Essex mayors concerned after Highway 3 surface buckles in the heat again

Highway 3 has buckled in the heat for the third time this year, leaving Essex-area mayors pressing the province for answers again.

The section between Sexton Sideroad and County Road 34 was closed for several hours Sunday because of what the OPP described as "deteriorating road conditions" in the westbound lanes.

Just two weeks ago, another section of Highway 3 was closed when heat caused the road's surface to buckle.

Tecumseh Mayor Gary McNamara said yesterday's closure happened for the same reason.

"This is actually the third time this year," said McNamara, adding that the problems seem to be plaguing the same stretch of road in the Tecumseh corridor leading into Essex.

The issue has left the mayor and others puzzled. 

"We've had 30-degree weather last year … it's just kind of odd it's in that same stretch of road," he said. 

MTO investigation

Mayor of Lakeshore and County Warden Tom Bain said he's been pushing the province's Ministry of Transportation for answers since the first incident.

"All we got was they were looking into it. Their engineers were doing an investigation, and they would get back to us, but we haven't heard from them," said Bain. ​

"We haven't heard anything [either]," said McNamara. "Today in particular I'm going to direct our own folks to try to press them and find out what's going on."

Cracking concrete

Bain said concrete does need room for expansion in hot weather and there is concern that the roadway wasn't built correctly. 

He said many drivers are avoiding the road, causing an influx of vehicles on the municipality's roads which is adding stress to that infrastructure.

"They'e just not built to carry that kind of numbers and they're not built to carry that heavy a load either," he said.

Bain said he's "extremely concerned" about the state of Highway 3, since it carries so many commuters and commercial goods.

"We're keeping the pressure on [the MTO] until we hear what's going on because it's a huge safety problem," he said. 

McNamara is also worried about the future of the highway.

"Highway 3 from here to Leamington, there's a lot of concerns," he said, explaining that the slew of fatal accidents in the area has already prompted calls to widen the road. 

But this heat-related closure also causes a problem for the local economy. 

"Closing down roads — it's not only an inconvenience but depending on what time of the week there's a lot of commerce that travels in that corridor," he said, referring to business transports heading to the Ambassador Bridge and the U.S.