Twin Oaks businesses petition for new road as traffic changes cause backups

An orthodontist in Twin Oaks Business Park has started an online petition to try and convince the City of Windsor to fix traffic woes being caused by the construction of the NexStar Battery Plant. 

"We're all frustrated in this area. We all think something needs to be done," Mark Parete, who wrote the petition told the CBC.

The city closed off E.C. Row Ave. to Banwell Road a year ago as part of the construction of the NexStar Battery Plant, since then the only way in and out of the area has been through Twin Oaks Drive to Lauzon Parkway. 

Parete said traffic can back up all the way down Anchor Drive to his office which is on a bend that curves toward the battery plant -- in particular mentioning an incident in which a truck downed a power line which he says stranded some drivers for two hours.

Kinga Kowalik, the pharmacist and owner of the Twin Oaks Pharmacy, is also frustrated.

"Patients are complaining that it's a little bit more dangerous. said Kowalik. "There's a lot more traffic,"

Both Kowalik and Parete are concerned what might happen if there was a major emergency and the traffic held up first responders.

The city is aware of an incident that restricted access to Twin Oaks and are monitoring the situation according to Stacey McGuire, the executive director of engineering for the city.

"We're kind of trying to see what we can do to work with the businesses in that area," she said.

Parete hopes to bring his petition, which has more than 700 signatures on it, to city council in the near future.