By William Harris

Staff reporter

With the expansion of County Rd. 22 well underway, engineers are starting to turn their attention to County Rd. 42 and the extension of Lauzon Pkwy. County engineer Tom Bateman said last week that both the Windsor Area Long Range Transportation Study and the Essex Windsor Regional Transportation Master Plan call for the extension of Lauzon Pkwy. south beyond County Rd. 42. The former study called for the road to be extended to a new interchange at Hwy. 401, while the latter went even further, stating it should reach as far as Hwy. 3, which Bateman said was the County’s preferred option. He said the County now needs to figure out whether to use County Rd. 17 as an extension of Lauzon Pkwy., or build a new road. At the same time, engineers will be looking at improving capacity on County Rd. 42 between Walker Rd. and County Rd. 25 in Lakeshore. That could mean adding lanes, turning lanes or maintaining the status quo in some areas, Bateman said. The County is currently going through the Ministry of Transportation protocols for hiring consultants for both projects, Bateman added. He said public meetings on either project likely won’t be held until the new year. County Rd. 22 The third phase of the expansion of County Rd. 22, between the Pike Creek bridge and Manning Rd., is nearing completion, Bateman said. Work on the stretch of road is expected to be wrapped up by the end of August, while the fourth phase, between Patillo Rd. and Old Tecumseh Rd., should be finished by the end of October. Engineers are already working on plans for the widening of the Puce River bridge, the next phase of the County Rd. 22 project. Bateman said the bridge’s close proximity to County Rd. 25 complicates the planning process, and doesn’t expect construction work to start on the bridge until late 2011.