County Road 22 reopens after buckling due to extreme heat

A portion of County Road 22 in Lakeshore which buckled has fully reopened, after extreme heat forced its closure to accommodate emergency repairs.

The County of Essex announced Wednesday morning it had closed the eastbound lanes and one westbound lane between Patillo Road and East Pike Creek Road.

The busy stretch of road had buckled one day prior.

According to Geoff Coulson, warning preparedness meteorologist for Environment Canada, Essex County has been experiencing daytime highs of more than 30 C.

"The normal highs for this time of year is around 22 [degrees]. So we're well above normal for this time of year," said Coulson.

It's not necessarily common for roads to buckle in the region but it has happened before.

Portions of Highway 3 have buckled several times over the past decade due to extreme heat.

County Road 22 buckles in Lakeshore, Ont., on Tuesday, May 22, 2024. (Submitted to CTV News)A report presented to County of Essex administration in 2020 called for extensive repairs to County Roads 11 and 22 following similar incidents.

When asked how long the heat and humidity will continue to last in Essex County, Coulson temperatures are starting to return to normal.

"While we are expecting temperatures to be above normal again on Thursday and Friday, getting into the mid-to-high-20s, we're not expecting the same level of heat and humidity that we've experienced over the last few days," said Coulson.

"Those temperatures are likely to stay with us into the first few days of June,” he added.

Officials with the County of Essex were unavailable for an interview Wednesday — but City of Windsor Operations Manager Phong Nguy said his department sends out crews to fix buckling roads about once every two years.

"Just give 3-1-1 a call and we'll dispatch somebody to make sure everything is safe," said Nguy, who added Windsor's roads are better fit to withstand the heat because of the large amount of concrete in the city.

"Our concrete is actually designed with a lot of expansion joints just to relieve that pressure,” he said.