Tecumseh council asked to approve multi-million dollar tender for Lesperance multi-use trail project

Tecumseh council is being asked to award a tender for work on a multi-million multi-use trail project in the town.

Administration is recommending that council award a $5,691,143 tender for the Lesperance Road and Little River Boulevard multi-use trails project to Piera Con Enterprises Inc.

The project calls for the construction of a three-kilometre-long, three-meter-wide pathway on the west side of Lesperance Road from First Street to Riverside Drive and approximately 0.3 kilometres of a similar pathway on the north side of Little River Boulevard from Lesperance Road to Gauthier Drive.

The addition will include accessible landings at street intersections, improved street lighting, improved crossings at side streets, connectivity with other existing pathways, tree planting, and beautification between McNorton Street and First Street.

Tecumseh Mayor Gary McNamara says this is a great opportunity to connect Tecumseh's shoreline with the Ganatchio Trail and the Tecumseh Trail.

"Eventually this will hook up to Lesperance Road to the other side of County Road 22, so there will be clear access all the way down to County Road 42," he says.

The work is just the latest phase in the effort to improve connections to trails and cycling infrastructure in Tecumseh.

In 2024, $2.6 million was spent on a new trail along Lesperance Road from County Road 22 to County Road 42.

McNamara says you're also going to see new benches and trees along the corridor and improvements outside town hall and the OPP station.

"A nice, welcoming pedestrian plaza that's going to be there; also, the parking lot will be moved away from the front to more the side and back of the town hall park area," he says.

McNamara says there will be rest areas along the route.

"There will be a lot of trees planted there so that it starts to build a canopy over the trail. So it's basically creating a pedestrian- and cycling-friendly community. Continue to add to those amenities that our citizens are really taking advantage of," he says.

If approved by council, construction would begin this spring with the goal of being completed by November 2025.

This project is supported by the Federal Active Transportation Fund (ATF) with a contribution up to $2,616,000 and the Provincial Rural Economic Development (RED) program with a contribution up to $240,000.

Council meets Tuesday, April 8, at 7 p.m. at Town Hall on Lesperance Road in Tecumseh.