County Roads

The County of Essex Infrastructure Services Department is responsible for a road network that is 1,503 lane kilometres long and spans seven local municipalities. These roads support the local, regional and provincial economy by carrying commercial vehicles, cars, cyclists and pedestrians.

The County of Essex owns and maintains the majority of the arterial roads. Local municipalities maintain local roads and the province owns and maintains Highway 3, Highway 77 and Highway 401.

A road classification system defines the different classes of roads. There are load restrictions on certain roads as described in the By-law.

Take a closer look at our roads system with these maps.

Construction Pillars

The County of Essex is spending $93,837,950 on road construction in 2024 in these six key areas:

Capacity Expansion - $58,197,500
Rehabilitation - $28,374,550
Traffic Operations - $410,600
Municipal Drainage - $800,000
Planning/Engineering - $375,300
CWATS - $5,680,000

Capacity Expansion Program

The County’s Capacity Expansion Program is an aggressive program of road projects planned over 20 years with a total value of $380 million. Proposed projects in 2024 are expected to cost $58 million.

CWATS

An additional $300,000 is being directed to the County Wide Active Transportation System in 2024 for a total of $5.7 million to expand its network of trails, pathways, bike lanes and paved shoulders.

Road Rehabilitation Program

The 2024 Road Rehabilitation Program, at an estimated cost of $28.4 million, includes 14 road rehabilitation projects, two bridge rehabilitation projects and four culvert replacement projects.

Road Maintenance

County crews maintain a safe and reliable network of roads. Their work includes:

Road painting
Road patching
Roadside spraying
Road signage
Road sweeping
Shoulder grading and repair
Roadside mowing
Bridge and culvert repair
Roadside drainage
Traffic lights
Winter maintenance

Resources for Residents

County Roads

List of County Roads
Road No.	Alternate Road Name	Location
1	Essex-Kent Boundary Road	County Essex-Chatham-Kent
2	Tecumseh Road	Tecumseh/Lakeshore
2	First Street	Lakeshore
2	Broadway Avenue	Lakeshore
2	First Concession Road	Lakeshore
2	Gracey Sideroad	Lakeshore
2	Second Concession Road	Lakeshore
2	Charron Line Road	Lakeshore
3	Malden Road	LaSalle/Amherstburg
5	Second Concession Road	Amherstburg
5	Meloche Road	Amherstburg
6	Todd Lane	LaSalle
7	Huron Church Line Road	LaSalle
8	Essex Townline Road	Essex/Lakeshore/Tecumseh
8	Maidstone Avenue	Essex
9	Howard Avenue	Amherstburg/LaSalle/Tecumseh
10	Middle Side Road	Amherstburg
11	Queen Street	Harrow
11	Walker Road	Essex/Amherstburg/Tecumseh
12	Gesto Road	Essex
13	Erie Road	Essex
14	Ninth Concession Road	Kingsville/Leamington
15	Marsh Road	Essex
15	South Malden Road	Essex
15	Campbell Sideroad	Essex
16	Alma Street	Amherstburg
17	Tenth Concession Road	Tecumseh
18	Simcoe Street	Amherstburg
18	Pike Road	Amherstburg
18	Seventh Concession Road	Essex
18	Fourth Concession Road	Kingsville/Leamington
19	Manning Road	Tecumseh/Lakeshore
20	Front Road	LaSalle/Amherstburg
20	Sandwich Street	Amherstburg
20	King Street	Essex(Harrow)
20	Main Street	Kingsville
20	Seacliff Drive	Kingsville/Leamington
21	Elmstead Road	Lakeshore
21	Little Baseline Road	Lakeshore
21	West Pike Creek Road	Lakeshore
21	Brighton Road	Lakeshore (St. Clair Beach)
23	Arner Townline Road	Essex/Kingsville
23	Gosfield Townline Road	Essex
23	Fairview Avenue	Essex
23	Naylor Sideroad	Lakeshore
25	Puce Road	Lakeshore
25	North Rear Road	Lakeshore
25	East Puce Road	Lakeshore
27	Cottam Sideroad	Kingsville
27	Belle River Road	Kingsville/Lakeshore
27	East Belle River Road	Lakeshore
27	South Street	Lakeshore
29	Division Street	Kingsville
29	Division Road	Kingsville
31	Albuna Townline Road	Kingsville/Leamington
31	Sixth Concession Road	Lakeshore
31	South Middle Road	Lakeshore
31	French Line Road	Lakeshore
31	North Middle Road	Lakeshore
31	West Ruscom River Road	Lakeshore
33	Bevel Line Road	Leamington
34	Talbot Road	Tecumseh/Lakeshore/Essex/Kingsville
35	Comber Side Road	Lakeshore
37	Gracey Sideroad	Lakeshore
37	North Talbot Road	Leamington
39	Lighthouse Road	Lakeshore
39	Tisdelle Drive	Lakeshore
39	Lakeside Drive	Lakeshore
40	Sprucewood Avenue	LaSalle
41	Meadows Road	Essex/Amherstburg
42	Former Prov. Hwy. #2	Tecumseh/Lakeshore
43	Eleventh Concession Road	Tecumseh
45	Union Avenue	Kingsville
46	Provincial Road	Tecumseh
46	North Talbot Road	Tecumseh
46	Middle Road	Tecumseh/Lakeshore
48	Oak Street West	Leamington
50	Front Road	Amherstburg/Essex
50	Murdoch Street	Essex (Colchester)
50	Heritage Road	Kingsville

