Grand Marais Road (Windsor, Ontario)
Encyclopedia
Grand Marais Road is a road that travels through Windsor, Ontario
. Its use and significance has dwindled considerably following the completion of the E.C. Row Expressway.
is the site where the Tornado of 1946
touched down for a second time and reached its peak intensity of F4
.
Grand Marais Road used be in one piece, linking Huron Church Road in the southwest with Pillette Road in the east, following Turkey Creek fairly closely (hence the name "Big Marsh Road").
Once E.C. Row Expressway was constructed, parts of the road were closed off and torn up. They are listed below, heading westbound:
From Bruce Avenue, the road continues much as it did before the expressway was built, with bike lanes along much of its path to its terminus with Huron Church Road.
that feeds major arterial road
s nearby. It travels through several residential neighbourhoods, such as South Windsor.
, a bike path and a sidewalk
. The road is discontinuous in sections, linked by trails and sidewalks. The road changes sides (from the south bank to the north bank) near Rankin Avenue (a residential street), with the street on the south bank named "West Grand Court".
Windsor, Ontario
Windsor is the southernmost city in Canada and is located in Southwestern Ontario at the western end of the heavily populated Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. It is within Essex County, Ontario, although administratively separated from the county government. Separated by the Detroit River, Windsor...
. Its use and significance has dwindled considerably following the completion of the E.C. Row Expressway.
History
The intersection with Walker RoadWalker Road
Walker Road was one of the busiest roads in Windsor, Ontario before the road closure. It has an average annual daily traffic level of 32,000 cars per day at the CP Rail crossing.- History :The road is named after Hiram Walker, distillery baron...
is the site where the Tornado of 1946
Windsor - Tecumseh, Ontario Tornado of 1946
The Windsor–Tecumseh Tornado of 1946 was the most powerful tornado to hit Windsor, Ontario, being an F4 in strength, touching down on June 17 of that year...
touched down for a second time and reached its peak intensity of F4
Fujita scale
The Fujita scale , or Fujita-Pearson scale, is a scale for rating tornado intensity, based primarily on the damage tornadoes inflict on human-built structures and vegetation...
.
Grand Marais Road used be in one piece, linking Huron Church Road in the southwest with Pillette Road in the east, following Turkey Creek fairly closely (hence the name "Big Marsh Road").
Once E.C. Row Expressway was constructed, parts of the road were closed off and torn up. They are listed below, heading westbound:
- Just east of the intersection with Plymouth Drive and Walker RoadWalker RoadWalker Road was one of the busiest roads in Windsor, Ontario before the road closure. It has an average annual daily traffic level of 32,000 cars per day at the CP Rail crossing.- History :The road is named after Hiram Walker, distillery baron...
, Grand Marais Road turns quickly south to meet Plymouth (which was intended to handle through traffic towards the east end of Windsor in the 1970s), with two lanes being closed off and used as a parking space for residents nearby. The pavement on the northernmost two westbound lanes is much older than the rest, showing evidence of this (despite one lane being torn up and grassed over, a sidewalk being laid down along the road...) - Intersection with Walker RoadWalker RoadWalker Road was one of the busiest roads in Windsor, Ontario before the road closure. It has an average annual daily traffic level of 32,000 cars per day at the CP Rail crossing.- History :The road is named after Hiram Walker, distillery baron...
, east-bound-only traffic can exit the road. Memorial Drive to the north is now a bike trail. nearby residential streets allow access for drivers wanting to continue along Grand Marais Rd. - West of Howard Avenue, the road leads to Zalev's Scrap Yard. It used to meet the tracks at a grade crossing, until E.C. Row Expressway's bridges were constructed. The road was truncated to Zalev's in the east, and is now a driveway to the shopping plaza to the west. It continues as West Grand Boulevard following Turkey Creek very closely through built-up residential areas, with signs leading drivers back to Grand Marais Road (which it parallels closely as well).
