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 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.
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.
CWATS, the County Wide Active Transportation System, wants to link communities with bike lanes, paved shoulders, multi-use pathways and signed routes.
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.
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My mailbox was damaged during the winter? Will the county repair it? |
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Unfortunately, mailboxes are sometimes damaged by snow plows or thrown snow.
Use the form below to report mailbox damage:
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Will the county remove the stones snow plows pushed on to my lawn? |
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Sometimes the plow blades push stones onto lawns despite our best attempts to avoid it. We do not have the resources to remove them. |
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Does the County clean or cut ‘cattails' in roadside ditches? |
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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. |
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Will the County repair my driveway culvert? |
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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. |
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How is ‘roadkill' dealt with? |
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Local municipalities respond in urbanized areas and the county dispatches crews to more rural areas. |