A crucial missing link in Amherstburg’s trail network will be addressed this year when paved shoulders are constructed on Alma Street as part of the County Wide Active Transportation System program.
Paved shoulders are being installed on both sides of Alma between Fryer Street and Meloche Road. This project will close a glaring and dangerous gap in the Town’s active transportation network.
I’ve often referred to this stretch of road as a “death-trap” because there is considerable vehicular traffic and not much room for pedestrians or cyclists on the side of the road. It is a well-traveled corridor. Pedestrians and cyclists have worn a makeshift path on the grass alongside the road.
The stretch connects with a multi-use pathway on Meloche Road that leads to the Libro Centre and it connects with the pathway on Thomas Road that leads to the Amherstburg-Essex Greenway and the pathway on Texas Road.
Completing this project will enable residents from McGregor and Anderdon to hop on the Greenway and get to the Libro or downtown almost exclusively on trails or sidewalks. Cyclists heading the other way can link up with the Herb Gray Parkway trail system and end up in Malden Park, again, almost exclusively on trails.
The Town earmarked $710,000 for the project in the 2020 Budget. Under the CWATS program, the Town is responsible for 60 per cent of the costs. The County of Essex, where I work as a Communications Officer, is responsible for the other 40 per cent.
The project is envisioned in the CWATS Master Plan and was brought forward for approval by the CWATS committee, which includes representatives from the health unit and all local municipalities.
The County is also planning to construct a paved shoulder this year on the west side of County Road 20 between Front Road South and Lowes Side Road. There is already a paved shoulder on the east side of that stretch.
