A sign of hope for residents on flood-ravaged Erie Shore Drive.
Chatham-Kent Council has given the go-ahead to reopen the road to two-way traffic.
A state of emergency was declared in February, 2020 and in the weeks that followed, a section of Erie Shore Drive was blocked off to traffic as high lake levels and flooding threatened the dike protecting homes and farm land on the north side of the road.
Chatham-Kent Council has now approved removing the cement blockades at an estimated cost of $100,000 of internal labour and rented equipment. The previously posted speed limit of 40 km/hr will be reinstated and the concrete blocks stored by Public Works for future use.
Officials with the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority say there have been no flooding events that forced the closure of Erie Shore Drive so far this year. While current water levels on Lake Erie and Lake St Clair are around 30 to 40 cm above average for this time of the year, the LTVCA says levels have fallen back down below October water levels seen from 2017 to 2021.
That being said, officials say the risk of flooding still remains.
“Erosion and shoreline damage are still concerns along the Great Lakes shorelines,” a shoreline condition statement reads. “The same waves that cause flooding can damage shoreline protection works and cause erosion in unprotected areas. The bluff areas all along the Lake Erie shoreline are also at a greater risk of erosion due to the high lake levels, especially when there are onshore winds and waves.”
The work to remove the blockades on Erie Shore Drive will take about two weeks, and should be done later this month.
