The County of Lambton is planning to move forward with an origin-destination study for heavy truck traffic travelling on County Road 21 due to concerns regarding the proposed York 1 project in Dresden.
During Wednesday's meeting, county council reconsidered a decision in May and voted to instruct staff to include the traffic study in the 2027 budget.
The successful motion was brought forward by Plympton-Wyoming Mayor Gary Atkinson.
"The Town of Plympton-Wyoming believes that this study would provide valuable information to support future discussions regarding transportation safety, infrastructure planning, and the management of truck traffic within the community and the broader county transportation system," read Atkinson's motion.
Oil Springs Mayor Ian Veen agreed with Atkinson's concerns about an increase in heavy truck traffic.
"[If] we have that heavy traffic going through Oil Springs, next thing you know, we're going to have to put traffic lights in Oil Springs just to look after things, and that's not really what we want. We don't want that flow of traffic coming through our town," said Veen.
General Manager of Infrastructure and Development Services Jason Cole said the study could cost approximately $60,000 to $75,000.
"They're quite extensive. [There's] a lot of research and tracking that happens as part of that study to help us understand those traffic patterns," Cole told council. "Currently, we are sitting at an approximately $600,000 deficit from our winter budget, from earlier this year. If council wanted us to proceed this year, we would have to find the money from somewhere, but we are currently restricting our activities in order to try to come in on budget for the end of the year in the public works department."
Warden Kevin Marriott said council is in a lame duck position (with powers limited ahead of the municipal election) and wouldn't be able to pass something of that value for this year anyway.
Cole said an origin-destination study would help staff understand heavy traffic patterns in the community and establish a baseline for developing options to manage traffic.
Dawn-Euphemia Mayor Al Broad asked about the study's parameters, not wanting to be left out. Cole said the full scope has not yet been developed.
"I think we can safely say that limiting it to County Road 21 would be a reasonable option, and then looking at where that traffic is going as it comes onto and leaves Oil Heritage Road, along that whole corridor," Cole said. "So from Highway 402 down to the lower Lambton County boundary."
Meanwhile, a hearing regarding the Dresden landfill and waste processing facility has been delayed until November.
