Riverside Drive (Windsor, Ontario)
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| Riverside Drive |
|
| The Drive | |
| Length: | 17.5 km (12 miles) |
|---|---|
| Formed: | 1892 (When city was founded) |
| Direction: | East/West |
| From: | Huron Church Road/Sandwich Street Windsor, Ontario |
| To: | Tecumseh, Ontario town limits |
| Major cities: | Neighbourhoods: University, Bridgeview, West Side, Downtown, Walkerville, Ontario, Pilette Village, Riverside, Villages of Riverside, Little River, Greenway, Tecumseh, St. Clair Beach, Ontario |
Riverside Drive is one of the main roads in Windsor, Ontario, travelling along the Detroit River, between its riverfront parks and high-rise office towers and apartment buildings. The road travels through Downtown, and towards the east end. The road is roughly 17.5 km in length, and is quite busy.
The road continues as Riverside Drive through the town of Tecumseh, Ontario, and through the village of Saint Clair Beach, Ontario St. Clair Beach, Ontario, where it ends at Brighton Road (Essex County Road 21).
For around 3 km of its length (from Rankin Avenue to Crawford Avenue (in front of CBET-TV's studios), there are bike lanes, with the Riverfront Bike Trail just to the north in the parkland.
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[edit] Riverside Drive Vista Project
Throughout late 2005, and all of 2006, Windsor City Council has been trying to convert and widen the sidewalk along Riverside Drive (from Strabane Avenue to roughly Lauzon Road), to improve cycling access from the west side and downtown to the east side. The road is currently two lanes for most of its length, having either bike lanes, or extended properties from the wealthy peoples' houses.
The vista project will be a multi-million dollar beautification project to plant trees, re-surface Riverside Drive, and re-surface sidewalks, possibly installing either bike lanes, or a bike trail along the road.
A slight controversy exists between the wealthy residents in the east side of town, who are angered that their road is treated like a two-lane freeway, since the cars regularly drive recklessly and well-above the posted speed limit of 50 km/h (30 mph) and 40 km/h at curves (25 mph), with speeds reguarly hitting 90 km/h (55 mph). The wealthy residents insist that the road should not be repaved (as it is starting to show its age and will need repaving in a few years), due to a deteriorating road's lack of appeal for drivers. They claim that if the road is not paved, drivers will choose other routes across the city, such as the E.C. Row Expressway, and avoid their street, rendering it quieter, and their property values will increase.
The commuters, mostly residents in Tecumseh, Ontario, the Forest Glade community, and from Downtown, feel the road should be repaved for everyone, not just the Riverside neighbourhood residents, as well as install a bike lane, so cyclists don't have to risk their lives by riding on the road or sidewalk. The wealthy residents generally oppose having to give up some property for a bike lane, but City Hall appears to be progressing with the Vista Project, in debate and committee at least. The vista project is proposed as an alternative to putting bike lanes along the dangerously busy Wyandotte Street just a short distance south, or buying out the existing CN Rail/VIA Rail line leading from Lesparance Road to Hiram Walker to convert into a massive greenway/bike trail or two-lane arterial road.
[edit] See also
- Ganatchio Trail
- Little River Extension
- Devonwood Bike Trail
- Riverside Drive Vista Project
- Bike Trails in the City of Windsor
- Trans-Canada Trail