Report A Road Problem

You are our eyes and ears on the road. Please report any problems related to roadways, ditches, trails, and traffic.

Report a Road/Trail Issue: 519-326-8691

Report a Traffic Signal Problem - for 24-hour service: 519-326-8691

You can also use this form to report a problem:

Winter Maintenance

County of Essex Road crews are responsible for salting and plowing a road network spanning some 720 centreline kilometres. Crews are dispatched from four depots across the county and cover 18 plow routes. Essex County snowplow

Program Overview

Crews prevent slippery conditions by pre-wetting salt and by applying brine to the dry road, which prevents snow and ice from binding to the pavement.
A Global Positioning System (GPS) tracks when and where salt is applied
Computerized controls on vehicles precisely distribute salt
Stations provide updated weather and pavement conditions

Fast Facts

1,503 lane km of road
71 km of paved shoulders
84 bridges
127 large capacity drainage structures
4 active depots
25,000 tonnes of salt storage capacity
18 salt/plow routes
Average annual salt usage: 18,000 tonnes
Average annual budget: $2.6M
Average number of annual winter events: 70

Learn More

The county's Salt Management Plan outlines our winter maintenance services and use of road salt.

Ontario's Ministry of Transportation provides Winter Driving tips. The ministry's website provides updated information on road and traffic conditions and construction projects. You can also call 511.

Walk, Ride, County Wide

CWATS, the County Wide Active Transportation System, wants to link communities with bike lanes, paved shoulders, multi-use pathways and signed routes. A cyclist rolls by a CWATS sign

The network spans more than 250 km now and the goal is to increase the coverage to 800 km.

The CWATS network will connect to trail networks in all of our local municipalities and will also connect with the ERCA trail system and trails in Windsor and Chatham-Kent.

Find a trail near you and learn more about this active transportation.

Frequently Asked Questions

My mailbox was damaged during the winter? Will the county repair it?

Unfortunately, mailboxes are sometimes damaged by snow plows or thrown snow.

If the damage is caused by a piece of equipment striking the mailbox or post, the county will provide a replacement for the homeowner to install, up to a maximum of $50.
If the damage is caused by snow being thrown from the plows, the homeowner is responsible for replacing it.

Use the form below to report mailbox damage:

Will the county remove the stones snow plows pushed on to my lawn?

Sometimes the plow blades push stones onto lawns despite our best attempts to avoid it. We do not have the resources to remove them.

Does the County clean or cut ‘cattails' in roadside ditches?

We have a program to deal with drainage improvements. The local municipality has jurisdiction over municipal drainage ditches. The county cuts vegetation along public roads to maintain visibility, not for aesthetic purposes or at private driveways.

Will the County repair my driveway culvert?

Driveways and associated improvements like culverts, headwalls and ditch enclosures are the responsibility of the property owner. Local municipalities have jurisdiction over municipal drainage ditches.

How is ‘roadkill' dealt with?

Local municipalities respond in urbanized areas and the county dispatches crews to more rural areas.