Enhancing transportation infrastructure was once again the top priority for Essex County at the annual Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) conference.
Essex County Warden and Leamington Mayor Hilda MacDonald led a delegation to Ottawa this week, where topics ranging from infrastructure and health care to transportation and homelessness were discussed.
MacDonald told WindsorNewsToday.ca that with all the development going on in Windsor-Essex, improving road infrastructure is a must.
"With the hospital, and of course, the battery plant, the [Gordie Howe] bridge, and all the transportation that's expected to go that way, as well as the 401 corridor, we're looking for some financial help to relieve some of the traffic congestion at that end of the county," said MacDonald.
The delegation met with the Ontario Ministry of Transportation while at the conference, but MacDonald said it's a meeting that has been going on for a long time.
"This is the fifth time that we've gone to see the minister, and I would say a couple of years ago, I was a little disenchanted," said MacDonald. "The delegations we had done, particularly from Leamington, we'd gone time after time for the same issue."
Premier Doug Ford addressed the AMO on Monday and announced a significant provincial investment for housing, but MacDonald said that funding from that announcement was directed toward the City of Windsor.
She did mention that the issue of homelessness is becoming more prevalent in the county, and has called on government for help to address it.
"They need to find a new way to help us out in the county," said MacDonald. "It won't be the same numbers [as Windsor], but it certainly is an issue that we don't have the direct funding coming to us to take care of it."