Decision to widen Hwy. 3 two years off, mayors told
It will be another two years before the new Conservative government makes a decision on widening Highway 3, Essex County Warden Tom Bain and a delegation of four other county mayors were told Monday.
“It’s a little depressing to hear it’s going to be at least two years or more,” Bain said after he and the mayors of LaSalle, Essex, Kingsville and Leamington met with Ontario Transportation Minister John Yakabuski at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference in Ottawa.
“When you look at the number of accidents — there are a lot of accidents — what we need to see is sooner than later,” he said.
But Yakabuski assured the group that widening the highway remains
a priority. Some land must still be purchased for the project, the government said. But that’s not considered a significant obstacle, Bain said.
Most of the environmental assessment is complete, but there is still a short stretch that must be finished. County officials asked the government to do it immediately, and the government agreed. The design is also largely complete, but some finer points still need to be finished.
“All of those things take time,” said Leamington Mayor John Paterson, “so I wouldn’t be surprised if it takes two years to get a decision.”
Despite the wait, Bain and Paterson described the meeting as positive.
“The minister made it very clear he is well aware of the situation,” Paterson said.
“This was a far more friendly and receptive sharing of information than it has been in the past,” he said.
The group met with Yakabuski to urge the government to expedite the project.
“You’ve got to keep it in the forefront because you’re competing with many other areas throughout Ontario,” said Bain. Premier Doug Ford, who addressed the conference Monday, promised during a campaign stop in Kingsville in May to address Highway 3 “immediately.” It was one of the top local issues in the election.
But after the election, this region’s only government member, Chatham-Kent-Leamington MPP Rick Nicholls, said Highway 3 is a priority, but when it’s done might depend on Ontario’s debt. The main artery between the county and Windsor, Highway 3 is known for dozens of collisions, with 60 per cent of crashes classified as critical. There were two collisions, half a kilometre apart and within minutes of each other, the day Ford came to Kingsville. Studies by county transportation experts concluded widening the highway to four lanes from two could reduce the number of crashes by up to 42 per cent. The province began twinning the highway from the boundary with Windsor to County Road 8 in Essex in 2012. Under the Liberals, the rest of the work was part of future plans listed in a document called the Southern Highways Program 2017-2021. But the Liberals told county council in May that the government wasn’t planning to widen the highway soon because it isn’t urgent. Improvements that were planned between 2019 and 2021 included resurfacing but not widening.
It’s not only commuters who use Highway 3. Agribusiness is a $3-billion industry in the county, employing more than 8,000 people. Seventy-five per cent of production is exported via Highway 3. The county has 2,300 acres of greenhouses, the second largest cluster in the world. Another 600 to 700 acres of greenhouses are forecast to be built in the next five years, and a new Hydro One transmission line to expand the use of growing lights is expected to increase productivity by 25 per cent. All of this is expected to add to the pressure on the part of the highway that is still single lanes.