (Storm Sewer)
• Provincial Road /Division Road Corridor - Phase 3A Lowes Intersection to 6th Concession  (Storm Sewer)

The combined sewer length of all the projects is nearly 30 kilometres.