Results were originally expected in July of 2019
Essex County agreed to extend its Road Rationalization Study.
Officials began an overall assessment of its roadways around 10-months ago with a goal of defining what roadways should fall under the county umbrella. Council agreed to extend the study and authorize an additional $70,000 to perform the work Wednesday night.
The main focus is on what roads are essential to shuttle commuters and goods between municipalities, according to CAO Rob Maisonville.
He says figuring out what roads can be added or dropped from the county roster is harder than it may seem.
"This review has been ongoing for 10-months ... council had put a really aggressive time frame on it and unfortunately it just hasn't worked out that way," he says. "The decisions are complex and the solution is complex."
He says connectors should have as few intersections as possible, so pulling a road into the county system could have a negative effect on municipalities.
"We're trying to grapple with that and create a network that still works for us in terms of the region, but still works for the local municipality for its development needs," says Maisonville. "We also don't want to upset the trail system that we have as well, so there's a lot of pieces that go into determining how we decide to move forward."
Maisonville says administration plans to have a final report ready for January of 2020.
It was originally slated for July of this year.