The warden of Essex County is moving on with the idea to widen Highway 3 despite the new government budget.
Gary McNamara, also the mayor of Tecumseh, commented on the omission of roadwork on Highway 3 from the PC-majority government's new budget at a media event in Windsor Friday afternoon. He said he was aware that the work will not happen this fiscal year, but he will continue to stress the importance of the work every chance he gets with those at Queen's Park.
"There's still three years and three more budgets to move forward," said McNamara. "The county will be setting up a meeting at the AMO Conference in Ottawa in August, and setting up a delegation with the minister in particular on that issue."
The push to widen Highway 3 has been on for years, due to an alarming increase in the number of serious collisions on that stretch of road in the county between Essex and Leamington. Leamington Mayor Hilda MacDonald has already called the lack of funding disappointing. McNamara said the work needs to be done purely for safety and commercial reasons.
"We've had some major catastrophic accidents. In the past two or three years I believe there have been fourteen of them," said McNamara. "At the end of the day, we've got a growing agribusiness in the southern part of the county. They need access to market, and that market is the United States."
Premier Doug Ford had promised an expansion of Highway 3 during his campaign last year. Essex MPP Taras Natyshak, of the NDP, said he would hold the PC government to their word.