Town of Essex celebrates completion of downtown streetscape project

Downtown Essex streetscaping complete A major streetscaping project which frustrated some business owners in downtown Essex due to a disruption of customer traffic is complete.

A major streetscaping project that had frustrated some downtown Essex business owners due to months of interfering with customer traffic is now complete.

“It really disrupted people, residents and businesses for a long time,” said Essex BIA chair Stephanie Winger.

But that frustration has eased, she added, as the Town of Essex celebrated the reopening of a section of Talbot Street this weekend after extensive streetscaping work that began in May 2023.

“It was difficult — especially after everyone was just getting back after the lockdown and getting back into the groove of becoming profitable,” Winger said.

“People didn’t want to come to downtown Essex … because people are just creatures of habit and didn’t want to deal with the construction.”

Among the new additions along Talbot Street near Victoria Avenue are flex street parking, AODA-compliant sidewalks, accessible crosswalks, benches, bike racks and greenery.

“There were hiccups along the way. But now, we’ve got this beautiful finished product,” said Winger.

According to Essex Mayor Sherry Bondy, initial plans for streetscape projects in the cores of Essex and Harrow started in 2014.

Due to budgetary pressures, Essex councillors approved a scaled-back version of the project last year at a cost of approximately $9 million.

“Aside from the visual elements, there are many improvements that have been made to the overall infrastructure, including the renewal of stormwater and water main infrastructure to ensure long-term sustainability,” Bondy said Saturday as the area was blocked off for a celebratory outdoor market.

The federal government provided $750,000 through the Canada Community Revitalization Fund and the provincial government provided $104,000 as part of its Rural Economic Development Grant to support the Essex streetscaping.

“This project represents a significant multimillion dollar investment aimed at improving both the infrastructure and the aesthetic appeal of our urban core in downtown Essex,” said Bondy.

For Winger, the revitalized core will also benefit local businesses outside the downtown area.

“Because whatever happens here trickles out to other businesses too,” she said. “So it’ll be a great feeling to see how things change with the look and feel of the street and all the different events we can have here now.”