Niagara drivers will be able to take the Thorold Tunnel in both directions this winter.
Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati says this is great news, adding we really dodged a bullet.
"We averted a real terrible situation of closing the tunnel. It's a major arterial connection from east to west and back and forth for Niagara. When it got closed last time during the snow storm it created just pandemonium."
The Ministry of Transportation will provide two smaller snowplows to clear the tunnel over the winter months.
But in the event of a massive snow storm, the MTO will have to fully close it.
Diodati says this is a worst case scenario. But if they do have to close the tunnel at some point, he thinks we can be proactive if we know in advance. He compares it to when the bridges are up over the canal.
Now that the winter maintenance issue has been solved, Diodati would like to see something done about the lighting.
"It's too dark in the middle of the tunnel. It gets complicated for people who wear prescription sunglasses and you can't just rip them off at the last minute. When you get to the bottom middle of that tunnel it's at it's darkest point when it should be at it's brightest."
He says it's a different story when you're heading from Thorold to Niagara Falls.
"When you get to that tunnel, it is so bright you have to squint! Of course when that happens you're pupils constrict, letting in less light and it becomes that much more harder to see when you're in the tunnel. They seem to have it backwards."
Diodati says this has been brought to the MTO's attention.
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