Improvements sought to County Road 50 cycling infrastructure
The Town of Amherstburg will be making a request to the County of Essex to upgrade and install more infrastructure on one of the county-controlled roads.
Councillor Don McArthur is looking for additional bike lanes on County Road 50, stating Amherstburg is missing out on cycling events and sports tourism dollars due to a lack of bicycle lanes on a stretch of that road in town.
McArthur said there is “a missing stretch” of County Road 50 that does not have bicycle lanes, stating it is “an important infrastructure project.”
Mayor Michael Prue said it is an issue that is brought up regularly at Essex County council and the town has been told “there are a number of factors that are still being looked at.”
Those factors include the setback from the road, hydro pole relocation and more.
“They just keep listing that these things are being looked at before they will be able to proceed with (County Road) 50, but it’s high on their agenda,” said Prue.
Deputy Mayor Chris Gibb added it is a very short piece of County Road 50 that would connect paved shoulders “but it is incredibly expensive to do.”
Gibb said there are 25-30 hydro poles that need to be moved, mature trees that have to be cut down and a culvert that needs to be reconstructed.
“This has been something the mayor and I have brought up every time the words 'County Road 50' are mentioned at county council,” said Gibb. “I think whoever is sitting in those chairs after (the current council) could certainly use the support that the Town of Amherstburg is asking for this. I certainly support that.”McArthur said he wants to make it clear it is a priority. He said it is an important transportation corridor and a paved shoulder would “enhance connectivity” and also improve safety and support existing businesses in the area.
It would also promote future economic growth, he added, noting there are cycling events that deliberately bypass Amherstburg due to safety concerns. That means there are businesses along County Road 50 and right into the town’s downtown core that miss out on possible revenue due to cyclists not going in that area.
McArthur wanted the missing stretch of County Road 50 to be a priority for the County of Essex. He acknowledged he is an avid cyclist and jogger and said “there are big-time cycling events that come to Windsor and Essex County, particularly since the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge.
“There are groups that come to downtown Amherstburg coming the other way, from the greenway, from River Canard down Concession 2 because we’ve built paved shoulders,” said McArthur. “There’s a missing link on County Road 50.”
Cycling events that start in LaSalle and Windsor make a tour of the county but detour once they hit Colchester and work their way back up through the county and bypass Amherstburg.
“That’s a shame,” he said. “It’s a shame that could be remedied easily by fixing this. I don’t even think it’s a mile long.”
McArthur added: “If we can fix this one missing link, we’ll be on the map, Amherstburg and Essex County, for cycling tourism.”
“There’s no reason to cut Amherstburg off that map and to deny our businesses,” he said.
Improvements sought to County Road 50 cycling infrastructure
By Ron Giofu
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