- At the Dougall Road interchange with E.C. Row Expressway, the road's traffic is diverted onto Bruce Avenue (a quiet residential street), while a small segment of the road continues to a hotelHotelA hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
parking lotParking lotA parking lot , also known as car lot, is a cleared area that is intended for parking vehicles. Usually, the term refers to a dedicated area that has been provided with a durable or semi-durable surface....
. it was closed when the interchangeInterchange (road)In the field of road transport, an interchange is a road junction that typically uses grade separation, and one or more ramps, to permit traffic on at least one highway to pass through the junction without directly crossing any other traffic stream. It differs from a standard intersection, at which...
's cloverleafCloverleaf-Places:*Cloverleaf, Louisville, Kentucky, a neighborhood*Cloverleaf, Texas, a suburb of Houston*Cloverleaf Local School District in southern Medina County, Ohio-Science and technology:*A representation of the chemical structure of a transfer RNA molecule...
ramps were built in the late 1960s, due to how close the road is to the ramps.
From Bruce Avenue, the road continues much as it did before the expressway was built, with bike lanes along much of its path to its terminus with Huron Church Road.
Today
The road is lightly used, and is a collector roadCollector road
A collector road or distributor road is a low to moderate-capacity road which serve to move traffic from local streets to arterial roads. Unlike arterials, collectors are also designed to provide access to residential properties...
that feeds major arterial road
Arterial road
An arterial road, or arterial thoroughfare, is a high-capacity urban road. The primary function of an arterial road is to deliver traffic from collector roads to freeways, and between urban centres at the highest level of service possible. As such, many arteries are limited-access roads, or feature...
s nearby. It travels through several residential neighbourhoods, such as South Windsor.
West Grand Boulevard
West Grand Boulevard is a derivative street that parallels Grand Marais (located just north of Turkey Creek) between Huron Church Road and Dougall Avenue. The road ranges from a collector road to a drivewayDriveway
A driveway is a type of private road for local access to one or a small group of structures, and is owned and maintained by an individual or group....
, a bike path and a sidewalk
Sidewalk
A sidewalk, or pavement, footpath, footway, and sometimes platform, is a path along the side of a road. A sidewalk may accommodate moderate changes in grade and is normally separated from the vehicular section by a curb...
. The road is discontinuous in sections, linked by trails and sidewalks. The road changes sides (from the south bank to the north bank) near Rankin Avenue (a residential street), with the street on the south bank named "West Grand Court".
See also
- List of Essex County Roads
- County Road 20
Former Provincial Highways
- Highway 2Highway 2 (Ontario)King's Highway 2, usually referred to simply as Highway 2 is a provincially maintained highway in Ontario. Once the primary east–west route across the southern end of the province, Highway 2 became mostly redundant in the 1960s following the completion of Highway 401, which more or less...
- Highway 18Highway 18 (Ontario)King's Highway 18, commonly referred to as Highway 18 was the longest highway in Essex County, Ontario, and travelled through the most communities. Today, it is known as County Road 20...
- Highway 18AHighway 18A (Ontario)King's Highway 18A, commonly referred to as Highway 18A, was a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario which was the southernmost provincial highway to ever exist in Canada. Since 1979, the entire route has been known as Essex County Road 50...
- Highway 98Highway 98 (Ontario)Highway 98 was a provincial highway in the Canadian province of Ontario, designated as part of the provincial highway system from 1938 to 1970. The route travelled through the northern part of Essex County and through south-central Chatham-Kent, extending from Windsor to Blenheim.The route's...
- Highway 107Highway 107 (Ontario)King's Highway 107 was one of Ontario's shortest provincially maintained highways, at just in length. The highway has been through several re-numberings throughout its history.- History :...
- Highway 114Highway 114 (Ontario)King's Highway 114, commonly referred to as Highway 114, was a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was one of the shortest highways ever assigned in the province, at just in length...