Rhodes Drive commuter route completed, closure gap at Windsor Loop

The Rhodes Drive multi-use trail is now complete, city officials announced Friday, closing a key gap and essentially completing the long-planned Windsor Loop trail.

The Rhodes Drive Multi-Use Trail is a $ 2.7 million, four-kilometer active transportation corridor developed with the goal of making active transportation in the city’s industrial and commercial area safer and more convenient, Mayor Drew Dilkens said Friday.

“The city knows that investments in parks and active transportation are good for our physical and mental well-being,” Dilkens said. “We make these investments because it is what residents have asked for and what they deserve.”

The completion of the Rhodes Drive trail also closes a gap in Windsor Loop, the 26-mile loop of trails and bike lanes around the perimeter of the city that links the city’s neighborhoods. Specifically, the Rhodes Drive trail guarantees a safe crossing point on the CP Rail tracks located at Rhodes Drive and Jefferson Boulevard.

With minor exceptions, the Windsor Loop is nearly complete, authorities said.

The Rhodes Drive trail is the final project of a total of $ 3.6 million spent by the City of Windsor and the province to increase commuter bike use in the city. The project created around 6.7 kilometers of trails in the city between 2018 and 2021.

“I know the purpose of this trail is to be able to help people get to the places they really need to go in their daily lives, this is an industrial corridor,” Ward 9 Coun said. Kieran McKenzie.

Earl of the town of Windsor. Kieran McKenzie is featured in this 2020 file photo. Photo by Taylor Campbell /Windsor Star

“Recognizing that people use active transportation for a number of different purposes and this path is for us to recognize that it is a purpose that we can fulfill by making these types of investments.”

With the completion of the Rhodes Drive trail, the city now has more than 150 kilometers of multi-use trails and 100 kilometers of bike lanes, including 21 kilometers of multi-use trails built in the last five years.