What about Windsor? Ontario municipalities ramp up efforts to upload highways

Taxpayers in Windsor are paying a multi-million-dollar bill every year for the E.C. Row. Will Ontario take it over? CTV Windsor’s Michelle Maluske investigates.

Ottawa, St. Thomas, London and Elgin County are all hoping to avoid paying for major highways. But what about Windsor?

Highbury Avenue

St. Thomas council voted Monday to work with London and Elgin County to see the province take over the full 21 kilometers of Highbury Avenue.

It is a mix of two and four lanes between the Thames River in London and St. Thomas, with varying speeds up to 100 km/h.

Originally built as a provincial highway in the 1960s, it was downloaded in 1991.

Today, Highbury serves as a key north-south corridor, carrying up to 50,000 vehicles per day.

London and Elgin County have both previously passed motions to ask Ontario to take over the highway through their municipalities.

OLRT and Highway 174

Tuesday in Ottawa, Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria “recommitted” to the upload of the Ottawa Light Rail Transit (OLRT) and Highway 174.

Mayor Mark Sutcliffe has previously described the potential upload as a “game changer,” in that it could save taxpayers about $85 million dollars per year.

E.C. Row Expressway

The Expressway was built by the province in the 1970s but downloaded to the City of Windsor in the 90s and the city has been tasked with maintenance, repairs, and road upgrades ever since.

In 2023, Mayor Drew Dilkens said uploading the highway would mean the city could reallocate $10 million annually from its capital budget and put it into local roads.

The idea came up again in 2025 during the provincial election campaign, when the local NDP candidates campaigned on splitting the costs between Windsor and the province.

The mayor also referenced the idea April 2, during a city news conference on local infrastructure projects.

Why not Windsor?

“It’s important to have local control and local flexibility,” Windsor-Tecumseh MPP Andrew Dowie told CTV News Wednesday.

Dowie believes if E.C. Row were to be uploaded to the province it would change how commercial vehicles are permitted, thus more expensive for companies.

And he says anyone living within half a kilometre of the expressway would need provincial approval to develop their property if the highway was owned by Ontario.

As for the other highways in Ontario, he says they’re all different and can’t be compared as equals.

Highway 174 in Ottawa, for example, is a newer, more modern highway than E.C. Row, which was built as part of the Trans-Canada Highway.

“Highbury is a different issue because they don’t have as much development around it as E.C. Row does,” Dowie said.

“They have a lot of potential future expansion.”

Including the upcoming Volkswagen factory, Dowie notes.

“That makes it a key artery that probably should be protected.”

Dowie noted, however, any decisions about any highway investments would have to come from the MTO.

In a written statement late Wednesday, the Ministry of Transportation says Windsor has not formally requested E.C. Row be uploaded to the province.

“Upload requests are considered on a case-by-case basis. We will continue to work with our municipal partners to help ensure they have the support they need,” Dakota Brasier, MTO Director of Media Relations wrote.

Brasier noted the province is investing more than $50 million in Windsor to create an interchange at E.C. Row and Banwell Road.

She also said there are currently no plans to upload Highbury Avenue from the City of London or St. Thomas and the County of Elgin.

Windsor City Hall did not respond to our request for comment Wednesday.