| January 08, 2007 Volume 51 Edition No. 30 |
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Manning Road construction starts momentum for 2007
by Cheryl Hardcastle |
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 Cooperative weather has seen an early start to widening the portion of Manning Road (County Road 19) between the VIA tracks and County Road 22. This is a project the Town of Tecumseh lobbied for aggressivley to improve traffic flow in the wake of intersection and road widening improvements for Manning and Tecumseh Road over the last two construciton seasons. The $7 million project being completley paid for through the Let’s Get Windsor-Essex Moving strategy. Funding for this strategy comes from the Canada-Ontario Border Infrastructure Fund, a joint commitment by the federal and provincial governments. The County of Essex received the project funding and as such, is initiating the work. A major component of the project is the filling in of the drains which is being tackled now. Mayor Gary McNamara says that more construction will begin in the area within six to eight weeks as Rock Developments begins its plaza development on the northwest corner of Manning and County Road 22 in conjunction with the County’s construction activity. A fly-off from Manning going south into the new business plaza will be installed and Amy Croft Drive will extend westerly from the Manning intersection. The initial tennants are Windsor Family Credit Union, a 20,000 square foot Golf Town store and an A &W restaurant. A fourth tennant is yet to be announced. On the corner of Amy Croft and Manning on the Lakeshore side, Rock Developments has a 10,000 sq. ft. plaza underway that will house a Bulk Barn, pizza franchise and a high end salon.. Mayor McNamara anticipates secondary plan for services in the Manning/Lesperance corridor to be ready in March. “Banwell corridor servicing ties in with that so there is definatley momentum for things to move forward,” he said. It’s exciting to think about the development of trails in those areas and how they can link to the Greenway and how the waterfront could connect in the future…I’m telling you, I’m excited.” Tecumseh will have to harness that energy for pending issues. In October, 2006 the Town proudly announced that it had purchased 9.7 acres of waterfront land. The former Lakewood Club House property on Riverside Drive at Manning was sold to the Town by Joel Jones for $7.98 million and that deal was finalized last month. But, in April, 2006 Sumatara Investments Inc. made a second application to develop the Lakewood Golf Course across the street. The Town has been awaiting engineering data from the applicant which it now has and engineering consultants are analyzing it. “By spring we’ll have the CH2M Hill (consultant) service modeling complete so that we can make a decision on the golf course application,” McNamara said. As for the proposal to develop the existing site of St. Anne High School, “nothing’s come forward yet” from Coco Developments, which has a purchasing agreement for the Tecumseh land. A public meeting was held in August, 2006, to receive public comment on a proposed residential development that would see two three-storey multi-unit buildings. “We made it clear that we will work with the community and the developer. Coco is very cognizant of that,” McNamara says, adding there may not be any more heard until September, 2007 when the students are set to transfer to the new school in Lakeshore for the new school year. Back to traffic issues: Also under Border Infrastructure funding, McNamara anticipates public information centres for the ongoing Environmental Assessment process regarding widening of Manning from County Road 22 to Highway 401in late spring or early summer. County Road 22 is also slated for improvements, including grade separations at intersections. Completion is targeted for 2010. 
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