Essex County Warden Tom Bain will meet with the Minister of Transportation this week to talk about expanding an unsafe section of Hwy. 3.
Premiere Kathleen Wynne recently held a town-hall in Windsor. Bain took that opportunity to address issues with the Hwy. 3 by-pass between Essex and Leamington, saying it's a, "dangerous situation."
Wynne promised Bain a meeting and that promise has been kept, he will sit down with the minister in Toronto Tuesday morning.
Bain tells AM800 News four lanes are needed to safely accommodate commuters and commercial traffic
"There's a serious bottleneck between Essex and Leamington, you can see it on a daily basis. There are people that just don't travel that road anymore, it's very dangerous," says Bain. "We'll be going there with our stats to prove how dangerous it is and request that it be moved to four lanes."
Windsor-Essex Economic Development Corporation CEO Stephen MacKenzie says more than $1-billion in commerce makes its way down Hwy. 3 each year, and that needs to be done safely and efficiently.
"In its present form the infrastructure is strained. The safety aspect is the most important, people are losing their lives there, it's tragic." he says. "When you add the safety component along with the commercial impact and the necessity to strengthen that infrastructure we're certainly hopeful that the provincial government will move the project up on their priority list."
Essex Mayor Ron McDermott, Essex County CAO Robert Maisonville, and the county's head engineer will join Bain in Toronto.
— with files from AM800's Rob Hindi.