Noise bylaw exemption approved to allow night time road work on E.C. Row Expressway

An off ramp along the E. C. Row Expressway leading to Howard Avenue in Windsor.

A noise bylaw exemption has been granted to allow overnight work as part of an over $5 million road improvement project along the E.C. Row Expressway in Windsor.

City council approved the exemption Monday to allow milling and paving asphalt work along a section of the expressway between Central Avenue and Walker Road along with a number of the on- and off-ramps.

The noise exemption will allow work to take place between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. to lessen the impact on daily traffic.

The 2026 E.C. Row Expressway and ramps mill, and pave project includes the following:

- E.C. Row Expressway (westbound) between Central Avenue and Walker Road

- E.C. Row westbound on-ramp at Central Avenue

- E.C. Row eastbound off-ramp at Howard Avenue

- E.C. Row eastbound on-ramp from southbound Howard Avenue

- E.C. Row eastbound off-ramp to southbound Lauzon Parkway

- E.C. Row eastbound off-ramp to northbound Lauzon Parkway

Senior Manager of Contracts, Field Services, and Maintenance Monika Grant says they will be milling and paving the asphalt on E.C. Row westbound from Central to Walker along with the ramp work.

“We’re looking to start June 1, and we have a tentative schedule that will last four to five weeks, so by the end of June, early July, we should be completed with all the work,” she says. “So, we’re looking at around two weeks on E.C. Row and then three to four days per ramp.”

Grant says the ramps see a lot of traffic and they want to do the work at night to help reduce traffic congestion.

“With our night work, the ramps will all be open during the day. Our work is scheduled from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. By 6 a.m. all the ramps will be open. You may see some grade surfaces where they are not as smooth as they normally were because they’re in between laying asphalt layers and things like that. It will significantly reduce the amount of congestion,” she says.

According to a city report, the subject sections of E.C. Row Expressway and its ramps experience accelerated deterioration due to the heavy volumes of traffic and the annual freeze-thaw cycles and require pavement reconstruction.

Grant says with the nighttime work, they’re trying to minimize the ‘double impact’ of this project and the interchange construction taking place at E.C. Row and Banwell Road.

“I know on E.C. Row we’re going to have at least the outbound lane, but we’re going to try to keep as many lanes as open as possible. It just depends on where they are in the stage of the work,” she says.

As part of the city’s 2026 budget, $36.6 million in roadwork is planned this year, the largest road rehabilitation program in the city’s history.