The County of Essex – in partnership with the Municipality of Lakeshore – is doing a corridor planning study for County Road 22 between East Puce Road and Belle River Road.
This is a critical transportation link between the City of Windsor and the municipalities of Tecumseh and Lakeshore. The intent of the study is to evaluate options to improve the corridor to address the current and future traffic needs and demands, and support the previously developed vision of the corridor.
More specifically, the project is being undertaken to achieve the following objectives:
- Build on previous studies such as the County Road 22 Environmental Study, Corridor Transformation Study, the County Wide Active Transportation Study and others;
- Reflect the unique urban and rural needs and surroundings of the corridor;
- Design a corridor that aligns with wider county and municipal objectives, including a more dense, active and environmentally responsible community with commercial opportunity;
- Undertaking a well-documented and responsive project process that addresses municipal class environmental assessment requirements;
- Mitigates challenges and barriers found along the corridor through design;
- Establishes the timeline for implementation of the preferred alternative; and
- Listens to the public and key stakeholders to address concerns and opportunities.
Frequently Asked Questions
| Who is doing this study? |
| A detailed study of County Road 22 has been undertaken jointly by the County of Essex and the Municipality of Lakeshore. |
| When will the study be completed and what happens next? |
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The current planning process is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2021. Following the selection of a design alternative, a detailed design process would begin, allowing additional opportunities for public comment. Once the detailed design process is completed, construction could begin, likely in several stages, which would be confirmed during the detailed design phase of the project. It is anticipated that the changes being discussed as part of this study would not be fully open and operational until 2026-2027. |
| Will this close access to County Road 22 from some streets? |
Currently, access to County Road 22 is proposed to be closed at:
All local access road closures impact the south side of County Road 22. There are no proposed closures on the north side of the road. |
| Why is it necessary to close these streets at County Road 22? |
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To improve operations along County Road 22 without requiring significant widening, restricting local access is necessary to accommodate current and future traffic volumes. Vehicles turning into or out of local access roads create small delays on an individual level that, when multiplied out across the length of the corridor and the span of the day, decrease the available capacity of the roadway and increase congestion. By closing off local accesses we will ensure that County Road 22 continues to operate at an acceptable level of service without requiring widening and significant land acquisition along the corridor. In addition, the closure of some of the residential streets will also move turning traffic towards some of Lakeshore’s arterial roads, such as Emery Drive and Rourke Line Road, where turning traffic currently does not warrant a traffic signal, but where a higher level of anticipated turning movements will help to justify a signal with protected pedestrian crossing phases and permissive left-turn phases once the local roads are closed at County Road 22. Closing access roads also improves safety as the number of potential conflicts between vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists along County Road 22 would be reduced. An additional benefit of roadway closures is that it contributes to a more continuous streetscape along the corridor, which meets the objective of creating a corridor that can accommodate intensification and enhanced street-level activities. |
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What else is changing? |
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As part of this study, traffic signals are being added at Emery Drive, with a future signal at Rourke Line Road also recommended. The closures of local roads are also being supported by the extension of Faith Drive from St. Mary’s Road to Renaud Line Road to provide additional connectivity in the Emeryville neighbourhood. |
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What will the impacts be for residents? |
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For residents who live on the streets that are proposed to be closed, we expect a significant reduction in the amount of through traffic on those corridors, since those routes will no longer provide access to anything except local homes and services. On I.C. Roy Drive, King John Street, Emery Drive, Renaud Line Road, Grandview Boulevard, Rourke Line Road, Willowwood Drive, King Louis Street, Faith Drive, Oakwood Avenue, Girard Drive, Maxwell Crescent and Elmwood Avenue we expect a slight increase in traffic as people adjust to the new traffic patterns in the area. The goal of the project, in addition to enhancing capacity on County Road 22, is to reduce traffic infiltration into local neighbourhoods by directing vehicles towards the municipality’s collector and arterial roadways, which are designed to accommodate higher volumes of traffic than a residential street. |
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What inputs has this study considered? |
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This study relied on an extensive technical review, including current vehicle counts, turning movement counts and a detailed traffic prediction model which considers current travel patterns and future growth in the area. Based on current and predicted traffic patterns, it is clear that operations along County Road 22 require improvements to keep traffic flowing at an acceptable level. Our traffic analysis shows that the proposed cross section of one lane in each direction plus a centre-turn lane, when coupled with the road closures and signalized intersection upgrades, will result in an acceptable level of traffic flow through the municipality. This proposed cross section also accomplishes other key goals for the municipality, including providing additional controlled pedestrian crossings, developing a safer walking and cycling route, enhancing safety for all road users and minimizing the amount of property acquisition required to enhance operations along the corridor. When paired with additional changes like the extension of Faith Drive and the recent opening of Oakwood, these improvements should result in improved operations, enhanced safety and better mobility choice for all residents of Lakeshore. In addition to the technical work, the proposals for this corridor are also supported by public engagement that has occurred throughout the project. In a survey completed in December 2020 and January 2021, nearly 500 residents of Lakeshore provided feedback about the project. Support for road closures to enhance the operations of County Road 22 received 76 per cent support among all respondents, illustrating a strong level of support for enhancing capacity of the roadway through access control rather than roadway widening, a condition being proposed as the preferred alternative in this study. The study team is aware of the concerns of residents on streets that are proposed to be closed, and the concerns of residents who live on corridors adjacent to those streets, about the potential for increase traffic levels in their neighbourhoods. The Municipality of Lakeshore will monitor the conditions along these corridors closely before and after changes to County Road 22 are implemented and will utilize their Traffic Calming Policy to determine where mitigation is required as traffic volumes change through the neighbourhoods. |
| What about municipal and emergency services? |
| All proposed cul-de-sacs are being designed to accommodate a turnaround for municipal services vehicles, including snowplows and waste collection vehicles.
Emergency services have been consulted on these changes and have indicated that they would have a minimal impact on response times. The creation of semi-mountable curbs to facilitate emergency access from County Road 22 into the cul-de-sacs could be considered during the detailed design phase. |
Public Information and Input
The preferred design and alternatives were presented at a virtual public information centre on June 17, 2021. A video of the presentation can be viewed below.
The presentation slides are also available for review. The deadline for submitting comments for this portion of the study on the PlaceSpeak project website was July 29, 2021.
Members of the study team:
Jerry Behl
Manager, Transportation Planning & Development
County of Essex
JBehl@countyofessex.ca
Krystal Kalbol
Director of Engineering and Infrastructure Services
Municipality of Lakeshore
KKalbol@lakeshore.ca
David Lukezic
Project Manager
WSP
David.Lukezic@wsp.com
The map below shows the boundaries of the project area.
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