Residents speak with a construction worker on Ontario St. September 16, 2015. (Photo by Adelle Loiselle)
Residents speak with a construction worker on Ontario St. September 16, 2015. (Photo by Adelle Loiselle)
Windsor

Road Projects Raise Safety Concerns

With Wyandotte St. E rehabilitation to the north, Pillette Rd. construction to the south and now work on Ontario St. underway, some residents living in the Pillette Village area of Windsor feel boxed in.

Work on Ontario St. began Tuesday, but resident Melissa Menard says she didn't receive notice from the city and neither did some of her neighbours. She was caught off guard when the construction equipment arrived.

"They just put up the fences on the first half from Pillette to Dawson blocking driveways. There are some people with cars in the driveway that I don't think realize that the fencing has gone up," she says.

Ward 6 councillor Joanne Gignac couldn't say specifically when the notices went out to residents but says it would have been a week ago.

The area is also home to F.J. Brennan High School and Corpus Christie Middle School on Raymo Rd., along with the children who live in the neighbourhood and walk each day to their school bus stops.

Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board spokesman, Stephen Fields says administration warns students at the schools about the construction.

"The vice-principal was out there this morning reminding students to cross at the lights," says Fields.

The neighbourhood has one alleyway along its southern border along the train tracks and the city has opened it to two-way traffic, but that too is a concern for Menard.

"I have a family member that lives on Lawrence at the end there and can see from her porch. She's seen many near misses and apparently one accident from people trying to use it both ways," says Menard.

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