The next few years could be interesting for Windsor. The economic tide is turning, a new housing development is in the works and the twinning of Highway 101 will actually bring Halifax traffic directly to town via Exit 5.
It may not seem like much but a tiny change in traffic patterns can have major impact on economic development. If motorists get used to using Exit 5 to enter Windsor, what’s going to happen to the fast-food joints positioned hungrily next to Exit 5A? Will they suffer the same fate as our downtown neighbourhood, currently served by Exit 6?
Twinning won’t be complete around downtown Windsor for years, say experts. The process of environmental assessment, public consultation and construction will delay completion long enough for shopping centres to sprout round Exit 5.
By the time the project gets to downtown Windsor, there may not be much downtown left. Instead, it might have migrated to new strip malls at Exit 5. Not the first time a highway has moved a town as well as the vehicles it was designed to carry.
