The Ontario NDP has committed to finishing the expansion of Highway 3 from Essex to Leamington.
Speaking in Leamington Wednesday, leader Andrea Horwath says the Highway 3 twinning project is part of her $180-billion commitment to improve infrastructure around the province.
She pointed out that municipal councils have been pleading to make Highway 3 safer for several years since 60 per cent of crashes on the road are deemed to be critical.
Horwath says this region of the province has been ignored by the Liberal government.
"If we are given the honour of governing in this province, the Southwest will get the infrastructure investments that it needs and deserves, that will make a difference in the safety of people travelling these highways"
Horwath made it clear the safety of residents is a key reason for the need to have four lanes all the way from Windsor.
She also claims the NDP is the only party to make that firm commitment on paper, noting PC leader Doug Ford only made the commitment last week in a speech and has yet to release a platform with a firm commitment.
The Liberals have said the expansion of Highway 3 will be done before 2021.
Horwath also referred to improving safety on the 401..
"I've heard loudly and clearly a call for concrete barriers as an example, we're going to take a hard look at that and get that design work done and implementation as soon as possible. These are not things we are going to allow to linger, we believe that Southwest Ontario has been ignored frankly and their infrastructure needs have been ignored"
Horwath says when it comes to improvements on the 401, people in the Southwest will be heard.
"We also have to listen to local community voices as well. So going forward we're going to make sure we engage local communities in the process of making those highways safer, making Highway 401 safer"
Essex MPP Taras Natyshak added the engineering and design work is complete for Highway 3 in two additional phases and he expects if the party forms the next government, the road will be complete in two years.
Earlier this month, Essex County Council received a letter from the Ontario Ministry of Transportation stating the stats didn't support the need for immediate action.