The Ontario government will be asked again for funding to help support two major road infrastructure projects in Essex County.
Warden Hilda MacDonald will meet with Ministry of Transportation and Ministry of Infrastructure officials during the Rural Ontario Municipal Association Conference in Toronto to make the pitch for provincial funding.
One project is a grade-separated interchange on County Road 22 at County 19 (Manning Road) and another grade-separated interchange at County Road 22 at Lesperance Road.
According to the county, more than 47,000 vehicles a day travel through the County Road 22 and County Road 19 and County Road 22 and Lesperance Road intersections, but the traffic lights can no longer handle the increased volumes through those intersections.
The county made similar pleas for funding at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference in August 2024, as each of these projects is estimated to cost over $100 million.
MacDonald says they want traffic to flow in those areas and reduce the delays.
"When you've got big trucks also intermingling with cars, then you really are setting the stage for something bad to happen," she says. "So yep, we need to do it to keep the traffic moving at a decent speed. And also, we're going to have more vehicles with residential areas being built up as well."
Between 2014 and 2023, there were 123 collisions at the intersection of County Road 22 at County 19, the highest number of any location on the Essex County road network. There were also 111 collisions at the signalized intersection of County Road 22 and Lesperance Road during that same time period.
Economic development is also being cited as a need for upgrades due to existing and expected traffic volumes as a result of population growth, new home construction, the nearby $5-billion NextStar Energy electric vehicle battery manufacturing plant, the new Windsor-Essex Acute Care hospital, and the Gordie Howe International Bridge border crossing.
MacDonald says the work is needed due to all of the projects and growth in that area.
"There's an expectation that there's going to be 3,300 homes built in that area. Even now, at the best of times, and I'm talking rush hour times, that traffic becomes a bottleneck," she says.
MacDonald says she tries to stay away from areas with heavy traffic.
"That's not good for businesses and the people that live there. It's a quality of life thing along with making things easy and smooth," she says.
The county will also ask for funding to enhance and expand County Road 19 (Manning Road) to four lanes.
The ROMA conference opened Sunday, Jan. 19, and runs to Tuesday, Jan. 21.
