Lakeshore Council heard the latest on the plan for the County Road 22 Corridor at their meeting Tuesday night, and it sparked a lively discussion.
The process for the plan is currently at the report and final recommendation stage, before moving to the detail design phase.
Lakeshore has approved funding in the 2022 budget to collect speed and traffic volume data on local roads prior to any road closures taking place.
That was one of the concerns outlined by residents, but some councillors were concerned about a lack of turning lanes.
That ultimately led to the passing of a motion advising the County of Essex that Lakeshore Council requests they look at adding right lane turning lanes in the eastbound lanes at Emery Drive/Renaud Line, Willowwood Drive/Rourke Line, and Grandview Boulevard in the County Road 22 Corridor design.
Ward 1 Councillor Steven Wilder says motions like this and comments from previous discussions on the plan are where objections have been raised on behalf of residents.
"But the biggest thing wanted and were promised back in I think 2006 were two lanes in each direction, and that's stayed consistent," he continued. "And at the end of the day council, you've got a chance right now to send a message to county saying it's a nice plan but we want some adjustments."
Ward 3 Councillor Kelsey Santarossa says not being prescriptive in their ask to the county was important.
"I think this is one of those moments and this council has done it in many different ways where we send it back with the comments and say please take these pieces into consideration and bring us back what needs to happen. To reflect a slight adjustment or amendment in the way we're looking at this corridor," she said.
Deputy Mayor Tracey Bailey says it was important to not try and disrupt the whole design, but instead ask to look if these things could be done.
"We shouldn't be flipping a good design that has not even made it to design stage yet in saying let's change the whole thing and put in five right turn lanes. Do we need a couple? Probably. I travel the same section of road every single day to go home travelling east, I know what the traffic looks like there."
The full report will be available for viewing here during a 30-day period ending on April 15, after which time officials will review the input and finalize the report before moving to the detailed design.
The report will next be presented to Essex County council at their next meeting.