County Road 20 Speed Limit Reduction Approved

Shocking. Councillor Prue actually praised Councillor Pouget during the April 16, 2025 Essex County Council meeting when council received a report on County Road 20 and Lowes Sideroad. Based on my observations, it’s easy for people to perceive some unfair treatment at the town council meetings where some behaviours are tolerated when they shouldn’t be and others are not tolerated when they should be.

The County Traffic Engineer explained that the intersection of County Road 20 and Lowes Sideroad is actually a county connecting link; therefore, the town of Amherstburg has jurisdiction, and any decision regarding the addition of a pedestrian facility would be theirs to make, and this was discussed with our local municipal partners, the engineering department. So therefore, the recommendation of this report is to reduce the speed limit on County Road 20 from 70 kilometers an hour to 50 kilometers an hour from just south of low side road to 50 meters south of Dalhousie Street. There is limited financial implications, as the signage changes would cost less than $2,000 and could be done by our maintenance staff in our roads crews, and the money would be taken from our 2025, road safety budget. Thank you.

Warden: Thank you, Jerry. Are there any questions? We’ll start with you. Councillor Prue. Listen to the audio; text transcript below.

Prue: first of all to thank you, because this is quite an issue. And Councillor Pouget, who occasionally comes when one of us is not here, this was one of her champion things. She has pushed this and pushed it, and I’m sure she’ll want to say thank you as well, just in terms, I just want to correct for the record, you said a hotel at one time, it was a motel, but it’s now the Blue Haven, and what it is, it’s it’s populated almost entirely by people in wheelchairs and people with some severe disabilities. So I just want that to be clear for the record, this is part of the reason we did this, not because people are driving in and out in a hotel, because they’re not. These are people who have very limited access, and their access is to go out onto the road and somehow get across to the pharmacy and everything that’s on the other side. So just for the record, that’s what it is. But we thank you for what you’ve done, and I guess the ball is now in our court.

The warden then read the recommendation, noting it’s quite lengthy, and it is that:

Essex County Council receive report 20250416, Intersection of County Road 20 and Lowes Sideroad as information, and that Essex County Council direct administration to reduce the speed limit on County Road 20, from 70 kilometers per hour to 50 kilometers per hour, between Lowes Sideroad and 50 meters south of Dalhousie Street. And that by law 202517, be adopted amending by law 262002, to regulate traffic and parking on highways within the Essex County road system, schedule H, to reduce the speed on County Road 20 between Lowes Sideroad and 50 meters south of Dalhousie Street. Moved by Councillor Gibb, seconded by Councillor Prue. Carried.