Leamington Mayor John Paterson is pleased to see Essex push for Hwy. 3 to be twinned between the two towns.
Essex has passed a resolution looking for the province to make the project a top priority after a fatal crash last week.
Leamington plans on reminding the province how important the project is to the region as well.
"Having that kind of county-wide support is wonderful," says Paterson. "I think all of us really know the importance of having that done."
Paterson says the fatality unfortunately highlights the need for the highway to be widened.
"It just kind of raises it again," says Paterson. "It's time I guess again to go back to the province and say, 'You have to bump this up the priority list before we lose more people down here.'"
A five-vehicle crash on April 27 saw six people sent to hospital while 67-year-old Diana Pepper — more commonly known as Lynn Pepper — was pronounced dead at the scene.
"It's just really sad — the number of people who have lost their lives on this road," says Paterson. "I know [former MPP] Bruce Crozier fought hard to get this road built the way it's supposed to be done and hopefully with all of us working together we'll get it to that point."
Paterson says he and administration at the municipality are working to submit a letter calling on the province to complete the twinning of the highway.
