St. Thomas council endorses plan to have province take over Highbury

The province will soon take over a portion of Highbury Avenue. CTV London’s Bryan Bicknell has the details.

A roadmap to have the province take over Highbury Avenue between London and St. Thomas has moved another mile-marker forward.

St. Thomas has passed a recommendation to have its portion of the roadway transferred to the senior government.

St. Thomas’ 2.5 kilometre stretch of Highbury runs from Ron McNeil Line on the north side to Highway 3 in the south.

St. Thomas mayor Joe Preston says it makes sense if for nothing else but the safety of the motoring public.

“We already have a great number of people that live in London and come to work in St. Thomas every day. And we have a great number of people the other way also. We think it’s important. We the think the provincial government is listening to us as a regional basis now between London and Middlesex County, Elgin County, and St. Thomas,” Preston explained.

St. Thomas’ resolution, passed at Monday’s council meeting, is part of a joint effort between London, St. Thomas, and Elgin County to have the province take over the full 21 kilometre stretch from the Thames River south branch in London to Highway 3 in St. Thomas.

“Uploading this is very important from a regional point of view, in terms of the future for our whole area,” said London councillor Hadleigh McAlister while speaking to London city council from the Good Roads Conference in Toronto on March 31.

Late last month, London City Council unanimously backed a request that responsibility for the expressway portion of Highbury through south London be transferred to the province.

“I feel like this is getting a lot of traction and is really close to coming to a positive resolution,” said London Mayor Josh Morgan at the time.

Originally built as a provincial highway in the 1960s, it was downloaded in 1991. Today, Highbury serves as a key north-south corridor, carrying up to 50,000 vehicles per day.

London has begun a two-year reconstruction project of Highbury, north of Highway 401, to the tune of $27.5 million. St. Thomas has invested in upgrades to Highbury as part of efforts to attract major industry.

And, Elgin County has identified the need to widen the London to St. Thomas stretch from two to four lanes, as early as 2035.

“It just makes more sense. Certainly, in bad weather it’s not a great highway because it’s not straight. And it could really be a far better economic use for us if we could make it more lanes in each direction, and a little safer,” said Preston.

St. Thomas’ resolution will be forwarded to the Ministry of Transportation with copies to London and Elgin County.