The Rt. Hon. Herb Gray Parkway (the Parkway) is a major $1.4 billion highway infrastructure project located in the municipalities of Windsor, LaSalle, and Tecumseh, in Ontario, Canada. This once-in-a-generation undertaking will improve traffic flow at Canada’s premier trade gateway, and is unprecedented in its community enhancement and environmental features for any highway, anywhere in Ontario.
The Rt. Hon. Herb Gray Parkway spans an 11 kilometre corridor. It is comprised of three essential components:
- a six-lane extension of Highway 401 that runs below-grade from the area west of the North Talbot Road Bridge to E.C. Row Expressway and then parallel to E.C. Row Expressway to Ojibway Parkway
- a four-lane, at-grade extension of Highway 3 including the multi-lane roundabout to the area of E.C. Row Expressway where it links into Huron Church Road
- the Parkway Trail running approximately 20 kilometres set within 120 hectares (300 acres) of green space situated alongside the two highway extensions and across the 11 tunnel tops.
The Parkway will ensure the safe and efficient movement of people, goods and services to and from a future new Canadian inspection plaza and the Gordie Howe International Bridge, separate local and international traffic, and eliminate stop-and-go traffic in residential areas.
Construction began in 2011 and was estimated to create approximately 12,000 jobs through direct employment from construction activity and indirectly through numerous suppliers and service providers. The majority of these jobs were in the Windsor-Essex region.
The project was delivered by the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure Ontario through an Alternative Financing and Procurement model under a design, build, finance and maintain contract with the Windsor Essex Mobility Group and its joint venture Parkway Infrastructure Constructors.