It was expected to open September 1, but drivers will have to wait a while to try out the city's newest roundabout in Sandwich Towne.
Over the summer, artifacts were found during construction, so an archeologist was hired to find more and assess them. That was back in June. The archeologist, Jim Molnar with Fisher Archeological Consulting, is still working.
Artifacts found at the construction site for a new roundabout in west Windsor, July 26 2017. (Photo by Aria Carter)
Deputy City Engineer Wes Hicks says stage three of the dig is complete, and the city is just waiting to hear back from the Indigenous groups involved. Once they sign off on those findings, Molnar can start stage four in the northern area of the roundabout.
Hicks admits it is time-consuming work and it is difficult to predict when the roundabout will open to traffic.
"I honestly don't know because it depends on what they find when they get into the stage four portion of the dig," he says.
The cost of the project is also rising from the original estimate of $850,000 for the road, a multi-use trail, and the statue of Chief Tecumseh.
"There will be some increased costs, but we don't know what that's going to be," says Hicks. "The archeologists that are out there, we are paying for their time. We had a base cost for them to monitor, but what's going on now is in addition to that."
Windsor City Council approved the project in February and construction started in June.