By 1840, the waterfront was completely taken over by government and merchant wharves. The Esplanade, a -wide road, was proposed, just south of Front Street, with new water lots made from cribbing and filling of the shore to the south. The waterfront was extended to a survey line from the point of the Gooderham windmill west to a point due east of the old Fort Rouillé. Ostensibly for carriages and carts, the roadway eventually became primarily the route for rail lines in the central core. In exchange for of the Esplanade, the railways underwrote the infilling of the harbour. The Esplanade and infill project was completed by 1865.