November 7, 1959
EXPRESSWAY LINK – Opening of the final link this week in the Lodge Expressway will prove especially convenient for Windsor drivers who visit the Detroit area. This map shows the Detroit Expressway system. Solid lines indicate the parts of the Lodge and Edsel Ford routes in use. Dotted lines show where the Chrysler Expressway will go.
The routes are simple. Using the Tunnel, the Canadian driver will leave the plaza and drive one block east to Brush, turn left, or north to Jefferson, then turn left or west on Jefferson. Stay in the middle lane of Jefferson for the expressway. Pass Randolph, Woodward and Griswold, then enter the ramp for the Lodge where it goes under Cobo Hall. You’re then on the way at 55 miles per hour. The interchanges of the Lodge and Ford Expressways gives you a choice of going north, east or west.
Using the Ambassador Bridge, you reach the Lodge this way: Coming off the Bridge plaza onto Porter St., go to the left and take the first street, 22nd. north two blocks to the Vernor Highway. Then turn right or east and continue to the Lodge. You make a series of right hand turns at the northbound Lodge to enter the expressway through a cloverleaf.
You reach the Ford expressway from the Bridge by turning left on Porter St., from the Bridge plaza. Continue on Porter to West Grand Blvd., then turn right to go north. When you reach the expressway, cross it by the overpass, but keep in the left or boulevard lane. Just past the bridge, turn left through the center island to reverse direction. As you complete the U-turn through the island, hold to the right lane for a right turn into the westbound expressway ramp. You can, of course, go east on the expressway at this point, by approaching the expressway in the right lane and using the eastbound ramp.
When you get close to the expressways, watch carefully for the green signs with white lettering which give you directions at a glance. This is particularly important for finding your exits.
do you have any old photos of e.c rowe from the 1970’s? i remember when the first leg of e.c rowe opened back in 1976 or 77. for windsorites who had spent their whole lives getting around on crowded arteries like tecumseh road [the city’s main drag back then] it was like going from the horse-and-buggy era into the atomic age. imagine being able to drive between dougall avenue and walker road without hitting a single stioplight! the biggest hit on the radio that year: “dancing queen” by abba.
I’d love to see some pictures of the construction of E.C. Row Expressway. I was actually looking for some on the web just a few weeks ago. I couldn’t find anything.
I was in kindergarten the year it started construction and driving by the time it was completed. Even by then, there was still a traffic light at Dominion, no overpass yet.
Took a while to get’er dun.