"A person's weight is determined by their word," said Leamington Mayor Hilda MacDonald expressing her disappointment Thursday's provincial budget contained no funding to expand Highway 3.
She was referring to a promise Premier Doug Ford made during his election campaign last May at Colasanti's Tropical Gardens to supporters.
Police investigate a seven-vehicle crash on Hwy. 3 in Kingsville, May 20, 2016. (Photo courtesy of OPP Constable Stephanie Moniz)
During a visit to Woodslee, Ford promised to review expanding Highway 3 to four lanes between Essex and Leamington. Then, during the fateful visit to Leamington, he told supporters he was 100 per cent behind expansion.
After expressing concerns about safety along the road, it is a promise officials in southern Essex County had relied on, even after Highway 3 was left off the list in an announcement on highway projects last month.
Related Story: Hwy. 3 Expansion Still Two Years Out
"If you tell us that you're doing something we have expectations that it gets done," said MacDonald Friday.
For years, MacDonald's predecessor John Paterson lobbied the Liberal government to address inadequacies on the highway along with former Essex County Warden Tom Bain and the current Warden Gary McNamara.
Soon after the Ford government was elected, Essex MPP Taras Natyshak also said he was determined to keep Ford's feet to the fire on his promise after repeated accidents along the road.
MacDonald hopes she does not have to start from scratch, but "if that needs to be, then you know what? We'll all get in a car, and we'll all go down there, and we'll start the story all over again."
She said the continued growth of the agri-food industry depends on investment in infrastructure and residents in Leamington and Kingsville have waited long enough.
"That needs to be recognized," MacDonald said. "I would dare say we're going to demand it be recognized."