Changes will be made to the design of the County Road 22 Reconstruction Project in the Municipality of Lakeshore.
Following a public information centre that took place in June, new recommendations were presented to County Council on Wednesday.
Initially the project featured an increase to three lanes, cycling lanes on both sides of the road, a sidewalk, a multi-use path, along with benches and trees - residents voiced their concerns during the info session as well as presented a petition with over 300 signatures.
Residents felt the bike lanes on both sides were redundant due to the multi-use path being a feature, and felt it took property from those living on the busy corridor. Residents were also worried about benches and trees being a distraction to drivers.
Recommendations were presented which included BT Engineering to modify the design by removing the bikes lanes on both sides, revise the design and hold another public information session, as well as remove the benches and trees from the design, which was unanimously supported by council.
Michelle Hughes who is a Lakeshore resident was a delegate on Wednesday night and says there is a serious concern of safety.
"It is highly questionable to encourage pedestrians and cyclists onto this road, and to have benches and trees that would further impede the sightlines of every motorist entering or exiting a private driveway, as well as all the businesses."
Jacqueline Caille who is also a Lakeshore resident was a delegate during the meeting and says the decorative boulevards adds to the expense and is a big impact to safety.
"Putting trees and benches will impede the view of both residents exiting their properties, and for anyone travelling on the roadway. This stretch of road is extremely high volume, and has a significant number of existing driveways for residents and businesses."
Tracey Bailey, Lakeshore mayor, says she commends everyone involved in this project.
"Very pleased to see that we're mitigating the amount of space needed, the aggressive expropriation that we saw in the first project, we're reducing impacts to the adjacent properties while supporting the active transportation to some degree."
Sherry Bondy, Essex mayor, says getting over 300 signatures on the petition was no small feat.
"Getting signatures I imagine you probably went door-to-door, and that is - we know in this room - that's no small feat. So it just shows when communities organize that they can bring real results to the table."
Regarding resident concern over the closing of Beechwood Drive, the project team will investigate the impact and feasibility of changing the proposed closure to a right-in right-out arrangement.
Other roads such as Auburn Avenue, Dubois Avenue, and King John Street are still expected to close.
The county is looking to host another public information centre in the early winter for further feedback from residents on the updated designs.
With the new recommendation, engineering fees for the proposed changes to the design are estimated to cost an additional $123,000.