Windsor city councillors have approved a temporary transit solution for the Twin Oaks Industrial Park, while longer-term infrastructure improvements are studied.
The move comes amid growing concerns over traffic congestion and accessibility issues at the industrial park following the closure of an access road to accommodate the NextStar Energy battery plant.
On Monday, council unanimously voted to implement a temporary adjustment to the Lauzon 10 bus route, which will now serve the Twin Oaks area.
“Should we get council approval today, we could probably get a bus in very, very short order,” said Jelena Payne, Windsor’s commissioner of economic development, shortly before the vote.
The adjustment will remain in place until Route 250 is implemented, a dedicated transit service planned for the industrial park.
The decision follows months of discussions about how to address transportation challenges in the area. According to Coun. Kieran McKenzie, there was an accident at Lauzon Parkway and Twin Oaks Drive early Monday morning.
“There are ongoing traffic-related issues that I have very serious concerns about,” McKenzie said, during the meeting.
“We need to be considerate of all of the different options that we have because of the challenges at that intersection, and things are happening in real time, literally today.”
Traffic backups at Twin Oaks Drive and Lauzon Parkway have become a growing concern, particularly during shift changes when employees leave work at the same time.
With the intersection functioning at a reduced level of service, many vehicles have been caught in lengthy backups.
Last month, Windsor police said a 47-year-old woman was killed after she was hit by a pickup truck while crossing the road in the Twin Oaks Business Park area.
A city report noted that 225 collisions occurred at or near the intersection between 2015 and 2024, with 48 resulting in non-fatal injuries.
Beyond the transit adjustments, the city will engage a transportation consultant to explore further improvements at a cost of $44,500.
The study will assess potential long-term measures such as adding an exit from the industrial park to E.C. Row Expressway, enhancing active transportation infrastructure, and evaluating whether pedestrian access improvements are necessary.
While Twin Oaks was developed without sidewalks, McKenzie argued that council should consider adding them.
“My expectation, I hope, is that we’ll have a proposal for sidewalks to be constructed in that industrial park,” he said.
Emergency access to Twin Oaks was another key issue raised during the meeting. Currently, when accidents block the intersection at Lauzon Parkway, employees can be trapped in the industrial park for hours.
City officials have been in discussions with NextStar Energy to explore whether an alternative exit through the plant’s private road network could be made available during emergencies.
However, no formal agreement has been reached.
“We still don’t have a clear-cut outcome from those discussions,” said David Simpson, commissioner of infrastructure services and city engineer.
Coun. Gary Kaschak, whose ward borders Twin Oaks, supported McKenzie’s push for immediate action.
“He’s not over-exaggerating here,” Kaschak said.
“There’s a lot of issues and a lot of traffic at those times, at those days, so the quicker we can be on that, the better.”
Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens acknowledged the difficulties involved in implementing solutions but emphasized the city’s commitment to addressing the issue.
“We knew there was going to be additional pressure,” he said.
“We’re seeing some of that pressure, especially at peak times… and so we’re trying to find solutions in the short term that will relieve some of that pressure.”
The Twin Oaks Business Park is home to a number of companies, including GreenShield Canada and Jamieson Laboratories.
